John Howard honoured by the Queen - Order of Merit

[Garpal Gumnut]

Australia's greatest PM has been honoured by HM the Queen, with other people of merit.

Well deserved.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/01/david-hockney-order-of-merit

Former Australian prime minister John Howard, who served in office from 1996 to 2007, has also been appointed a member of the Order of Merit.

The honour is a special award presented to individuals of great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature, science and other areas like public service.

gg

 

[bellenuit]

Australia's greatest PM has been honoured by HM the Queen, with other people of merit.

Well deserved.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/01/david-hockney-order-of-merit



gg

Presumably the Queen doesn't choose who is to get that honour, so I assume that our Julia made the recommendation?

 

[Logique]

Australia's greatest PM has been honoured by HM the Queen, with other people of merit.
Well deserved.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/01/david-hockney-order-of-merit
gg

Have spoken to a lot of fearful people over the hols, that wish he would come back. While he's been away the teenagers in Canberra have gotten hold of the national credit card, they're working on maxing it out, at a record rate.

 

[Knobby22]

Presumably the Queen doesn't choose who is to get that honour, so I assume that our Julia made the recommendation?

No, this is one of the very few that the Queen makes on her own.

I think it was well deserved.

 

[Calliope]

No, this is one of the very few that the Queen makes on her own.

I think it was well deserved.

From the outset, prime ministers attempted to propose candidates or lobbied to influence the monarch's decision on appointments, but the Royal Household adamantly guarded information about potential names. After 1931, when the Statute of Westminster came into being and the Dominions of the British Empire became independent states, equal in status to the UK, the Order of Merit remained an honour open to all the King's realms; thus, as with the monarch who conferred it, the order ceased to be purely British.
From its inception, the order has been open to women, Florence Nightingale being the first woman to receive the honour, in 1907. Several individuals have refused admission into the Order of Merit, such as Rudyard Kipling, A. E. Housman, and George Bernard Shaw. To date, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, remains the youngest person ever inducted into the Order of Merit, having been admitted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, when he was 47 years of age

(Wikipedia)

It is interesting that the last four appointees are among the few that don't also have knighthoods

(186) Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada, appointed 13 July 2009[17]
(187) Neil MacGregor, art historian and Director of the British Museum, appointed 4 November 2010[18]
(188) David Hockney, artist, appointed 1 January 2012[19]
(189) John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, appointed 1 January 2012[19]

 

[Julia]

Good for John Howard. I'm glad he's been given that level of recognition.

I sometimes think of Maxine McKew's triumphant victory which lost John Howard his seat. What a waste of time she turned out to be.

I didn't agree with all of John Howard's decisions, viz Afghanistan and Iraq in particular, but always had great respect for his authentic resolution. He knew what he believed in and was prepared to stick with it. Imo he had genuine authority.

If he ever lost his temper or engaged in the sort of malicious slanging matches so common these days (particularly from Ms Gillard), I missed it.

 

[sptrawler]

He would even defer to reporters when they interupted his answers, rather than bicker with them, an absolute statesman.
Both sides of parliament would do well to try and emulate his demeanor.
I suppose that's why the Queen honoured him, it takes 'class' to recognise 'class'.

 

[So_Cynical]

Have spoken to a lot of fearful people over the hols, that wish he would come back. While he's been away the teenagers in Canberra have gotten hold of the national credit card, they're working on maxing it out, at a record rate.

LOL @ fearful, kids with the credit card...what is it with conservatives and fear, johnny really knew how to push the fear buttons of the faithful.

----------

On subject well deserved, he was a career polly and a successful one, he kept stepping up and that's rare enough.

Congrats John

Is there an Honour for not knowing its time to step aside and for the greatest political blunder in modern Aust politics. :dunno:

 

[DB008]

Is there an Honour for not knowing its time to step aside and for the greatest political blunder in modern Aust politics. :dunno:

Which was?

 

[sptrawler]

Which was, Dannyboy, not stepping aside for Costello when the media demanded he should.LOL
The result wouldn't have changed, just shows Costello didn't have the fortitude to get on with it, Howard was the best option.
The change of government would have happened anyway IMO. When things are going well, voters want change.
It is a bit like masochism, if it doesn't hurt it can't be good.LOL
If Costello was leader of the coalition, they would probably be in office now. Rudd knew that and hung the $ out to move him on.

 

[So_Cynical]

Which was?

You don't know?

Why did the Coalition lose the 07 election? you really don't know.

 

[Calliope]

You don't know?

Why did the Coalition lose the 07 election? you really don't know.

It was the power the trade unions bought to bear to denigrate Work Choices. Their campaign of fear and lies hitting the TV screens every night, swung the election to Labor. It was so successful, that to this day Abbott is afraid to open his mouth about industrial relations. Combet and Shorten have only to say the words "work choices" and Mr Rabbit goes scurrying back to his burrow.

 

[DB008]

You don't know?

Why did the Coalition lose the 07 election? you really don't know.

I just wanted to see what you'd say.
Yes, work choices was Howard's downfall.
However, 1 bad decision (work choices) vs 5 (at least, by my count), will mean a total wipe out for the current Government

 

[Starcraftmazter]

Greatest? Nothing but a piece of !@#$ crony who oversaw the creation of the biggest housing bubble in Australia's history, and in doing so destroyed our economy.

He deserves to be hanged.

 

[Julia]

He deserves to be hanged.

Surely you can express a view without being so gratuitously offensive.

 

[Starcraftmazter]

Surely you can express a view without being so gratuitously offensive.

You do not think it is appropriate to hang someone who causes trillions of dollars of malinvestment and bankrupts millions of people, most of whom are young families?

 

[moXJO]

Greatest? Nothing but a piece of !@#$ crony who oversaw the creation of the biggest housing bubble in Australia's history, and in doing so destroyed our economy.

He deserves to be hanged.

Where the hell are you living, housing hasn’t crashed and the economy is chugging along taking hits from labor.

 

[DB008]

Greatest? Nothing but a piece of !@#$ crony who oversaw the creation of the biggest housing bubble in Australia's history, and in doing so destroyed our economy.

He deserves to be hanged.

Seriously....

Where the hell are you living, housing hasn’t crashed and the economy is chugging along taking hits from labor.

+1
Did Australia crash like the USA? NO!

 

[explod]

Seriously....




+1
Did Australia crash like the USA? NO!

USA crash, "don't look now but I think its coming"

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

You do not think it is appropriate to hang someone who causes trillions of dollars of malinvestment and bankrupts millions of people, most of whom are young families?

Mate, as my old mate Christopher Hitchens once said to an eejit who made a similar inane comment,

" If they gave you an enema Starcraftmazter, they could bury you in a matchbox. "

gg