Peta Credlin says she doesn’t necessarily agree with all of Margaret Court’s opinions and definitely doesn’t agree with all of Kerry O’Brien’s, but the Order of Australia is “not there for politics”.
Ms Court and the Australia Day honours came under fire after the tennis great was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), which then prompted fellow Order of Australia recipient Kerry O’Brien to reject his award.
Sky News host Peta Credlin said much of the commentary surrounding the awards is “ill-informed” and reporters should know better.
“It’s not helped when a journalist – radio broadcaster Justin Smith – kicks it all off by breaking the embargo and releasing Margaret Court’s name late last week as some sort of protest against her being awarded our nation’s highest award,” she said.
Ms Credlin also pointed to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrew’s inflammatory comments surrounding Margaret Court.
The premier said Ms Court’s views are “disgraceful, hurtful, and cost lives”.
“As far as I’m concerned, until you’re held to account for the 800 dead on your watch as Premier, you don’t get away with a cheap media line like that,” Ms Credlin said.
“There’s 845 people on the list of award recipients today. Maybe 50 or 60 of them, you’ve heard of. Maybe 20 or 30, you might have an opinion about. A few, you might not agree with.
“Still, I challenge anyone to go through the list and not feel a swell of pride in a country where so many do so much, not because they have to but because they choose to.”
