According to Royal News Blog:
“Pre-eminent” Australians will become knights and dames at the Queen’s approval for the first time since 1989….
[Prime Minister Tony] Abbott said the award would go to “those who have accepted public office rather than sought it” which means it is unlikely to go to former politicians….More likely recipients…would be chiefs of the defence force and chief justices – people…who “by virtue of the office they have held, could never entirely return to private life”….
Abbott said the new award was needed because the existing system was for “eminent Australians” but the knights and dames would be “pre-eminent” Australians.
To read the full article in Royal News Blog, please click here.
Tony Abbott in 2010. Photo by MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy)
