Malcolm Turnbull "has it in him" to be one of the nation's greatest prime ministers, Attorney-General George Brandis has said, comparing Mr Turnbull to Robert Menzies and John Howard.

Speaking to Sky on Sunday Morning, Senator Brandis said Mr Turnbull's years in the "political wilderness" after being dumped as the Liberal leader in 2009 had given him the wisdom needed for longevity – and the first few weeks of the new parliament had proven it.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Credit:Andrew Meares

"We've had a great week, in fact we have had a great fortnight," Senator Brandis said. "We've had the omnibus budget savings bill go through…we've had an enormously difficult issue, that is the issue of the plebiscite which had…so much potential to cause division in the party room, landed in a manner which both sides of the argument could accept, and we've had the superannuation reforms as well, which had caused quite a lot of heat on my side of politics, landed in a way that the coalition party room will accept and ultimately I am very sure the Labor party will accept.

"And what those three issues, all of which dealt with so well, tell us…that the byword of the 45th parliament is compromise."