There appears to be two sides of the story...only one side got aired in a very public very national forum in front of the PM, his missus and a lot of parliamentary heavyweights....on that reqard....there is a time and a place to make a compliant and a national award presentation speach is not the right forum....right or wrong, the deathstar was painted into a very tight corner.
The guy is an outstanding person....right up to the point he aired his complaint in front of a crowd of dignitaries. After that? I lost all interest in the guy.