On 15 September, Malcolm Turnbull became Australia’s 29th Prime Minister. Incumbents have enjoyed an average of just under four years in the post since Federation in 1901. However, the country has had five prime ministerial appointments in the last eight years, so cynics have been quick to suggest that the country is heading for chronic political instability in line with Italy.
Turnbull represents the stereotype of the self-made man. Brought up by his father after his mother left the family, Turnbull achieved well at school and after completing undergraduate studies in Sydney he won a Rhodes scholarship to study in Oxford. His widely recognised powerful intellect quickly set him on the path to achievement in a variety of fields.
A wealthy thinker
In his 60 years of life, Turnbull has worked as a journalist, lawyer, investment banker and venture capitalist, accumulating a sizeable fortune in the process. His name regularly appears on lists of Australia’s wealthiest people. However, he is no unthinking Conservative for whom change is anathema. On the contrary, as chair of the Australian Republican Movement from 1993–2000, Turnbull showed that he was very much a man of the 21st century.
