Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is the 29th and current Prime Minister of Australia. He became prime minister and Leader of the Liberal Party in 2015 and has been the member of parliament for Wentworth since 2004.

Turnbull attended Sydney Grammar School before going to the University of Sydney, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. He then attended Brasenose College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where he attained a Bachelor of Civil Law. Before entering politics, Turnbull worked as a journalist, lawyer, investment banker and venture capitalist. In 1993, he became the chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, serving in the position until 2000.

Briefly Minister for the Environment and Water in the Howard Government in 2007, Turnbull was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in September 2008, becoming Leader of the Opposition. In November 2009, his support for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme proposed by the Rudd Government split the Liberal Party, and in a ballot the following month Turnbull lost the leadership to Tony Abbott by one vote. Initially intending to leave politics, Turnbull remained in parliament and eventually became Minister for Communications in the Abbott Government in September 2013.

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of state's official representative (i.e. the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers.

The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of parliament and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) that are constitutionally vested in the crown and may be exercised without the approval of parliament.

Malcolm

Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to:

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Nobility

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Surname

Bill Shorten

William Richard "Bill" Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician who has been Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition since October 2013.

He has represented Maribyrnong in the Australian House of Representatives since 2007, and served in a number of ministerial positions in the Rudd and Gillard Governments, including Minister for Education and Minister for Workplace Relations. Prior to entering Parliament, he was the National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union from 2001 to 2007.

Early career

Shorten was born in Melbourne, where his father, William Robert Shorten—from Tyneside, England—was a waterside worker and union official. His mother, Ann Shorten (née McGrath) was a lawyer and university academic of Irish descent. He was educated at Xavier College and Monash University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 and Bachelor of Laws in 1992. He also gained a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne in 2001.