The British monarchy will no longer appear on Australian banknotes.
The country's central bank said on Thursday that the new $5 bill will have an Indigenous design instead of a King Charles III image. However, it is still anticipated that the King will be depicted on coins bearing the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Australia's only remaining bank note with a monarch's image was the $5 bill. According to the bank, the decision was made after consulting with the Labor Party government, which is led by the center-left Labor Party and supports the change. According to opponents, the move is motivated by politics.
Australia's head of state is still the British monarch, albeit largely symbolic these days. Australia, like many other former British colonies, is debating whether or not to keep its constitutional ties to Britain.
The new $5 bill, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, will have a different design than the portrait of the queen, who died last year. The move would honor "the culture and history of the First Australians," according to the bank.
In a statement, the bank said, "The Australian parliament will continue to be on the other side of the $5 banknote."
According to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the change presented an opportunity to achieve equilibrium.
He told reporters in Melbourne, "The monarch will still be on the coins, but the $5 note will say more about our history, our heritage, and our country, and I see that as a good thing."
Peter Dutton, the leader of the opposition, compared the move to changing Australia Day's date.
According to what he stated to 2GB Radio, "I know the silent majority don't agree with a lot of the woke nonsense that goes on," "We've got to hear more from those people online."
Dutton urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to "own up to it" and stated that the king's decision not to appear on the note was heavily influenced by Albanese.
Mr. Albanese started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic the year he took office by creating a new position as assistant minister for the republic. However, his government has not prioritized holding a referendum to break constitutional ties with Britain.
Before the new $5 note goes public, the bank intends to consult with Indigenous groups regarding its design, a process it anticipates will take several years.
The current $5 bill will continue to be used as legal tender even after the new bill is put into circulation until the new design is introduced.
This year, Australian coins are expected to feature King Charles III's face. In US dollars, one Australian dollar is approximately equivalent to 71 cents.
The introduction of the 50 pence coin in December marked the beginning of the transition of British currency to the new monarch. The coin's front depicts King Charles, while the back pays tribute to his mother.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, 208 million $5 notes worth $734 million were in circulation this week. 10 percent of Australia's more than 2 billion bank notes are of the smallest denomination.
The center-left Labor Party of Mr. Albanese wants to convert Australia into a republic with an Australian citizen serving as head of state rather than the British monarch.
Matt Thistlethwaite was appointed Assistant Minister for the Republic by Mr. Albanese following Labor's victory in elections in May of last year. In June, Mr. Thistlethwaite stated that the queen would not see any change.
In a 1999 referendum that was proposed by a Labor government, Australians voted to keep the British monarch as the country's head of state.
The government had already pledged to hold a referendum this year to include Indigenous people in the constitution before the queen died. The government has claimed that including a republic question in that referendum would distract from its priority of protecting Indigenous people.
According to Guinness World Records, Queen Elizabeth II appeared on at least 33 different currencies at one point, more than any other monarch.
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