Cika wannan jumla: Turnbull ya kammala karatunsa daga Jami'ar Sydney tare da digiri na farko na Arts da kuma digiri na farko na Dokoki, kafin ya halarci Kwalejin Brasenose, Oxford a matsayin Rhodes Scholar, yana samun digiri na farko na Civil Law. Fiye da shekaru ashirin, ya yi aiki a matsayin ɗan jarida, lauya, ɗan banki, kuma mai saka hannun jari. Ya yi aiki a matsayin Shugaban Jam'iyyar Jam'iyyar Republican ta Australiya daga 1993 zuwa 2000, kuma yana daya daga cikin shugabannin yakin neman zaben da ba a yi nasara ba a cikin Jam'iyyar Republican ta Australiya.
Zaben raba gardama na shekarar 1999. An fara zabarsa a majalisar wakilai ta Ostiraliya don Rukunin Wentworth a New South Wales a zaben 2004, kuma ya kasance Ministan Muhalli da Ruwa a karkashin John Howard daga Janairu 2007 zuwa Disamba 2007.