21 Things Malcolm Turnbull Did, Or Didn't Do, As Prime Minister

    There's never been a more exciting time, etc.

    Malcolm Turnbull is no longer the prime minister of Australia. He was replaced by former treasurer Scott Morrison in a leadership ballot on Friday.

    Here are some of the highs, lows, and major moments of his time in the top job.

    1. Knifing Abbott.

    Turnbull became prime minister in September 2015, when he challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership and won the vote 54-44.

    In his first speech as PM, he said: "There has never been a more exciting time to be alive than today and there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian."

    2. Winning the 2016 election...just.

    The inconclusive election wasn't determined for more than a week, and Turnbull ended up with a wafer thin one seat majority.

    3. Scrapping knights and dames.

    Abbott was widely ridiculed for bringing back the outdated title system which meant Aussies could now be awarded with the titles "Sir" and "Dame".

    Just weeks into his prime ministership, devout republican Turnbull scrapped the titles because they "are not appropriate in our modern honours system".

    4. THAT phone call with United States president Donald Trump.

    It was a tense exchange over the refugee swap deal that Turnbull had struck with former president Barack Obama – but to be honest the call was awkward from the very beginning.

    Turnbull: I am doing very well.

    Trump: And I guess our friend Greg Norman, he is doing very well?

    Turnbull: He is a great mutual friend yes.

    5. Reinstating watchdogs for the construction sector and unions.

    The Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation established a watchdog to police illegal activity in the construction industry. The Registered Organisations Commission imposed "higher standards of regulation" on union officials.

    6. Saying the 2016 Census was easy while the whole country lost its mind trying to deal with the crashed website.

    We filled in the @ABSCensus tonight online - v easy to do. And so important for planning better Govt services & investment for the future

    7. Being dubbed "Mr Harbourside Mansion" by Abbott's former chief of staff Peta Credlin.

    The name stuck.

    8. Continuing Australia's offshore detention policy throughout his time in office.

    9. And giving Peter Dutton his own super portfolio to help do so.

    10. Wanting to drug test people on welfare.

    11. Gently stroking a rat.

    The PM @TurnbullMalcolm encounters Shane and his #rat Splinter in Western Sydney #ausvotes #auspol

    12. Snowy Hydro 2.0

    Turnbull's plan was to add pump storage to the Snowy Mountains Scheme, eventually adding 2000 megawatts of clean, renewable energy to the grid powering Australia's east coast.

    13. When he said this: "The leader of the National Party, the deputy prime minister of Australia is qualified to sit in this house and the High Court will so hold."

    Turnbull's prediction was completely wrong. The High Court in fact ruled deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was no longer a member of parliament because he was a dual citizen with New Zealand at the time of the 2016 election.

    14. Actually just the whole section 44 dual citizenship debacle in general.

    15. Holding the same-sex marriage postal survey and passing legislation after it returned a "yes" vote.

    16. Rejecting the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

    The landmark statement from hundreds of Indigenous Australians who gathered at Uluru in 2017 called for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice to parliament, and a commission to establish a treaty and truth-telling process about Australian history. But the government said there was no way the Indigenous voice proposal would pass a referendum.

    17. The bonk ban.

    Turnbull banned ministers from sleeping with their staff after it was revealed Barnaby Joyce was having a baby with his former media adviser, Vikki Campion.

    18. Giving one organisation half a billion dollars to save the Great Barrier Reef after meeting with them once.

    19. Passing personal income tax cuts and backing down on company tax cuts.

    The government passed $144 billion in personal income tax cuts earlier this year. But this week, Turnbull announced the government would not take its policy to the next election after the Senate voted down the company tax cut legislation last week. But

    20. Backing down on energy.

    Turnbull this week announced he would not legislate to lock in Australia's emissions reduction target, even though the week before he said the 26% target – part of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) – had to be legislated in order to stop future governments changing it at a whim.

    21. And the leadership spill that ended it all.

    Turnbull stepped down after the Liberal party room agreed to have a second vote on the party leadership in a single week. Scott Morrison beat out Peter Dutton and former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop to become the next PM.