Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says former prime minister John Howard does not deserve the highest civilian honour from the United States.
Mr Howard is set to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the White House.
Past recipients include former South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Senator Hanson-Young says Mr Howard's track record on human rights should rule him out as a recipient.
"Considering this is the prime minister who locked children in detention behind barbed wire, refused to take any action on the years and years of indefinite detention of David Hicks and refused to apologise to the Stolen Generations - John Howard is hardly a Nelson Mandela," she said.
Senator Hanson-Young says the award will be a pat on the back to Mr Howard for being a follower, rather than a leader.
"Rather than an award for some type of leadership in human rights and peace and freedom, it seems more that George Bush is thanking his mates for standing by him than awarding human rights leadership," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment