Australia Day Honours 2021

Breaking the embargo to reveal a potentially controversial Australia Day honour.

https://twitter.com/justinsmithword/status/1352371649673220096?s=20

For the list of honurs see:

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George Pell received an AC long after he refused communion to anyone who was wearing a rainbow sash. A few dubious people have received Australian honours. It’s not unusual.

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I’ve seen speculation that this disgraceful decision is is another of Morrison’s ‘culture war’ distractions to take attention away from his failures (such as not bringing everyone home from overseas by Christmas, abdicating his government’s responsibility for quarantine, double standards for exemptions, COVID-19 in aged care, his other undelivered promises including support for last summer’s bushfire victims, sports rorts, and announced but unspent funding).

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What greater contribution has this person done since receiving her AO in 2007? Conning more people out of money for her ministries? Spreading misinformation about covid 19? Attitude towards SSM? That in top of her remarks regarding apartheid makes her a pretty horrible person in my book.

Happy to acknowledge her feats on the tennis court and that’s been done.

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we know this government loves a distraction. That whole Australia Post affair was another “look over there!” matter to distract from everything else going on.

She’s got a whole stadium named after her as well. What more does she need?

With so many people going above and beyond to battle the pandemic over the last 12 months it would be interesting on what basis she was deemed worthy of this honour

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https://ymlp.com/zIcz566

CANBERRA DOCTOR RETURNS ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN PROTEST AT MARGARET COURT’S SECOND AWARD
DOCTOR SAYS COURT AWARD PROMOTES DISCRIMINATION

Canberra doctor, Clara Tuck Meng Soo, has returned her Order of Australia Medal in protest against Margaret Court receiving a second, higher Order of Australia.

in 2016 Dr Soo received an Order of Australia medal for her work in Canberra as a medical practitioner with LGBTIQ+ people, people with HIV and people with drug dependencies.

She was one of the first GPs to undergo gender transition in Australia.

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… and speaking of fact-checking, in the wake of the Margaret Court AC kerfuffle, the ABC news department published A guide to Australia Day honours and how the selection process works - ABC News but they failed to explain one important point about this so-called “leak” … people who call themselves journalists have the privilege of receiving the information prior to Australia Day so that they can prepare stories … but when one of the recipients doesn’t conform with their own narrow view of “suitable” they ignore the clearly-stated “embargo” and publish the details … such is the declining standard of journalism today …

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I recall a journalist saying once they’d have no hesitation breaking an embargo if it related to something that was in the public interest

In this particular case, Justin Smith in his tweet with the news claimed he was given the information from other sources
https://twitter.com/justinsmithword/status/1352371649673220096

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sorry but I disagree. as a member of the lgtbiqa+, he had every right to . and I’m sure others will agree with me on. actually, a lot do

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Thats not how it works though - the information is provided in advance to allow media to coordinate their coverage for Australia Day, its not an invitation to break the embargo because you may disagree with the embargoed content.

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… so let’s do a “hypothetical” … you’ve been charged with a crime (that you didn’t commit) and the court has ruled that your name not be published … but someone who calls themselves a journalist decides it’s in the “public interest” to ignore that and publishes it anyway and as a result you lose your job … still in favour of people who call themselves journalists taking things into their own hands?

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Remembering, she is receiving this honour for her outstanding achievements in the sport of tennis over many years.
Her belief that same sex marriage is wrong (and as with all Australians, she is entitled to her opinion - right or wrong) has nothing to do with her sporting achievements.
The people who make the decision about who receive these awards are quite capable of separating the two, it’s a pity some of our journo’s can’t.

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That’s an assumption at the moment until we see the official list.

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I thought she was receiving it for her work as a pastor. She has already been given the award for her contributions to tennis.

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… and there you’ve hit the nail on the head … if some unscrupulous person had not published her name we would find out on Tuesday what she had received and why … all the rest is speculation and personal opinion … that’s why journalism is in such a bad way at the moment because the people who call themselves journalists don’t think … they’re just after the next clickbait headline to put their selfish byline on …

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But it’s been established the journalist received the information by other means. Not by an embargoed release.

I don’t really get too involved in the Australian day honours anyway. But if she has received the award for her contributions to tennis I am unsure why she would receive it for her work as a pastor. The only real contributions she has made is for the hate she has contributed to the LGBT+ community. In 2013 she penned a letter expression her discomfort of the birth of a child in a same sex marriage. Saying it was sad they would never receive a father. Then in 2017 saying she would boycott flights with Qantas as they supported marriage equality.

So giving an award for being a pastor when she shows such hate to me doesn’t show Australian values.

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… even if that was the case for this particular journalist, it’s by no means the case for others …

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But once it’s leaked/out isn’t it fair game? They aren’t breaking the embargo once it’s been leaked via other means.

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The information was widely known. There was chatter going around about someone who would raise eyebrows being on the list. It isn’t an absolute embargo by any means. Lots of people associated with the winners know well in advance. So it wouldn’t be hard for the information to leak.

Not detracting from the awards, but getting someone on the honours list is a bit like writing your employment CV - except that usually a group of friends, colleagues or family do the work and submit a hopefully glowing list of your achievements and offer themselves as references or referees in support.

For every person who gets an award you could usually find many people with similar achievements who don’t. It’s just that no one has gone to the trouble of doing all the work and nominating them. The selection committee doesn’t actively seek out people to award.

Would be interesting to know who nominated Margaret Court this time as she has already been made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2007

for service to tennis as a player, as a mentor to junior female elite competitors and through professional development programs; and to the communities of Australia and Sri Lanka as the initiator of a range of pastoral care, social support and emergency accommodation projects.

Check out last year’s list of media personal who received awards.

Or these lists

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