Malcolm Turnbull first in the firing line of Australian of the Year David Morrison
The newest Australian of the Year, David Morrison, has never been known to mince his words - and he’s certainly not starting now.
The retired army chief hit out at one of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s slogans just moments after accepting his newest accolade.
“It’s never been a more exciting time to be an Australian,” Mr Turnbull has consistently said throughout his prime ministership and beyond, even claiming before the awards ceremony that there had “never been a more exciting time to be a finalist in the 2016 Australian of the year awards”.
General Morrison has other ideas.
"It is an extraordinary time to be an Australian, but I need to give it qualified agreement,” said the chair of Diversity Council Australia after being awarded the Australian of the Year title.
"For reasons beyond education and professional qualifications or willingness to contribute or a desire to be a part of our society ... too many of our fellow Australians are denied the opportunity to reach their potential.
"It happens because of their gender, because of the god they believe in, because of their racial heritage, because they're not able-bodied, because of their sexual orientation."
The former Chief of Army also wants to use his time as Australian of the Year to push for a republic.
Lieutenant General Morrison vowed to continue his campaign for workplace diversity and gender equality but also - somewhat contentiously - lend his voice to the republican movement.
"It is probably time - 16 years after our last referendum - for us as a nation to at least start having a conversation about where we might want to go in our future," he said.
Gen Morrison is a member of the Australian Republican Movement, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used to chair.
His call came after almost all state and territory leaders, bar West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, signed a declaration calling for an Australian head of state.
Gen Morrison said it was up to government to decide when another referendum might happen, but the conversation needed to be had.
"Momentum, if it grows, will push its own timeline and if momentum doesn't grow and Australia doesn't want to have this conversation, then so be it," he said.
"I will have done my bit as a member of a Republican movement in Australia, but I don't need to give it too much emphasis.
"I want to concentrate on issues around diversity and domestic violence as well, of course."
For 36 years David Morrison served his country in uniform. Now the Canberra man has been enlisted for another 12 months in his new role as an equality advocate.
Mr Morrison was made chief of army in 2011 but it was two years later when the military found itself in the grip of a sex abuse scandal that he really captured the public’s attention and emerged as unlikely feminist icon.
A group of male soldiers including senior officers calling themselves the “ Jedi Council” were found to be sharing explicit material among themselves using Defence’s email system.
Mr Morrison told a press conference the images were “demeaning and profane” but it was a three minute video, originally intended just for the troops where he made his greatest mark.
Dressed in fatigues and staring down the barrel of the camera, Mr Morrison said those soldiers who did not want to treat women as equals should “get out”.
The video has since been viewed 1.6 million times on YouTube.
Mr Morrison has been amazed by the impact the video has had with the powerfully delivered message being credited for a cultural shift in the blokey world of the military.
The number of women joining the army has risen by two per cent and it has become more accepting of racial, sexual and ethnic diversity.
After the video went viral, Mr Morrison found himself invited to London to speak at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2014, where he warned that armies that valued males over females does “nothing to distinguish the soldier from the brute”.
Among his fellow speakers were US Secretary of State John Kerry and actress Angelina Jolie, the special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Mr Morrison retired last year from the army and has been appointed chair of the Diversity Council Australia.
Two of the people he pipped to be named Australian of the Year had worked closely with him on changing the army’s culture.
Mr Morrison’s speech was written by Catherine McGregor, who has carved out a public profile of her own as the highest ranked transgender military officer in the world.
Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Liz Broderick conducted a review into the treatment of women in the army after the 2011 Skype sex scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Australia Day Council chairman Ben Roberts-Smith said this year’s award recipients were truly inspirational and “step up, speak out and take action to make a difference in our nation and to help others”.
