PM given a backbone for anniversary

What do you give the man who has everything on his first anniversary of becoming prime minister?

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic settled on a model of a human spine - arguing Malcolm Turnbull was missing one.

"What he really needs in government is a backbone," Mr Husic told reporters, holding up the prop outside Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

Liberal MP Andrew Laming who was watching the spectacle joked "you've got a nerve mate".

But Mr Husic insisted Mr Turnbull was more prime ministerial spokesman than prime minister, labelling him the C.J Cregg of Australian politics, a reference to the president's spokeswoman in the US TV series West Wing.

That's because he was constantly announcing policy decisions made by someone else.

One year on Mr Turnbull still thought he was the smartest person in the room, while his predecessor Tony Abbott tried to tear that room apart, Mr Husic said.

Greens MP Adam Bandt seized on Mr Turnbull's first year to make a political point about the plebiscite on same-sex marriage.

"On your first anniversary you're meant to give gifts of paper that signify your love," he said.

"Malcolm Turnbull is giving the Australian public a bill for taxpayer-funded hate speech directed at same-sex couples and their kids."