A Bigger Picture

Malcolm Turnbull’s career spans journalism, law, business and politics – often pursued simultaneously. He graduated BA LLB from Sydney University and went on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He made his name as a lawyer defending clients as diverse as Kerry Packer and former MI5 agent Peter Wright where Malcolm, together with his wife, Lucy, defeated the British government in the Spycatcher trial in 1986. His business career in his own firm, and later Goldman Sachs, saw deals ranging from media takeovers to Russian gold mines and internet start-ups. Politics was always part of his life, including an early tilt at parliament in the 1980s as well as leading the Australian Republican Movement in the 1999 referendum.

In 2004 Malcolm entered parliament as the Liberal member for Wentworth and in 2007 became Environment minister in the Howard government. He was leader of the opposition from September 2008 to December 2009, after which he remained in parliament and became minister for Communications from 2013 until he was elected Liberal leader and prime minister in September 2015. Winning the July 2016 election, he remained prime minister until August 2018, after which he retired from parliament.

Malcolm and Lucy live in Sydney and have two children and four grandchildren.