Turnbull, Malcolm

▪ Australian politician

in full  Malcolm Blogh Turnbull 

born Oct. 24, 1954, Sydney, N.S.W., Austl.

      Australian politician who was MP for Wentworth (2004– ) and leader of the Liberal Party (Liberal Party of Australia) (2008– ).

      Turnbull's parents separated when he was a child, and he was raised by his father in the suburbs of Sydney. He attended the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a double degree in arts and law in 1977. The following year he received a Rhodes scholarship, and he earned a second law degree at the University of Oxford. While at Oxford, he met Lucy Hughes, the daughter of former Australian attorney-general Tom Hughes. Malcolm and Lucy were married in 1980, and the pair returned to Australia later that year.

      Turnbull was admitted to the Australian bar, and in 1981 he made his first foray into politics when he was narrowly defeated in a contest to be the Liberal nominee for the Wentworth seat in the federal House of Representatives. After the loss, he returned to the private sector, serving as general counsel for media magnate Kerry Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings. In 1986 Turnbull gained international attention when he successfully defended former British intelligence officer Peter Wright. The British government had brought suit against Wright to prevent publication of his memoir Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer, claiming that it constituted a violation of the Official Secrets Act.

      Turnbull then entered the business world, establishing a merchant bank in 1987, founding the Internet start-up OzEmail in 1994, and joining investment bank Goldman Sachs in 1997. OzEmail became one of Australia's top Internet and e-mail service providers, and the company was purchased by WorldCom in 1999 for $520 million (Australian). During this time, Turnbull became associated with the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), serving as its chairman from 1993 to 2000. He was one of the chief supporters of the unsuccessful referendum in 1999 that would have replaced the British-appointed governor-general with an Australian president as chief of state.

      Turnbull had better luck with his next campaign, however, when he was selected by the Liberals as their candidate for the Wentworth seat over Peter King, the constituency's sitting MP, and he won the seat in the 2004 election. In 2006 he was promoted to parliamentary secretary for water issues, and the following year he was elevated to environment minister. He retained his seat in the November 2007 election and campaigned for party leader when Prime Minister John Winston Howard (Howard, John Winston) lost his seat and the Liberals were returned to opposition. Turnbull's bid fell three votes short, however, and he took a post as shadow treasurer. In September 2008 Liberal leader Brendan Nelson called for a vote of confidence, and Turnbull defeated him by four votes to become Liberal Party leader.

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