Risky Biz special guest: Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Presented by

This edition of the show is brought to you with the assistance the Hewlett Foundation, which awarded us a grant so we could do these policy-focussed podcasts.

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull served as a member of Parliament from 2004 until 2018, and as Prime Minister from September 2015 until August 2018. But he has been a public figure in Australia for decades. He’s an Oxford-educated lawyer who studied there under a Rhodes scholarship, he’s worked as a journalist, as the personal lawyer to Australian media baron Kerry Packer and was a leader of the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to make Australia a republic in the 1990s.

He can also list a number of achievements in the business world. In 1994 he invested half a million dollars into Australian ISP Ozemail, selling his stake to Worldcom in 1999 for $57m.

As you’ll hear, now he’s returned to private life Turnbull is investing in technology again. He joined the show to talk about cybersecurity in government, Huawei, the 2016 hack-and-leak operation against the DNC – which took place while he was PM – and more.

Brought to you by The Hewlett Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation invests in creative thinkers and problem solvers who are working to ensure everyone has a meaningful opportunity to thrive.