Australia will no longer appoint knights and dames under its honours system, PM Malcolm Turnbull has said.

Mr Turnbull said the titles were “not appropriate” in modern Australia, and that Queen Elizabeth had accepted the cabinet’s recommendation to drop them.

Former PM Tony Abbott reintroduced knighthoods and damehoods in 2014.

His controversial decision to grant Prince Philip a knighthood in January was widely seen as one of the factors which ended his term as leader.

Mr Abbott at the time said Australia was honouring the Duke of Edinburgh’s lifetime of “service and dedication”, but later said the decision was “injudicious”.

He was ousted as leader of the centre-right Liberal Party by Mr Turnbull in September.