Tony Abbott under fire from Cabinet colleagues over decision to grant knighthood to Prince Philip

Updated

Some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's most senior colleagues are bewildered, angered and dismayed by his decision to award an Australian knighthood to Prince Philip.

Prince Philip and former Defence Force chief Angus Houston were named Australia's newest knights today, under an honours system reinstated by Mr Abbott last year.

Cabinet ministers have told the ABC the Prime Minister did not consult any of the leadership group before announcing the move.

Mr Abbott agreed it was a "captain's call", saying he consulted only with Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Order of Australia chairman Sir Angus.

Ministers said they would have opposed the knighthood, if asked.

One described it as a "stupid" decision that would make the Government an object of ridicule.

Another said the Prime Minister's colleagues were willing him to succeed, but he had started the year badly and had made the job of trying to lift the Coalition's electoral credibility just that much harder.

"There is an old saying that when you are in a hole you should stop digging," one minister said.

"Well, we've just punched through the Earth's crust."

Another Coalition MP said the move reinforced the left-wing caricature of the Prime Minister: the appointment harked to Australia's past and the opportunity of making a positive statement about the future on the national day had been squandered.

The private anger of Coalition MPs and ministers was given public voice by the conservative chief minister of the northern territory, Adam Giles.

He said that when he read reports of the Prince's knighthood this morning he wondered if he had woken on April Fools' Day.

"It's Australia Day," he said. "We're not a bunch of tossers, let's get it right."

The move to award an Australian knighthood to the Queen's husband has also been criticised by republicans, with former Western Australia premier Geoff Gallop calling it a "sad reflection" on Australia.

And it drew fire on social media from commentators including Canberra press gallery veteran Laurie Oakes, who tweeted: "Libs must wonder who can help a PM apparently determined to be seen as a joke. #jokeknighthood".

Answering questions about the decision at an Australia Day event in Canberra today, Mr Abbott said he was "really pleased" the Queen had accepted his recommendations on the knighthoods and added that whilst the Duke had not called to say thank you for the honour, he did not "expect gratitude".

And he said social media criticism of the move was akin to "electronic graffiti"

"I think that in the media, you make a big mistake to pay too much attention to social media. You wouldn't report what's sprayed up up on the walls of buildings and look, as I said, social media has its place, but it's anonymous," he told reporters.

"It's often very abusive and in a sense, it has about as much authority and credibility as graffiti that happens to be put forward by means of IT."

Mr Abbott said he stood by the decision to award the knighthood to 93-year-old Prince Philip because "the monarchy has been an important part of Australia's life since 1788".

"Prince Philip has been a great servant of Australia, he's been a great servant of all the countries of the Commonwealth.

"Here in this country he's the patron of hundreds of organisations. He's the inspiration and wellspring of the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards which have provided leadership training for tens if not hundreds of thousands of Australians over the years.

"I'm just really pleased that in his 90s, towards the end of a life of service and duty, we in this country are able to properly acknowledge what he's done for us."

Asked how widely he had consulted before making the decision, Mr Abbott said: "As you would expect, I consulted with the Chairman of the Order of Australia, and I consulted with the Governor-General. That's what you would expect."

Asked if Prince Philip was a "captain's pick" for the award, Mr Abbott said "I'm not going to dispute your characterisation" before calling for questions on other topics.

Shorten says award for British royal 'a time warp'

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who yesterday called for a renewed debate on Australia becoming a republic, said giving a knighthood to an English royal on Australia Day was outside the mainstream of Australian thinking.

"It's a time warp where we're giving knighthoods to English royalty," Mr Shorten told Fairfax Radio.

"On Australia Day, we're talking about Australia, Australian identity, the Government's managed to find a British royal to give a medal to, a knighthood to."

He said that if Labor won office it would not continue the tradition of knights or dames.

"When we look at Australia in the 21st century, it's about who we're going to be as a people and I just think giving out a top award to a British royal is anachronistic."

Prince has 'long relationship with Australia'

Earlier the head of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Professor David Flint, said the knighthood was an appropriate recognition for Prince Philip's "long relationship with Australia".

"He was a sailor in the convoys that protected Australian troops being taken to the Middle East in the Second World War," Professor Flint said.

"He was also in the Pacific Fleet and he was actually in Tokyo Bay at the time the Japanese surrendered.

"He opened the '56 Olympics, he's got a very long relationship through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme."

But Mr Gallop said Mr Abbott's decision to start awarding Australian knighthoods had "heavily polluted" the Australian honours system.

"As we try to reflect upon our nation ... one of Australia's highest honours goes to someone who's not part of our community," he said.

"In effect this is the eccentricity of Tony Abbott's views on our constitution coming through.

"It certainly doesn't reflect the view of the Australian people through a meritocratic process."

Famed for his off-the-cuff quips and gaffes, Prince Philip, who married Queen Elizabeth in 1947, is the longest serving royal consort in British history.

The Queen once described him as "my strength and stay all these years".

But the duke, a constant presence by his wife's side throughout her six decades on the throne, has suffered a series of health scares in recent years.

Topics: constitution, government-and-politics, royal-and-imperial-matters, human-interest, abbott-tony, australia, united-kingdom

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