Time for another evolutionary step for Australian honours

Article by John Warhurst
Canberra Times
1 July 2005

The award of official honours to Australians who have served their community in an outstanding way has evolved over time. Now is the time for another step in that evolution so that the true Australian character of these awards is not undermined in any way.

The major step in the move towards Australianising our honours system occurred in 1975. The Prime Minister Gough Whitlam had been thinking about it since 1967 when he suggested to the then Prime Minister, Harold Holt, that Australia should follow the lead of Canada and establish our own system of honours to replace the British Empire (imperial) honours system.

Canada had done so earlier in 1967, which was the centennial year for its constitution. Imperial honours were distinguished by knighthoods at the highest levels, but more generally by the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Whitlam received permission from the Queen for a new set of national awards and the establishment of the Order of Australia was announced by the Governor General, Sir John Kerr, appropriately on Australia Day, 26 January 1975.

Whitlam was a man of his times on these matters and no radical. He therefore proposed that the first awards would be announced to the public on the Queen's birthday and actually awarded by the Queen herself when she next visited.

Not only did imperial honours cease being recommended by the federal government, and eventually by all state governments too, but in an important step the awards were now to be made on the recommendation not of governments but of an independent council. This removed any hint of partisanship in the making of the awards.

Of course while they are specifically Australian awards they are still formally the Queen's awards. The Queen is described officially as the "Sovereign Head of the Order" while her representative the Governor-General is "Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order and responsible for its administration".

The arrangements for the Order of Australia have served us well enough for almost thirty years. Awards are announced twice a year, on Australia Day and on the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Now it is time to move on. The whole point of the introduction of the Australian awards was to cut the imperial connection. This should be made crystal clear in a way that it is not at the moment.

Senator Guy Barnett, Liberal senator for Tasmania, recognises this and has made the excellent suggestion that the awards should be moved away from the Queen's Birthday holiday to avoid such confusion. The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) backs this suggestion.

The issue came to a head more this year than previously because of the presence among the awardees of a diverse group of well-known republicans. Cardinal George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, moved one of the key republican motions at the Constitutional Convention on the republic in 1998. Eddie McGuire, President of the Collingwood Football Club and leading television personality, headed the ARM ticket in Victoria for the Constitutional Convention. Rev.Tim Costello, now head of World Vision Australia, was also an elected republican delegate. Other republican campaigners like the actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward also featured in the awards on this occasion.

Suddenly the fact that they were committed republicans became an issue, although it was not even the reason for their awards. A Melbourne newspaper described it as "a paradox that a republican should accept a monarchical award, Queen Elizabeth II's birthday honours".

The same Melbourne newspaper put the issue to the test. In one of its daily polls it asked its readers "Should republicans accept Queen's Birthday Honours?" The result was overwhelming that republicans, who make up two-thirds of the Australian community, should not accept such honours.

The vote was NO 92.5% and YES only 7.5%. 559 people voted. Such community confusion is a natural consequence of the current arrangements and the government and the Governor General ought to do something about it by announcing the awards on another day. Senator Barnett deserves support for his campaign to "'Australianise' our institutions and honours system and help make them relevant in 21st century Australia".

Guy Barnett made his suggestion in an article calling for the replacement of the Queen's Birthday holiday with an alternative day. He suggested instead a holiday for International Volunteers Day on December 5. The time will come when the Queen's Birthday holiday is renamed. Republicans believe that it has become anachronistic and should be renamed after Australia chooses to become a republic.

The future of the day itself can wait until there has been more community discussion and consultation. But in the meantime there is a pressing need to clarify the position of Australian honours. This first step can easily be addressed.

Just which alternative day is best should also be a matter for the community. Barnett himself suggests several thoughtful alternatives. One is to make use of Anzac Day for military and bravery awards so as to further enhance that celebration. Another is to set aside and make use of a holiday to honour Indigenous Australians.

The volume and steady flow of awards probably necessitates two occasions at least four months apart, one of which should be Australia Day. The other should be mid-year. There is no reason why the awards should be announced on a holiday. But whatever alternative day is chosen the Queen's Birthday is now clearly inappropriate as it fails the basic test of being an occasion that enhances the distinctive Australian character of the awards.

John Warhurst is chair of the Australian Republican Movement