A Case For Knighthoods in Australia

 

 

When Prime Minister Abbott called a press conference last week, there was little hint to what would be announced, was it new information in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370, speculation amongst the Canberra Press Gallery was rife.

The Prime Minister approached the podium and soon all was apparent, Knights and Dames within the Order of Australia had returned, the first appointments being outgoing Governor General Quentin Bryce AC, CVO and incoming Governor General Peter Cosgrove AC, MC. Instantly if one believed those from the opposition benches, the press and some commentators, 21^st century Australia had somehow been transported to a feudal era where recipients of these so called Imperial Honours would patrol their outback estates upon a trusty steed, with his Lady and the local peasantry all forced to pay homage, or as other would have it the Prime Minister was awaiting to bestow it upon mining magnates or former politicians, there were even suggestions from some that he secretly coveted the honour himself. Sadly even those who were prepared to at least discuss the matter in more civil tones were often speaking from a position of ignorance, spreading misinformation to an already ill-informed public.

What the Prime Minister had announced was that the Grade of Knight and Dame within the Order of Australia would be reintroduced, to be bestowed upon those Australians primarily who had not sort public office. There could be no question of following the New Zealand example of also applying this to Companions of the Order of Australia, as unlike New Zealand whose Companions had previously been Knight/Dame Companions, before the Labour Governments reforms of the Honour System under Prime Minister Helen Clarke, this had never been the case in Australia. We would revert to the pre 1986 position of the Order of Australia consisting of five grades the AK, AC, AO, AM and OAM.

Many of the critics either deliberately or through ignorance suggested that this was an Imperial Honour, which if the case would mean appointments would be in The Order of the British Empire, or the Order of St Michael and St George for example. Be assured this is an Australian Honour within the order of Australia. In fact honours such as Knighthoods despite what some may lead us to think, are not confined purely Britain at all. Many countries both Monarchies and Republics alike such as Thailand, Italy and France bestow such an honour (Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove holds both a French and Papal Knighthood) and whilst Mr Shorten has pointed out his party opposes such honours and titles, it would appear that this does not extend to accepting foreign honours, being no better illustrated than the acceptance by Whitlam, Hawke and Keating all former Labor Prime Ministers of foreign Knighthoods and in the case of every Labor member who has ever been admitted to the Federal Executive Council they accept the title of The Honourable which they hold for life. All the while they hypocritically oppose the Queen of Australia offering an internationally recognisable honour to Australians, and prevent our citizens deciding for themselves whether they will accept or decline such an offer.

This is truly the challenge for the Australian Labor Party in a Liberal Democracy. Surely it is up to the recipient to decide for themselves whether they feel comfortable accepting such an honour, rather than having the values of Mr Shorten or the ALP Caucus thrust upon them. For Monarchists we must now hope that any new appointments to the grade of Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia are of the highest calibre, so that Knighthoods remain an institution within our Honours System, and all Australians may have confidence in that system, and stand up and reject the ridiculous arguments of those who seek to destroy our traditions.        

Bombing of Darwin 19th Feb 1942

Today the 19th of February 2012 at 10.00am marks the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia by the Japanese military. The attack was planned to prevent any response from Australia for their invasion of Timor. A total of 242 aircraft flying from aircraft carriers and bases in the Netherland East Indies caused significant damage during the two wave attack that day dropping 114620kgs of ordinance the first lasting 40 minutes the second some 25 minutes. The casualty list that day has often been disputed with official figures stating 243 killed and 3-400 wounded however unofficial numbers for the dead have been as high as 1000 though most believe its roughly double the official toll. 20 military aircraft were destroyed and 8 ships at anchor were lost and the RAAF airfields destroyed.

Today we remember those who lost their lives in the first ever attack on the Australian mainland and those who fought on in the defence of their homeland and opposing tyranny in the Pacific.

The Return of Pomp and Pageantry

Those of you who are regular readers of A Young Fogey Down Under will recall a recent post in regard to the slow destruction of many of the ceremonial traditions here in Australia well this week a counter blow has been struck by those who value their heritage and history. This in the form of the new speaker to the Australian Federal Parliament The Honourable Peter Slipper.

 Mr Speaker has decided that the Tradition of the speaker wearing ceremonial dress should be restored, this in the form of a QC gown and jacket, it has even been rumoured that he has flirted with the idea of donning the full-bottomed wig, which detractors have said cant be done as its on display at the Museum of Democracy obviously they have never heard they can be bought through Ede and Ravenscroft. The last speaker to do so was Sir William Snedden who retired as speaker on the 4th of Feb 1983. Since then there have been many variations of dress with speakers in later years wearing a simple academics gown to the last speaker the Honourable Harry Jenkins simply wearing a suit.

The move by the Speaker has not been without controversey with a section of the press covering the front pages of their tabloids with caricatures etc however this has not deterred Mr Slipper who has announced that once  a week he will lead the formal procession of Speaker with his Sergeant at Arms through areas viewable to the public. This has not occured in the new parliament building outside of the opening of parliament after every election(roughly every four years) the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms currently enter the chamber through a side door from the speakers office. While the press have labelled the Speaker  an egotist those of us who seek to protect our traditions know that the speaker is simply reintroducing those  which have been abolished by the true egotists those custodians of the office of speaker who have trashed centuries of traditions by removing bit by bit the symbols and customs of that office.

