Morrison ‘saved lives': Why former PM deserves highest honour in the land
Speaking to our deputy federal editor Nick Bonyhady on The Morning Edition podcast, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald's senior economics correspondent Shane Wright discusses the 830-name-strong 2025 King's Birthday honours list and why, despite some branding it 'the worst insult to all Australians', there is a case that the 30th prime minister of Australia deserves to be included on it.
Click the player below to listen to the full episode, or read on for an edited extract of the conversation.
Bonyhady: What's the reaction been like [to Scott Morrison's King's Birthday honour]?
Wright: Well, a bit like the reaction to Scott Morrison in general. I think that'd be the best way to describe it. There are those who recognise that this is a recognition of just how hard the job is and the period in which he was prime minister. So remember, he gets elected in 2019 … he is in charge during COVID-19, which, by any stretch of any imagination, [was] one of the more telling and difficult periods for administrations around the world ... plus they've tacked on AUKUS and striking the deal with Britain and the United States for a large number of very expensive submarines right into the defence space. So that's what the recognition is.
But the reaction is falling a bit on political lines, so former prime ministers don't often get much love, especially if they've been voted out of office ... you can see some of that is, 'Why the hell did ScoMo get this? It should be going to somebody more deserving.' But of course, you then have to ignore the fact that every prime minister has had recognition of them because ultimately, running the country for however long is almost the pinnacle of political life, of public life in this country. So that's a recognition of that.
Bonyhady: You covered the ups and downs of his time in office, the JobKeeper payments, but also the scandals around robo-debt. On balance, do you think he deserves the award?
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