Bring back the AK

Does anyone know who the most decorated Australians are?

The highest award an Australian can currently receive is to be made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Twice a year (Australia Day and the Queens' Birthday holiday), a handful of worthy Australians are bestowed this honour, and they receive a medal, and the ability to put "AC" after their name. You can find the list of ACs here.

But do we know who they are? More importantly, is the simple addition of two letters after a name sufficient reward for a life's work making a real and lasting difference to the quality of life of fellow Australians?

That is why I suggest the Australian Government re-establish the Knight (AK) and Dame (AD) of the Order of Australia.

I'm sure many of you would be surprised, but such a honour did in fact exist, from the creation of the Order of Australia on 14 February 1975 under then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, until being abolished by new Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

During that time, twelve Knights and two Dames were created. This included three Governors-General, a state Governor, a Prime Minister, a state Premier, two Industrialists, the first woman elected to the Federal Parliament, a historian, a physiologist, and the Prince of Wales.

The Australian Labor Party's policy is anti-titles, but this smacks of good old-fashioned class warfare and Britain-bashing. So I don't expect Kevin Rudd to re-establish the AK and AD, even if tempted by eventually being known as Sir Kevin.

However, we live in one of the greatest meritocracies in the world, where great achievement is accessible to any person talented and motivated enough to try. Anyone who understands Australia knows that such an honour would be available to people of all racial and socio-economic backgrounds, as long as they had had achieved the highest level of public service.

And do we have a better idea for a before-name title than "Sir" or "Dame"? They are titles of utmost respect, and despite some republican dislike for the titles, they are entirely appropriate.

So who should currently be an AK or AD, who isn't? Professor Marie Bashir, long-time Governor of New South Wales, Professor Graeme Clark, developer of the Cochlear Ear Implant, General Peter Cosgrove, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Tony Fitzgerald, head of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Murray Gleeson, Chief Justice of the High Court and former Chief Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court, Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, Olympic Gold Medallist and former Governor of South Australia, Major General Michael Jeffrey, former Governor-General and Governor of Western Australia, Ian McFarlane, former Governor of the Reserve Bank, Reverend Dr Gordon Moyes, founder of the Wesley Mission, Professor Fiona Stanley, leading maternal and child health specialist and Nancy Wake, WWII hero, would all be uncontentious receipients of either an AK or an AD, who currently have an AC.

I wouldn't have any problem with calling any of these people Sir or Dame. It would be an honour, and a richly deserved recognition of a life full of achievement. It's about time we started making these recognitions once more.