Helen Clark's government abolished titular honours.
John Key's reinstated them.
When Jacinda Ardern's government bestowed the title Dame on the head of the prostitute's collective my initial reaction was that it was an attempt to dishonour the honours' system.
Whether or not that is fair is moot, so too is whether or not Chris Hipkins' government's knighting Trevor Mallard dishonours the system too.
He was widely regarded as the worst Speaker we've had. A better PM wouldn't have allowed him to hold the office and a stronger one would have removed him from it when he turned on the sprinklers and turned up the music in an attempt to move the protestors from the parliamentary lawn.
I support the honours, titular or not, for recognising ordinary people for extraordinary achievements and service.
Bestowing them not because they're deserved but as a matter of course for someone who holds an office, however well or badly, dishonours them.
Garrick Tremain has come out of retirement to make that point:
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