Knights and Dames removed from Order of Australia by Malcolm Turnbull
Monday, 2 November 2015 pper
Malcolm Turnbull has labelled knights and dames awards “anachronistic” as he scrapped the titles from Australia’s honours list more than 18 months after Tony Abbott reinstated them as a “captain’s pick”.
The Prime Minister, a prominent republican, said cabinet had signed off on the changes and agreed that knights and dames were “not appropriate in our modern honours system”.
“Knights and dames are titles that are really anachronistic … they’re out of date, they’re not appropriate in 2015 in Australia,” Mr Turnbull said in Sydney this afternoon.
“Queen Elizabeth II has agreed to amend the rules of the Order of Australia to reflect the change and “modern Australia.’’
In a statement earlier today Mr Turnbull said the removal of knights and dames wouldn’t affect those who have already received the honour.
Mr Abbott announced in March last year that he would reintroduce the awards, an honour bestowed by the Queen that had laid dormant in Australian life for almost three decades.
The staunch monarchist admitted at the time that he hadn’t sought the approval of his cabinet or partyroom.
His decision raised a few eyebrows and ruffled republicans, but he won plaudits from supporters of the Queen.
On Australia Day Mr Abbott used a “captain’s pick” to appoint Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, as a knight of Australia, sparking a backlash from some of his colleagues.
Ministers were completely surprised when Mr Abbott announced that Prince Philip had been made a knight along with Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.
Mr Abbott also appointed former governor-general Quentin Bryce as a Dame of the Order of Australia in March last year and Peter Cosgrove became a knight when he was sworn in to the role a few days later.
Former NSW governor Marie Bashir was named a dame as part of the 2014 Queen’s Birthday honours.
The subsequent controversy surrounding Prince Philip’s knighthood led to Mr Abbott promising no more “captain’s picks”. While he didn’t abolish the awards he did undertake a formal selection and screening process earlier this year to remove himself from the appointments.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media outside Bronte Public School in Sydney this afternoon. Picture: Jonathan Ng
Mr Turnbull said the Order of Australia awards were an “important way of honouring the achievements and service of many Australians, including those unsung heroes who might not otherwise be recognised outside their local communities”.
The Australian Monarchist League accused Mr Turnbull of creating “another campaign of republicanism by stealth” and questioned whether a republic would be next on the Prime Minister’s to-do list.
“The scrapping of the rank of knighthood from the Order of Australia gives all those who value constitutional security and stability cause for concern that this is just the beginning of another campaign of republicanism by stealth,” national chair Philip Benwell said.
“Whilst we all agree that the timing of the knighthood awarded to … the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) was untimely, the awarding of Australian knighthoods to the Queen’s Australian viceroys and to Australian persons of great distinction was an appropriate recognition of their service to the nation.
“Given that polls now show that the majority of Australians are not interested in constitutional change, will Malcolm Turnbull turn out to be ‘the Prime Minister who broke this nation’s heart’?”
The Australian Republican Movement said the backlash against Mr Abbott’s “captain’s pick” indicated the strong feeling that exists within the community towards the country’s identity and how it’s expressed.
ARM chair Peter FitzSimons renewed his call for Mr Turnbull, a former chair of the organisation, to commit to advancing an Australian republic during his time in office.
“With the national embarrassment that was knights and dames now resolved - we can attend to other matters - such as the fact that Australia’s head of state is still not one of us,” Mr FitzSimons said.
“Our platform is for an initial non-binding vote by 2020 and we would be delighted if the PM would adopt that plan as his own.”
Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen said Australia should be “lamenting” the fact the titles returned under Mr Abbott rather than celebrating their removal.
“They never should have been brought back. It was a farce, a joke, a national disgrace that the Liberal National government, of which Mr Turnbull was a cabinet minister, decided to set the rewind button on Australia’s national institutions and reinstate knights and dames,” he said.
“With all due respect to Angus Houston and Quentin Bryce and the other fine Australians who have received them, it is not appropriate in modern day Australia, in 2015 that we are clinging on to the vestiges of imperial Britain through our honours system.”
Greens leader Richard Di Natale welcomed Mr Turnbull’s announcement but said Australians “deserved more” from their new Prime Minister.
“I’m pretty underwhelmed that Malcolm Turnbull’s first big break from Tony Abbott is on the matter of honorifics,” Senator Di Natale said.
“It says something about the standard of leadership in this country that installing knights and dames was one of the most significant acts of our former prime minister, and undoing that folly is so far one of the most significant acts of our new one.”
Former education minister Christopher Pyne shelved another of Mr Abbott’s alleged “pet projects” when he quietly dumped plans for an Australian climate research centre linked to Bjorn Lomborg and his Copenhagen-based institute.
It is believed to be one of Mr Pyne’s final acts as education minister and occurred after Mr Turnbull became PM.
Mr Abbott also overturned a number of his captain’s picks following political and community outrage, including his signature six-month Paid Parental Leave for mothers and a ban on frontbenchers appearing on ABC’s Q&A program.
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