Australia dumps titles knights and dames from honors awards
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is dumping the titles "knights" and "dames" — again.
The government had scratched the honorary titles, granted for public service, in 1986 as anachronisms.
But former Prime Minister Tony Abbott revived them a year ago during his time in office and was widely ridiculed for making Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, a knight on Australia's national day earlier this year, instead of honoring a worthy Australian. Many point to the decision as the beginning of the end of Abbott's tenure.
FILE - In this June 15, 2009, file photo, Britain's Prince Philip joins other members of the royal family in the procession of The Order of the Garter in Windsor, England. Australia is dumping the titles "knights" and "dames" again. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, that the queen had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia. The government had scratched the honorary titles, granted for public service, in 1986 as anachronisms. But former Prime Minister Tony Abbott revived them in 2014 during his time in office and was widely ridiculed for making Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, a knight on Australia's national day in 2015, instead of honoring a worthy Australian. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who took over from Abbott in September, announced on Monday that the queen had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia.
The Cabinet agreed that "knights and dames are not appropriate in our modern honors system," Turnbull said in a statement.
Turnbull is a former leader of the Australian Republican Movement that wants a constitutional change to replace the British monarch as Australian head of state with an Australian president.
Existing knights and dames, including Prince Philip, will retain their titles.
