Australia to do away with knights and dames

Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the country will no longer appoint knights and dames under the controversial honours system.

Turnbull said the titles were "not appropriate" in modern Australia, and that Queen Elizabeth had accepted the cabinet's recommendation to drop them, after former PM Tony Abbott had reintroduced knighthoods and damehoods in 2014.

The BBC quotes a statement by Turnbull, where he said that the Order of Australia awards were "an important way of honouring the achievements and service of many Australians, including those unsung heroes who might not otherwise be recognised outside their local communities". However, his cabinet had recently reviewed the system and decided that the knighthoods and damehoods were "not appropriate in our modern honours system".

Reports add that the existing knights and dames would not be affected by the change.

International reports add that Abbott’s decision to give Prince Philip a knighthood last January was  one of the factors which ended his term as leader. At the time, Abbot had said that Australia was honouring the Duke of Edinburgh's lifetime of "service and dedication", and he was ultimately ousted as leader of the centre-right Liberal Party by Turnbull in September.