So this Young Fogey would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the new speaker on his appointment and his decision to restore a little history and colour into our parliament. Lets hope it is only the beginning of things to come.

The 6th of February Accession Day

On this day sixty years ago HRH Princess Elizabeth became our Queen and whilst around the globe there will be much rejoicing for Her Majesties achievement of sixty years of unblemished faithful service one can not help but feel that Her Majesty views such a day with a heavy heart. As becoming Queen could only result from the the death of her much loved father and our King. A King who had the crown thrust upon him in unfortunate circumstances but set the standard of service which his daughter would follow. We the people of the Realms are truly fortunate for their dedicated service. In this jubilee year let us all partake in the celebrations which will take place throughout the Commonwealth of nations and celebrate the achievement of our Queen.
But on this day let us remember King George VI may he have eternal peace.

Our Loss of Tradition

In recent years a cultural war has been taking place in Australia often unnoticed to the general population, this war has been fought between traditionalists and that group who like to style themselves progressives. Now progressives unfortunately arn't always sure why they are opposing the traditions that have stood us in good sted often since the early years of white settlement of our continent usually presenting tired cliches about the modern world and the need for change,  But  being the ideologues that they are they believe that any change must be good  often even when the evidence blatantly points to the contrary or just simply would have no impact what so ever an excellent example of change for changes sake . Now traditionalists are always stereotyped by the progressives as the old fogey character longing for the certainty of yesterday frightened of the modern world. However the facts couldnt be further from the truth, traditionalists are neither stuck in the past nor frightened of the future they simply have the common sense to know that human beings throughout the world have always had traditions and rituals as the bedrock of their society, even whilst at the forefront of modern living. These traditions and rituals keep us in touch with where we came from, subtle reminders of the past whilst dealing with the issues of the day. Traditions also sometimes have a more purposeful objective lending dignity to events that otherwise would not in themselves seem of importance or as an example in  our courts  the robes and wigs whilst an anachronism to some, actually serve to give those wearing them a sense of authority(so often labelled by progressives as intimidation) thus assisting them to perform their duties and with the respect their office deserves.
What is certain is that the culture war will continue and progressives will continue to seek to minimalise or destroy what traditions and rituals we have here in a country where the phrase "we dont have many traditions" is all to often uttered. And it is up to us the traditionalists to be vigilant.

30th of January the execution of King Charles the Martyr

On this day in 1649 parliamentary forces executed their rightful King Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. May his soul have eternal peace.

Great, good, and just! could I but rate
My griefs to thy too rigid fate,
I'd weep the world to such a strain,
As it would deluge once again:
But since thy loud-tongued blood demands supplies,
More from Briareus' hands than Argus' eyes,
I'll sing thy obsequies with trumpet sounds,
And write thy epitaph with blood and wounds.

Marquis of Montrose(1612-1650)

Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE

Over the past few days we have seen many images, and heard many debates rage over fallout of the Australia Day protests in Canberra and the subsequent flag burning. However we must not forget that those who commit such acts are a minority and that we must not allow them to overshadow the deeds of better men and women. So I wish to draw young fogey followers attention s to the life of Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO, OBE a former Governor of the State of South Australia. Born in Cummeragunja on the 9th of December 1906 an area renowned for producing many fine athletes, he went to work as a shearers tar boy at the age of thirteen and laboured on various stations in the area. As a young man he was a champion sprinter winning the Nyah and Warracknabeal gifts and also boxing in the Jimmy Sharmans boxing troupe in sideshow alley. He later went on to be recruited to play for Carlton Football Club in the VFL but racist attitudes present at the time prevented an appearance. He subsequently joined Fitzroy Football Club where he played form 1932,  and in 1935 was to become the first aboriginal to be selected in the Victorian State side. In 1939 a knee injury forced his retirement from the club.
 Apart from his sporting achievements he become involved with the Church of Christ in 1935 and later went on to become a pastor within the Church. During the early years of world war two he was called up into the army but was quickly discharged at police request due to his mentoring and social work with aboriginal people in the Fitzroy area, during this time he was wedded to his late brothers wife Gladys and in their 39 years together had three children and raising his brothers three children. After the war years Douglas became even  more deeply involved in indigenous issues within his local and broader community and becoming a leader in the calls for reconcilliation between blacks and whites, and a Field Officer in the Aboriginal Advancement League, and the church where he was eventually ordained to the ministry. He also went on to to become a founding member of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. In 1962  Douglas was named Victorias Father of the year on Fathers day and 1968 an Officer of the Order of the British Empire(MBE 1957) the year 1972 saw him bacome the first Aboriginal person ever to be knighted, receiving the honour of Knight Bachelor. On the 1st of December 1976 Sir Douglass was appointed to arguably his highest honour becoming the 28th Governor of South Australia but he was forced to retire on the 30th of April the following year due to ill health. As with Sir Douglas's knighthood he was the first Aboriginal to be appointed to such a prestigious office. In the year 1977 Her Majesty the Queen appointed him to be a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, and in 1991 the suburb of Nicholls was named after him in the nations capital in Canberra. He died on the fourth of June 1988 and was interred at the cemeterary in Cummeragunja.
It is not the place of the young fogey to lecture others on who should be their leaders, but as Australians we can all only hope that in the future men of Sir Douglas Nicholls calibre emerge once again to lead us and to become our role models or we risk seeing the images and debates that took place earlier this week repeated in our future.