The website of the Awards and Culture Branch of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet carries several pages devoted to frequently asked questions.

  • How do I nominate someone for the Order of Australia?
  • I have lost or broken my lapel pin. Can this be replaced?
  • How do I check the process of a nomination for the Order of Australia?
  • I have more than one medal. What is the protocol for wearing them?
  • I am responsible for raising and lowering the Australian Flag. What is the protocol and how am I kept informed?
  • What happens if the person I want to nominate is not an Australian citizen?
  • How do I wear my state awards?

That kind of thing. One question the site doesn’t answer, and perhaps it isn’t asked all that frequently, is:

  • What is the process for stripping a recipient of his honour when he is found to have colluded in anti-competitive behaviour?

We ask, because today Richard Pratt, Companion of the Order of Australia, was the subject of deliberations in the Federal Court this morning that ended in a $36 million fine for admitted breaches of the Trade Practices Act. Which hardly seems becoming for a man who signs himself AC.

Over to you Awards and Culture Branch.

Winner of the Crikey Win A Weekend At The Lodge competition: the first person to correctly guess way back when that the election would be called last Sunday for November 24, is Marilyn Chalkley of Yarralumla in the ACT. Congratulations! Marilyn will be spending a unique weekend for two at The Lodge on Elizabeth, undoubtedly Hobart’s finest B&B.