Former Liberal Prime Minister and devout arch-monarchist until his dying breath, John Howard has thrown a shade grenade in the direction of incumbent PM and his monastic protégé Tony Abbott’s decision to reinstate imperial honours to the Order of Australia, stating he stands by his long-held beliefs that to appoint knights and dames is “somewhat anachronistic”.
Today in You know you’re conservative when John Howard is more progressive than you are, the Australian Financial Review have this morning reported that Howard would be unlikely to accept a knighthood should the offer ever be extended his way, and that remarks he made in his autobiography Lazarus Rising still ring true – the former PM being someone known for sticking to his guns:
“I had other fish to fry [in 1996],” wrote Howard in 2010, “and as a strong supporter of the constitutional monarchy continuing in Australia, I did not wish to be seen to be reviving an honour which to many, even conservative Australians, was somewhat anachronistic.”
Howard also told the AFR that “he does not want to be critical of Mr Abbott”; Malcolm Turnbull, however, had no qualms with a bit of leather-jacketed criticism, telling a crowd assembled at Parliament House last night that “the move had merely taken Australia back to 1983, the last time that knights and dames were appointed and the year that Daryl Somers won the Gold Logie.”
“Is it really so long ago?” Turnbull, noted republican, mused to a crowd who erupted in laughter. “It’s good to see the broad acceptance of it in the community today. After all there are many distinguished republics that have knights in their honours system – Guatemala for example, Peru, Argentina, Brazil. France and Italy, I mean they are two of the most distinguished republics.
“So anyone who thinks this is some kind of slap to the republicans is really misjudging the Prime Minister’s commitment to looking after all Australians and bringing us all together.”
Speaking of 1983:
via AFR
Photo: Matt King via Getty
