A Bigger Picture: With new foreword
About this ebook
When Malcolm Turnbull took over the nation’s top job there was a sense of excitement in Australia. Sky-high opinion polls followed as the political outsider with a successful business, legal and media career took charge. The infighting that had dogged politics for the best part of a decade looked to be over. But a right-wing insurgency brutally cut down Turnbull’s time in office after three years, leaving many Australians asking, ‘Why?’
Exceptionally candid and compelling, A Bigger Picture is the definitive narrative of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership. He describes how he legalised same-sex marriage, established Snowy Hydro 2.0, stood up to Donald Trump, and many more achievements – remarkable in their pace and significance, and delivered in the teeth of so much opposition. But it’s far more than just politics. Turnbull’s life has been filled with colourful characters and controversies, success and failure. From his early years in Sydney, growing up with a single father, to defending 'Spycatcher' Peter Wright against the UK government; the years representing Kerry Packer, leading the Republican Movement and making millions in business; and finally toppling Tony Abbott to become prime minister of Australia. For the first time he tells it all – in his own words.
With revelatory insights on the workings of Canberra and the contentious events of Turnbull’s life, A Bigger Picture explores the strengths and vulnerabilities of one of Australia’s best-known and most dynamic business and political leaders. Lyrically written in highly readable and entertaining prose, this is a genuine page-turner that’s not just for political junkies.
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About the author
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.
