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Sir Richie Benaud is the only one that sits comfortably with me Anchor

The thing is that Whitlham abolished Knighthoods in the first place without putting it to the electorate. In regards Prince Phillip, all they have done is honour an old man, whom will not be around forever, and whom has long been associated with Australia. This I think is a pretty decent thing for the Commonwealth to have done. Other countries give honours to foreigners all the time.

Richie would definitely take a knighthood too -- and fair enough. I think they should be given to the average punter, as in fact, they do in the rest of the British Commonwealth.

2nd thoughts are is maybe Tony is right on this one....any bloke capable of sharing a bed with Betty all these years probably deserves his knighthood

Really...who gives a rats clacker? What harm does it do ffs? I suppose it gives Billy Shorter something else to whinge about - he's good at bring up REAL important issues like this.

I have no issue with old Phil getting the award. He has been in public life since 1952 , a world war 2 vet that served in the navy with our boys, he founded the dukes award scheme for young people and is Patron, to some 800 organisations, he's been involved in the Army navy and Airforce here in some capacity for 60 yrs, given his age it's a way of saying thanks for a lifetime of service,..before he kicks the bucket,

Also Bob Hawk Labor government made him a Companion of Order of Oz back in the 80s at the time that was the highest award you could get, there was bugger all fuss when labor did it , but now they go mental when he gets an upgrade,,,bloody weird,


But the one bloke I reckon that should get one is Mike Jeffries , Vietnam Vet , Commander of SAS, governor of WA and Governor General..reckon he has been outstanding and hails from Wiluna.

Bazza: Well said -- Just to support your argument a wee bit more, after the terrorist attack on Canada's Parliament Prince Charles donated a substantial amount of money to the fund set up for the families. This was only natural given the connection between the Crown and Canada's armed forces.

ArkRoyal wrote: Bazza: Well said -- Just to support your argument a wee bit more, after the terrorist attack on Canada's Parliament Prince Charles donated a substantial amount of money to the fund set up for the families. This was only natural given the connection between the Crown and Canada's armed forces.

Yeah another thing is Charles is already a AK - has been for many years, so whats the fuss about his old man being one who has been around for a lot longer.

He was also Head of the Commonwealth Games Federation for about 30 years, and I know for a fact he was here in Perth at the games we had here and was heavily involved.

Also lets not forget that Phil is Greek , so in a way its also a tribute to our fantastic Greek community here in Australia.

During WW II he was on board a ship that help our boys during the battle of Crete, he was mentioned in despatches for operating searchlights to help evacuate wounded troops under german air attack , he then went onto Fight the Japs in the Pacific and was captain of a destroyer that operated out of Sydney, also he is a smart bloke when he went through the Officers Naval Academy he duxed the whole course.

If you take a look at his history he has received honours from all over the world, so I dont see why a country like Australia that he has had involvement with since WW II should not do the same.

Bazza-- It makes you wonder why the PM is incapable of putting across this information, particularly on the military history. Trouble is Baz, most people have not heard of Crete, in the same way as they have not heard about the Western Front during the 'great war'.

Ridiculous decision. These awards should be made on Australia Day to Australians who contribute to their community ( and there are plenty of them) not some overseas monarch whose speciality seems to be offending people.

If Abbott wants to bestow some sort of honour on this guy, let him go to England and do it at a time other than our national day. You would assume that he talks to his colleagues sometimes although I am starting to have my doubts