Lucy Turnbull

Lucinda Mary Turnbull (née Hughes; born 30 March 1958) is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former local government politician.

She was educated at Kincoppal-Rose Bay, Frensham School in Mittagong, Sydney Girls High School and the University of Sydney, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1982.

Turnbull also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management of the University of New South Wales.

She served on the Sydney City Council from 1999 to 2004, including as Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2003 to 2004 – the first woman to hold the position.

Turnbull was elected to Council in 1999 on the Living Sydney independent platform and was immediately elevated to the position of Deputy Lord Mayor, serving under Lord Mayor Frank Sartor.

When Sartor resigned as Lord Mayor to enter NSW politics, Turnbull was elected as his replacement.

In 1999, she published a book called Sydney: Biography of a City.

She was an independent member of the Sydney Metropolitan Development Authority, which was charged with the urban renewal and revitalisation of several precincts in Sydney, including Redfern–Waterloo.

As Lord Mayor, Turnbull awarded Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi the keys to the city of Sydney in 2003.

With a background in commercial law and investment banking, Turnbull is a Director and Secretary of Turnbull & Partners Pty Ltd, a private investment company.

In early 2004, the Carr Labor government dismissed the City of Sydney and South Sydney Councils and forced their amalgamation.

Turnbull was subsequently appointed as one of three Commissioners assigned with the responsibility of establishing a new governance structure for the merged council entity.

Turnbull, feeling the pressure of the Carr Labor government, approached Clover Moore and encouraged her to run as Lord Mayor in the hope that Labor would not gain control of the City of Sydney.

She was an independent member of the Redfern–Waterloo Authority from its establishment in 2004 until its repeal in December 2011.

She is a former board member of the Australian Technology Park, Redfern.

From 2004 until 2011, Turnbull served as Deputy Chair of the Committee for Sydney, a think tank for Greater Sydney representing public, private and not-for-profit sectors and focused on the future of the metropolitan city, and chaired it from 2011 until 2015.

From 2006–2010, she was a board member of Melbourne IT and before that a board member of WebCentral Limited.

Turnbull is a former deputy chair of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) City Expert Advisory Panel (appointed July 2010), which reported to the COAG Reform Council.

On 26 January 2011, Turnbull was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her distinguished service to the community, particularly through philanthropic contributions to, and fundraising support for, a range of medical, social welfare, educational, youth and cultural organisations, to local government, and to business.

The Expert Panel was charged with preparing a report published on 1 March 2012, advising COAG Reform Council on whether metropolitan planning systems were consistent with agreed COAG criteria.

Turnbull has also been active in the not-for-profit sector.

She serves on boards of the Biennale of Sydney, the Redfern Foundation Limited and the Turnbull Foundation.

In 2012, Turnbull was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Business by the University of NSW, and in 2016 was appointed Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Built Environment, University of NSW.

Turnbull chaired the Committee for Sydney from 2012 to 2015.

She has since held positions on a number of urban planning bodies, including as chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission from 2015 to 2020.

Her husband Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018.

Born Lucinda Mary Hughes, Turnbull is the daughter of Tom Hughes, a former Attorney-General of Australia.

Her great-grandfather was Sir Thomas Hughes, the first Lord Mayor of Sydney.

She is the Patron of DICE Kids, an organisation created at Policy Hack in 2015 and Patron of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

She is also a board member of the NSW Cancer Institute.

She has previously chaired the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation, the Sydney Cancer Centre and the Sydney Festival Limited.

In 2015 she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, a role she fulfilled until March 2020 when she resigned to work with her husband in their family business.

Turnbull was appointed chair of the Sydney Opera House Trust, commencing 1 January 2021.

Lucy Hughes was aged 19 when she met Malcolm Turnbull, who was aged 23.

Their first date was a dinner with Bob Carr and his wife Helena.

In September 2017, Turnbull received an honorary Doctorate of Letters for her substantial and sustained service and contribution to the University and to the Greater Western Sydney region.

From October 2010 to November 17, 2017 she was Non-Executive Chairman of biotechnology company Prima BioMed Limited.

She was appointed on 25 February 2022 as a Non-Executive Director of ASX listed Immutep (formerly Prima BioMed Ltd).

Turnbull has a long-standing interest in cities and their planning, governance and management, as well as the importance of technological innovation to the national economy.

In 2017, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Western Sydney University which she received for her substantial and sustained service and contribution to the University and the Greater Western Sydney region.