November 23, 2011
Opinion
Royals' day of Danish promotion
Mary and her prince begin their day in Melbourne with a special message delivered from a little girl.
A strange giddiness overtakes the otherwise relatively sober when they find themselves in the presence of royalty, but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott quite lost his grip yesterday when welcoming Crown Prince Frederik and Australian's own royal highness, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
''In the past,'' brayed Mr Abbott to a luncheon in honour of the couple in Parliament House, Canberra, ''Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was probably considered Denmark's greatest gift to Australia.''
This may have come as a surprise, even to Sir Joh himself were he still alive. The former Queensland premier and steward of what turned out to be one of Australia's most corrupt state governments was born in New Zealand in 1911 (his parents had emigrated from Denmark).
The Danish royal couple are greeted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Canberra. Photo: Andrew Meares
Abbott plunged on. ''Subsequently, some may have nominated Joern Utzon, the designer of the Opera House, as Denmark's greatest gift to Australia.'' That was more like it, though the unfortunate Utzon came up against the New South Wales Liberal state government of the corrupt Robert Askin.
Utzon packed his bags in 1966, vowing never to return, and was not invited to the official opening in 1973.
The crown prince and the crown princess sat through Mr Abbott's welcome with remarkable aplomb. They had, after all, been treated already to a gushing introduction by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who spoke of their marriage as ''a modern fairytale''. ''A beautiful young woman meets a handsome prince and they live happily ever after,'' Ms Gillard said. Tim Mathieson was nowhere in sight.
Even Ngunnawal indigenous elder Janette Phillips, delivering a welcome to the country, was swept away. Princess Mary, she declared, had given Australian women everywhere fresh hope that ''Prince Charming really could be out there''.
But Mr Abbott outdid all, declaring the former Mary Donaldson's marriage to Crown Prince Frederik was a pretty good effort for a girl from Taroona High School in Hobart, a rather better achievement, he said, than that of fellow Taroona graduate, the opposition leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz.
Mr Abbott did not mention that Senator Abetz was a gift to Australia from his birthplace in Stuttgart, Germany.
Mr Abbott the fitness fanatic paid special tribute to Prince Frederik for his ''remarkable distinction of running a marathon in three hours and 22 minutes''.
''Many of us in this building would wish to emulate that feat, sir,'' said Mr Abbott, whose best time is 3:47 - although his most recent effort took almost five hours.
The crown prince could not quite help himself when he rose to accept the accolades. He pointed out it was actually three hours and six minutes, and he had done it six times.
The prince then treated guests - and Mr Abbott, a climate change sceptic - to a gentle lecture about the need to face up to a future where population growth and climate change were the great challenges. Denmark, through research and development, carbon pricing and the introduction of alternative energy sources, had become one of the most energy-efficient nations in the world, he said. There had been no growth in power consumption while its population had ballooned, and it had reduced carbon emissions by 15 per cent since 1990.
He was too elegant to add, though he could have, surely: ''Take that!''
Tony Wright
National affairs editor of The Age
