The "greatest living Liberal", former prime minister John Howard, has been recognised with lifetime party membership in Sydney.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and NSW Premier Mike Baird presented the honour to a spry-looking Mr Howard and wife Janette, whom he often dubbed his "focus group of one".
The Howards received a standing ovation that lasted so long they had to motion for audience members to resume their seats.
Mr Abbott told those gathered at the Liberal Party's State Council on Saturday morning that Mr Howard was "my friend, my mentor, someone I will always regard as the prime minister emeritus of our country".
Mr Howard paid tribute to the prime minister for bringing an end to the seven-year "travail" that was the Rudd-Gillard Labor government, "of whom we are being ever so gently reminded by the ABC".
The jibe was a reference to the broadcaster's Killing Season documentary - an anatomy of the leadership tussle between the last two Labor prime ministers.
Mr Howard urged his fellow Liberals to embrace a broader membership base, saying bowing to factional bosses would be poison to the party.
"We are a party of reform, but we are also a party of tradition, and you can marry the two," Mr Howard said.
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