Jeff Kennett says...........

Calls are growing for an overhaul of the Australian of the Year awards, with former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett saying the accolades have “lost their rele­vance” and are being used to push social issues instead of honouring “extraordinary individuals”. After former winners criticised the latest shortlist for being domin­ated by political activists, Mr Kennett said a review of the selection process was needed. “They started losing their rele­vance some years ago when leading sports figures became Australians of the Year …. and more recently the selection committee seems to think that the issue of the day that is getting the most publicity should somehow or other be recognised through the awards,” he told The Weekend Australian. “Sadly, I do think they have lost relevance and it had always been my thought that it should go to indiv­iduals who have consistently contributed to their field — who are not necessarily well-known people­ but whose contribution was ­inspirational.” Mr Kennett also raised concerns that sponsors, including the ABC, Fairfax Media, Qantas, the Commonwealth Bank and Woolworths, were involved in state selection panels. “We have got to review the guidelines and I think we have got to include in those guidelines a consistency of contribution,” he said. “The process has got to be respecte­d and the individuals have got to be extraordinary.” Mr Kennett said the individual’s contribution to society needed to go beyond one’s day job, pointing to Andrew Forrest as a good example of a nominee who had been a “major contributor” to society across a range of areas. However, he said the 2016 Australian of the Year, former chief of army David Morrison, had come from a “one-sided and not particularly inspiring” field of candidates. MORE: Too PC to celebrate who we are “Because of the general getting the job, there has been a terrible gap this year in terms of resonance and performance,’’ he said. “He wasn’t the right person for the job.” Mr Morrison received the award for promoting gender equality, diversity and inclu­sion. In 2001, then chief of army Peter Cosgrove received the award for his work as commander of the East Timor peacekeeping force. The criticism of the awards was echoed by former employment minister Eric Abetz, who said he did not think Australians “felt warm” about the recipients. “They don’t want those people to use their new-found acknow­ledgment or status or reward from the community to start pushing their own political or social barrows­,” Senator Abetz said. Asked yesterday about this year’s shortlist, Malcolm Turnbull said he wanted the awards to honour people who had gone out of their way to achieve extraordinary things. “I’d like to see Australians that have not just done their day job but have done something out of the ordinary, extraordinary,” the Prime Minister said. This year’s list includes “social innovators”, “diversity and inclu­sion champions”, “social entre­pre­n­eurs”, “sustainable-living advoc­ates” and a food-van founder. Mr Turnbull singled out And­rew Forrest from this year’s list as someone worthy of the accolade. “Now there’s Twiggy: he has built — in the face of competition from Rio and BHP — he’s built a massive, one of the big, iron ore companies. And of course he’s been such an enormous philanthropist and campaigner for social justice.” The national award recipient is selected by the Australian of the Year board. The Prime Minister appoints the board.