Honouring Scott Morrison makes a mockery of awards system
We learnt a lot about Scott Morrison after he was dismissed by Australian voters in May 2022. We continue to learn more, none of it good.
And now, the worst insult to all Australians, Morrison is a King's Birthday recipient of a Companion of the Order of Australia, the highest honour in the land. Unlike most honours lists, this one hasn't been a secret. Crikey broke the embargo as soon as they received the list. It's a thing they do.
Want a list of the many transgressions Morrison committed against Australians? Let's begin with the most recent – his secret appointment to key ministries during COVID-19. Legal but fundamentally undermining of the principles of responsible government. At least that's what our Solicitor-General found.
As immigration minister under PM Tony Abbott, Morrison overrode medical advice and in turn made it harder for an asylum seeker in offshore detention to access an abortion. This was part of a policy that hampered asylum seekers in offshore detention from accessing medical treatment in Australia.
The breathtaking breadth and depth of the cruelty of robo-debt. The cold-bloodedness of his comments about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout – apparently it wasn't a race until it was.
And that was on top of what we already knew about him. Apparently, he had to talk to his wife and daughters to clarify the need for further action against sexual harassment and sexual assault. He told women of Australia they were lucky to be able to demonstrate in peace and safety. He embarrassed everyone, even his own colleagues, when he said: 'I don't hold a hose, mate' during the Black Summer bushfires. Careless? Or callous?
News of Morrison's honour devastated me. I've been writing about honours since Gaia was a girl (in those early days of my career, this was a suitable topic for a girl reporter). I've written about the good ones and the bad ones, I've endlessly written about the disproportionate number of men, the disproportionate number of people from wealthy postcodes, the fact that some of our most brilliant First Nations citizens are left off the list. I've berated the number of people who get these awards – which should be our most valuable accolades – just for doing their jobs. Mostly, it's been about how terrible the choices are, and how they bear nearly no connection with the real life of courageous Australians. Time after time, someone gets a gong who really, really shouldn't. It takes a criminal conviction for an honour to be removed. Even people who are paedophile sympathisers get a gong and get to keep a gong.
But the award to Scott Morrison absolutely takes the cake for poor judgment and bad timing.
Let me first say that each and every former prime minister has one of these to pin to their lapel. And each and every one of those people has made bad decisions that harmed Australians.
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