Editorial: Prince Philip and Key win - Abbott loses

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Photo / AP / Rick Rycroft

Tony Abbott can now join the long list of politicians wondering how John Key gets away in political life with so much that causes strife for lesser mortals. The Australian Prime Minister is still under fire, and undermined within his own Liberal Party, for having made a "captain's call" to install Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, this week as a knight of the Order of Australia. The initial mockery and cultural cringe have morphed into serious concerns about Mr Abbott's political judgment, or more correctly his tin ear for the average Australian's view on matters royal, foreign and elite.

Three years ago, his New Zealand counterpart, Mr Key, made the same Prince Philip an auxiliary member of the Order of New Zealand, an accolade higher than a knight of the order and positioned alongside the 20 greatest living New Zealanders. The gesture was timed to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60th anniversary on the throne. Here, too, there was republican mockery and questions over the Government's judgment in pinning another bauble on a chest overburdened with metal and ribbons.

Yet it passed and was, as evident this week, swiftly forgotten. So much so that some were surprised to learn we had already gone there when Mr Abbott's odd decision was made known. In New Zealand's case, at least we didn't confer an empty honorific, not that the Prince would ever have use for the word "sir", and there was an arguable reason for the timing of the honour, although few would see the relevance or appropriateness of honouring a royal with a royal honour when so many outstanding New Zealanders deserve recognition.

The Australian example was worse because it came so swiftly after the restoration by the Liberal-National Government of knight- and damehoods. Two governors-general and the head of the defence force were the only others so honoured. Moreover, the Australian honours are announced on Australia Day at the same time as the much more populist and admired Australian of the Year.

Political reaction spoke loudly of Mr Abbott's ministers' broader disillusionment with his judgment. Few would directly defend the decision and backbench MPs and the Liberals battling for re-election in Queensland were openly incredulous.

Backers within the commentariat were similarly hard to find. Conservative newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt said his mate had made a "pathetically stupid" decision. News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch tweeted from afar that Mr Abbott's chief of staff ought to resign out of patriotic duty. Mr Abbott probably made the situation worse by trying to explain his thinking, one aspect of which was the outstanding contribution of Prince Philip to Australian life through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, in which the Abbott daughters had been involved. No amount of "taking this on the chin" and promising broader consultation in future seemed to appease the critics.

His timing was off. His honoree was remote, in almost every sense of the word, from the Australian psyche. His explanations were poor. And his exposed raw nerve has plainly prompted those dissatisfied with his leadership to agitate for change.