Two former premiers who became polarising figures during the COVID-19 pandemic, have been awarded King’s Birthday honours in a move which has sparked outrage from Australians.
Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023, received a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) award for “eminent service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development”.
Mark McGowan, who also stepped down from his role as premier of Western Australia in 2023 after coming into office in 2017, received the same award for “eminent service to the people and Parliament of Western Australia, to public health and education, and to international trade relations.”
The decision to award the ex-premiers with the prestigious honour has incensed many Australians after they introduced draconian lockdown laws and border controls in their states during the pandemic.
Legendary radio host Neil Mitchell suggested the pair’s recognition “undermines the award” and said if Mr Andrews was getting an AC, “every Victorian should get an AO for putting up with him”.
“This has the potential to undermine the system. Mark McGowan’s a little bit different. Daniel Andrews has left Victoria as a basket case,” he said on 2GB radio.
“This is a bloke who had more integrity inquiries into his government than we ever held in the history of Victoria. His own Ombudsman said the government had breached human rights.”
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes erupted over the inclusion of the ex-premiers in the honours, labelling it “disgraceful.”
“Andrews’ legacy is crippling debt for the state of Victoria, as well as mental health issues – because of the extreme lockdowns that occurred,” she told First Edition host Peter Stefanovic on Sky News Australia.
“Whilst McGowan didn’t destroy the budget, he left behind a crumbling health system. By cutting off the state of WA from the rest of the country during Covid, he prohibited so many families from being able to be together. I think it’s absolutely disgraceful.
“I don’t think there’s enough distance between us and Covid for everyone to fully understand the impacts of what these premiers did. It’s why we need a royal commission into it.”
She added she didn’t think anyone who lived under the Andrews or McGowan governments during the pandemic would have celebrated their awards.
In an op-ed for the Herald Sun, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said Mr Andrews had failed in each of the areas he was praised in by the award and called for the premier to “give it back.”
“On two measures in the citation that accompanies Mr Andrews award, health and infrastructure, he has failed,” Kennett wrote.
“Certainly, the third, reform, when he failed to accept responsibility for his actions that so disadvantaged his community.
“To my knowledge not only has Mr Andrews not done any eminent community service, but he has also abjectly failed any objective test on the matters for which he received the recognition. Victorian citizens are going to pay heavily, for decades for the failures of Mr Andrews.”
The Andrews government’s bungled quarantine program was responsible for causing almost 800 deaths in Victoria’s second wave of the deadly virus.
Families of victims who died from Covid were outraged his handling of the pandemic was rewarded.
“Daniel Andrews was the Premier in charge and (there) has been no accountability for anything he has done,” Sebastian Agnello, who lost his mum during the Epping Gardens Aged Care outbreak told the Herald Sun.
“You are responsible for the actions you’ve taken. He was the Premier, he was in charge and he made the decisions, but where’s the accountability? I feel let down and disappointed. There’s no accountability.”
Frank Micallef lost both his parents during the second wave and said the award had lost credibility after Mr Andrews was honoured.
“The consequence of it all was that not only did more people die than necessary, but they died alone, they died without seeing their loved ones,” he said.
Other public figures who received honours include former Labor opposition leader Simon Crean, who died last year aged 74 and the incoming governor-general Samantha Mostyn, who both received an AC.
Cricketing great Glenn McGrath received the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to community health through breast cancer support, as well as his contribution to cricket as an international coach.
Popular media personality Hamish Blake received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the arts as an entertainer, and to the community.