Latest news with #OrderOfAustralia
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Disgraced TV star Andrew O'Keefe suffers another devastating blow in the wake of legal dramas
Former Channel 7 star Andrew O'Keefe has been stripped of his Order of Australia after a flood of complaints were made that he still had the honour following his assault and drug convictions. More to follow.
SBS Australia
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
830 Australians recognised in King's Birthday Honours
830 Australians recognised in King's Birthday Honours Published 9 June 2025, 8:00 am 830 Australians have been acknowledged in this year's King's Birthday Honours for contributions in their respective fields. Fourteen were awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia, the highest possible accolade, including former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and director Baz Luhrmann.
SBS Australia
09-06-2025
- Health
- SBS Australia
Professor Gita Mishra recognised in 2025 King's Honours List for 'distinguished service' to medical research
A total of 830 Australians have been recognised in this year's 2025 Honours list, which includes appointments to the Order of Australia (General and Military Divisions), meritorious awards, and honours for distinguished and conspicuous service. Among the recipients is Professor Gita Mishra who has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her distinguished contributions to medical research—particularly in life course epidemiology and women's health—as well as her leadership and service to tertiary education. 'I am genuinely surprised and honoured to receive this prestigious award and I am not sure it has fully sunk in yet,' she said. Her work focuses on exploring the biological, behavioural, and social factors that connect experiences across different life stages and generations, and how these shape health outcomes in later life. She also leads the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health at the University of Queensland and is the president-elect of the World Endometriosis Society. "I've always been passionate about the progress we've made in women's health research, but this recognition will definitely add an extra spring in my step as we take on new projects." Find all our podcasts here at: SBS Hindi Podcast Collection
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Aussies unleash after Scott Morrison receives top accolade in King's Birthday Honours: 'Baffles me'
Australians have lashed out after Scott Morrison was awarded the highest accolade in the King's Birthday Honours List. The former prime minister, who led the nation for four years from 2018 to 2022, was recognised for his 'eminent service to the people and the parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister'. A Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) is the highest award of the Order of Australia honours system. It is followed by Officer of the Order (AO), Member of the Order (AM), and Medal of the Order (OAM). Former prime ministers are typically honoured in the King's Birthday awards, but the 30th prime minister's recognition sparked widespread criticism. Mr Morrison's term as prime minister was overshadowed by multiple controversies, including his secret appointment to several ministerial portfolios, involvement in the Robodebt scandal, and his widely criticised remark during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires: 'I don't hold a hose, mate'. On Monday, Australians took to social media to blast the former PM. 'If you get a shiny trinket just because your a*** has occupied the PM's chair then what is that trinket worth?' one Australian wrote on X. 'Someone should have intervened to deprive Australia's worst ever Prime Minister of this award.' 'It baffles me that we award public servants for doing the job they were paid for. I understand if they do something 'special', but politicians very rarely do,' another added. 'Morrison certainly did nothing 'special'. Not to mention the retirement package that they all enjoy.' 'It's demeaning of the honour system to be giving this cruel, disingenuous s***-bag any honour,' a third added. One Aussie kept a close tally of Mr Morrison's missteps. 'You lied to the public. Repeatedly. You appointed yourself to five secret ministries. Then claimed it was no big deal,' they wrote. 'You prayed the virus away, outsourced the vaccine rollout, then took credit when premiers fixed your mess. 'You fled to Hawaii during a bushfire crisis. Then blamed your daughters. 'Oh Scotty. Even your religion's ashamed of you. Jesus turned water into wine. You turned democracy into a private members club for gas executives.' Some Australians said Mr Morrison was 'underrated'. 'Respect, well deserved,' one wrote. 'Well deserved, Scomo is very underrated and deserves a lot more respect than what he is given,' another said. Since the establishment of the Order of Australia in 1975, every ex-prime minister has been appointed a Companion except Paul Keating. He declined because he believed the honours should be reserved for those whose community work went unrecognised. Mr Morrison's honour specifically points to his 'notable contributions to global engagement, to leadership of the national Covid response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS'. He received significant support during the early days of the pandemic, with an April 2020 Newspoll revealing he had the highest satisfaction rating for any prime minister since Kevin Rudd in 2009. But by the end of his second term, he had become the most unpopular major party leader since at least 1987, according to an Australian National University study. The King's Birthday Honours List names 581 people in the General Division of the Order of Australia, including academics, ex-sport stars, leaders and creatives. 'These honours recognise the selfless service, integrity, achievement, creativity, and care that flourish across our country,' Governor-General Sam Mostyn said. Fourteen people were appointed to the highest honour, AC. Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, best known for their work on films including Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby and Strictly Ballroom, received the accolade for their service to the arts. Environmental scientist Mark Howden, who served as a vice chair on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was also appointed to AC alongside business leader Jennifer Westacott and NASA climate science centre co-director Graeme Stephens. Bangerang and Wiradjuri woman Geraldine Atkinson has been named an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for her work with Indigenous communities and reconciliation.
