ANALYSIS: Should Australia still have an honours system?
The decision to recognise former tennis great Margaret Court with an Australia Day Honour was met with backlash.
In particular, the question of whether titles of honour — like knighthood and damehood — are appropriate in an egalitarian democracy has been a mainstay of debates. A common argument in the Australian colonies before Federation was that such titles did not belong here. As the South Australian Kapunda Herald"Titular distinctions are not in sympathy with the spirit of young democracies, in which the reputation of known achievements is the most, if not the only, valued one.
Of course, not everyone agreed — particularly if titles were merited rewards for real service or achievement, which might inspire others. Rockhampton's Morning Bulletin in 1887, for example,"[T]o mark out a man who has distinguished himself above his fellows in the public service […] because it provokes emulation."The paper's reference to "a man" was not coincidental. In the 19th century, women were largely ineligible to receive honours or titles in their own right.
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