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Conservatives angered by Abbott’s ‘captain’s call’

A Coalition backbencher has joined the chorus of opposition to the Prime Minister’s decision to give an Australian knighthood to the Queen’s husband.

On Tuesday, Queensland Liberal Ewen Jones told The New Daily that the racehorses Danehill, Makybe Diva and Octagonal and the cricketers David Boon and Shane Warne would have been more worthy recipients than Prince Philip.

“Do I wish he hadn’t done it? Yes I do,” Mr Jones said.

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“I thought it was all about being pre-eminent Australians, and Prince Philip is no longer pre-eminent and he’s never been an Australian.”

But the conservative politician downplayed the impact of the knighthood, which has been widely ridiculed on social media, saying he had received only six emails from “Labor trolls” and a couple from friends protesting the decision.

Prince Philip

An honour given to Prince Philip, seen here inspecting an officer’s insignia, has annoyed Abbott’s own side. Photo: AAP

“I think it’s fish and chip wrapping. It’ll be forgotten by Friday.”

The backlash is yet to ease, with the Prime Minister forced to repeatedly defend the move, which he has agreed was a “captain’s call” in several public appearances.

Senior cabinet Minister Barnaby Joyce has said he strongly believes that all awards should be reserved for Australian citizens.

“There’s been awards in the past given to Nelson Mandela and to other people from overseas. My preference is that these awards go to Australians,” Mr Joyce said.

Queensland premier Campbell Newman, who is currently campaigning for re-election, has also weighed in.

“My thoughts are that it was a real bolt from the blue,” Mr Newman told the media on Tuesday.

“I don’t agree with it.”

The media adviser to another Liberal backbencher told The New Daily that the electoral office had received a number of phone calls, most of them negative, in response to the Prince’s knighthood.

An unnamed minister also told the ABC that Abbott had dug himself such a deep hole that “we’ve just punched through the Earth’s crust”.

Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles, a member of the Liberal Party, likened the move to an April Fools’ joke.

“It’s Australia Day,” Mr Giles said. “We’re not a bunch of tossers, let’s get it right.”

On Tuesday, right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch joined the debate on social media, calling the knighthood “a joke and embarrassment”.

In a post on Twitter, Mr Murdoch said honours systems “everywhere” should be disbanded, and described himself as a staunch republican.

Backbench MP Ewen Jones said he would prefer that knighthoods and damehoods were restricted to Governors-General as the “highest office in the land”, but acknowledged that the revival of the honours had, to his surprise, been met with wide support in his Queensland electorate of Herbert, one of the youngest in the nation.

The decision was a “very personal” call of the prime minister that did not reflect on his leadership or the performance of the government as a whole, Mr Jones said.

“Tony loves the monarchy, always has always will. He wears it very clearly pinned to his chest and he’s done it for what he thinks is a good idea.”

“If people can’t tell the difference between what we’re trying to do as a government and what Tony did yesterday, they’ve already made up their mind anyway.”

Mr Jones ridiculed the idea that chief of staff Peta Credlin might have been responsible, saying there was “not one political advisor anywhere in the country” who would have suggested or supported it.

Aside from being a prince, Philip Mountbatten is the Duke of Edinburgh and Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy and holds at least 65 other appointments and decorations. He is also reportedly worshipped as a god by some villagers in Vanuatu.

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