PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has "kicked himself in the nuts" over the knighting of Prince Philip, punters at the Grong Grong hotel say.
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A pub poll at the Royal Hotel found most patrons were fed up with Tony Abbott's lack of judgment over the knighthood drama.
The criticism follows member for Riverina Michael McCormack lashing out at the "texting, latte-sipping, keyboard warriors who frequent the tapas bars of Sydney and Melbourne" and he urged the Prime Minister to ignore them.
Mr McCormack said Mr Abbott should visit a country pub for an "honest appraisal" of how the government can improve.
Indeed, when The Daily Advertiser asked patrons of the Royal Hotel about the decision, there was a common answer: "It's bulls---."
"He (Abbott) was in enough trouble as it was and he's gone and kicked himself in the nuts," said patron Matt Murph.
"I put a uniform on for this country when I was 17, I know 100 different people who deserve the accolade," he said.
Royal Hotel owner Ted Obudzinski also agreed that his local member was on target with his comments, adding that he shared his disagreement over a knighthood for the Queen's husband.
"Surely there's an Australian that's deserving of an award," Mr Obudzinski said.
"They call it the great divide for a reason - it's gone down like a lead balloon. We've got a 90-year-old customer and a knighthood for him would be well received," he said.
Mr Obudzinski said the gentleman in question, Charlie Ross, was a local legend around Grong Grong, having worked as a fencer for most of the farmers around the district.
"He (McCormack) always finds the time to come to Grong Grong," Mr Obudzinski said.
"He's got a family like everyone else, we understand he needs to go home to them but he often stops here at 7pm and has a bit of chat on a Tuesday."
Not all of the patrons at the Grong Grong Royal Hotel were convinced over the fuss.
"It may be a silly decision but does anyone really care?" asked farmer Ian Richardson.
"There's more important things to worry about than a royal getting a knighthood."
Kane Gawne said the announcement was low on people's agenda but saw the silver lining.
"If his job is running the country and running a business, there's less strategic decisions he could have made," Mr Gawne said.
"I'm sure Tony Abbott giving Prince Philip a knighthood made their news and it might have encouraged some English people to come over and visit."
Earlier yesterday, Mr McCormack said the decision went against the grain of "most ordinary everyday Australians" and had exposed the government to "ridicule".
The parliamentary secretary to the Finance Minister went on to urge the Prime Minister to stop responding to the "tea leaf reading groups" who set the hashtags on social media.
Mr McCormack said he regularly visited the Royal Hotel for "the best bangers and mash in the Riverina" and "real perspective".
"A lot of the things we do pass the pub test and some of it doesn't," he said.
"Prince Philip's knighthood didn't pass the pub test." - With Latika Bourke