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Scott Morrison receives Australia's highest honour for leading Australia through Covid-19
By Maani Truu , ABC News Scott Morrison. Photo: AFP Scott Morrison has credited Australians for their "courage and resilience" in the face of crises, including the Black Summer bushfires and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, as he receives the country's highest honour for his leadership. The 30th prime minister has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his "eminent service" to the country and direction of the national Covid response, as part of the King's Birthday honours. Morrison was prime minister for just over three-and-a-half-years - between 2018 and 2022 - a period in which he said, "we were hit with pretty much every crisis you can imagine". "From natural disasters to a global pandemic, once in a hundred years, and of course the threats we faced in our region, and a recession caused by that global pandemic," he said in a sit-down interview before his appointment was publicly announced. "Through all of this Australians were just incredible and the one assumption I made is that that's how they would be - their character would pull them through and that's the basis on which we built the policies that helped us to achieve that." The AC is the highest award in the King's Birthday Honour List, designed to recognise achievements "in service to Australia or humanity at large". Former prime ministers are typically appointed, but the time between their service and the recognition varies. Morrison's appointment - three years after he lost the prime ministership - also notes his contributions to international engagement, economic initiatives and national security, particularly through his role in securing the AUKUS agreement . The latter was named by the former prime minister as one of his proudest achievements in office, among other work he said his government undertook to strengthen Australia's sovereignty. "The resilience and sovereignty of the country, whether it was building our resilience against disasters of the future, having dealt with them at the time, our economic resilience, incredibly important, the way we bounced back after Covid was incredible, and we had invested heavily in our small business sector in particular," he said. "It really was about protecting our sovereignty and building that up so we could deal with the significant challenges into the future." Morrison with then-Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook Morrison's term coincided with the height of the Covid pandemic, when international and state borders were slammed shut, Australians were locked down in their homes, and thousands of businesses were forced to close. Just months after the emergence of the virus in China, the former Liberal leader made the at-the-time unprecedented call to ban international travellers from entering Australia - a decision that likely staved off the crisis locally but also left many Australians stranded overseas and others separated from friends and family abroad. International borders remained closed for almost two years, only reopening to vaccinated travellers in early 2022 after the Omicron variant had swept the country. During the pandemic, Morrison, along with then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg, also oversaw the creation of the almost AU$90 billion JobKeeper scheme wage subsidy scheme, one of the largest economic support programs ever introduced. Asked if he had any regrets from that era this week, Morrison said you "don't get everything right, particularly when you face that many challenges". "But I tend not to dwell too much on that, because frankly there was just the next challenge coming the next day," he said. "You do the best job you can on the day and then you shake yourself off the next day and you do it all again." Morrison left Parliament at the start of 2024 , more than a year after losing the 2022 election to Labor prime minister Anthony Albanese. The end of his prime ministership was mired in scandal, after it emerged he had secretly sworn himself into five additional ministries during the pandemic . This week he described those secret positions as a "latent redundancy that was never active". "These were unusual times and there were many things we did that were unusual," he said. Since retiring from politics, Morrison has continued to advocate internationally for the AUKUS partnership, which he said remains "as strong today as the day it was announced" despite the arrival of the second Trump administration in the United States. He declined to comment on the current direction of the Liberal Party, which suffered one of the worst election defeats on record last month . But on its future, he said the party's principles remain "as important as they ever have been". "And they are ensuring a strong economy, a strong defence force, guaranteeing those services, responsible financial management - all of those things over the last 70 years and more have meant that Australia is in the strong position it is today," he said. "And for most of that time it has been Coalition governments that have been in government." Some 830 Australians - including Hollywood heavyweights, journalists, and community advocates - will be recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours List. - ABC News
