Prince Philip 'extremely deserving' of Australian knighthood, says minister; PM facing continuing backlash from party colleagues

Updated

A string of Federal Government frontbenchers are defending the Prime Minister's decision to award Australia's highest honour to the Duke of Edinburgh.

Mr Abbott's move, revealed on Australia Day, has both puzzled and angered many of his colleagues keen for the Government to start the year on the front foot.

A number of Government MPs who have publicly raised concerns argue there are many Australians who are more deserving.

But today Defence Minister Kevin Andrews provided strong support for the decision, describing Prince Philip's contribution as "phenomenal".

Mr Andrews said there was a precedent for giving the award to people outside Australia, and said the criticism was "lacking the generosity for which we Australians are famed".

"It doesn't cost us anything to give him this award," he said.

"How else do we say, in a sense, thank you to someone who's given six decades of public service?

"I think it's a phenomenal contribution. He's still doing it in his 90s now and I think we should just be generous about it."

Frontbench senator Michaelia Cash described Prince Philip as "extremely deserving" in terms of the contribution he has made through schemes like the Duke of Edinburgh's award.

"The backlash will be the backlash. Some people don't agree with the decision," she said.

"I'm all about celebrating. I choose to celebrate achievements. And both Angus Houston [also knighted on Australia Day] and Prince Philip have significant records of community service when it comes to the Commonwealth and Australia."

She described the controversy over the decision as a "small distraction" from the bigger picture for the Government.

This morning senior minister Mathias Cormann dodged questions about whether the Prime Minister made the appropriate decision.

"I'm not a commentator. That was a decision that was made by the Prime Minister," he told the AM program.

"Prince Philip has made a significant contribution in Australia. He's made a significant contribution in particular to the Duke of Edinburgh award, to the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Australians."

Queensland MP says 'didn't believe' announcement

Yesterday, Cabinet ministers told the ABC they were bewildered, angered and dismayed by the award of a knighthood to the duke.

Two Queensland coalition MPs have broken ranks to publicly criticise the move, which other MPs have called "a stupid announcement", "beyond ridiculous" and "another error of political judgment".

Coalition MP Ewen Jones said he agreed governors-general could be eligible to be made knights or dames, but not British royals.

"I didn't believe it," he said.

"I thought of all the things we could do on Australia Day ... Townsville's citizen of the year was a 50-year volunteer of the Girl Guides. I think there's a lot more for Australia that she's done than Prince Philip."

But Mr Jones does not think the decision reflects on the Prime Minister's political judgment or on the Government.

"Everyone knows that Tony Abbott holds the monarchy very close to himself," he said.

"This is a captain's pick in which he's made it very clear that this is what he wants to do. This has nothing to do with Government policy; it has nothing to do with process.

"This is something that Tony believes we as a nation need to do. I disagree, but I don't think this shows that he is disconnected from the Australian people at all.

"Would I have done it? No. But do I object to him doing it? No, I don't object to him doing it."

MP says decision adds to 'downward spiral'

Another MP was more forthright, saying the announcement took the edge off what could have been a good message for Australia Day and showed the Prime Minister's misunderstanding of where Australia is at.

The MP said it was "a stupid announcement" and "manifestly amazing in the worst possible way".

He said "it just adds to the downward spiral" because, while MPs are giving their "unswerving support" to Mr Abbott, "he comes up with Prince Philip".

A second Queensland MP, Warren Entsch, said "for the life of me, I can't understand why" Mr Abbott decided to honour a British royal.

Another MP said "everyone's scratching their heads" at "another error of judgment", adding tongue in cheek that it was appropriate in the centenary of Gallipoli for the Prime Minister to keep blowing the whistle, ordering troops to keep going over the top "only to face certain annihilation".

"Beyond ridiculous" was yet another Coalition response.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said Prince Philip already had "every title under the sun".

"This is a bit like giving Bill Gates an abacus," he said. "I don't know what he's going to do with it."

Senator Xenophon said he did not see any upside to the Prime Minister's decision to reinstate Australian knighthoods.

"When the Prime Minister made this announcement about a year ago, I thought it was wackily quaint and anachronistic," he said.

"But now it's just become an acute embarrassment, just plainly ridiculous.

"I reckon the Prime Minister is pushing his luck with backbenchers on this one."

Topics: abbott-tony, federal-government, government-and-politics, royal-and-imperial-matters, australia

First posted