Not at all surprising – the same honour has been awarded or offered to all of the PMs from recent decades. I’d dispute some elements of the grounds for his award, particularly the notions that we should approve of his social reform and fostering Australia’s international standing:
It recognises his “contributions to economic and social policy reform, fostering and promoting Australia’s links internationally, and the development of significant philanthropic links between the business sector, arts and charitable organisations”.
Good to see Bill Kelty and Peter Andren both recognised for their important and principled contributions to Australian society.
ELSEWHERE: Apathetic Sarah is a bit more explicit than me about the grounds for honouring John Winston Howard:
How does this not render the awards utterly meaningless? John Howard is a despicable human being who was paid vast sums of money by Australian taxpayers over several decades to screw over the poor and downtrodden. Other people who received the awards have dedicated their lives to making other peoples’ lives better. The idea that John Howard is worthy of anything other than a World’s Biggest Arsehole Award is just laughable.
I’m not going to argue against that statement.
