Mallika Dureja
The country’s central bank said on Thursday that the picture of Queen Elizabeth II will be taken off from Australia new notes and replaced with a new design that reflects and honours the history of the country’s Indigenous culture.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement that the decision was made after talking with the federal government, which agreed with the change. It said that the Australian Parliament will still be on the other side of the note.
The death of Queen Elizabeth last year has brought up the question of Australia’s future as a constitutional monarchy again. In a referendum in 1999, voters just barely chose to keep the British monarch as head of state.
After his mother died, King Charles III became the British monarch. He is the head of state in Australia, New Zealand, and 12 other Commonwealth realms outside of the UK, but his role is mostly symbolic.
In September 2022, Australia said that King Charles’s picture wouldn’t automatically replace Queen Elizabeth’s on Australia new notes , and that she might be replaced by figures from Australia.
Authorities have said that putting the queen’s picture on the A$5 bill had more to do with her personality than with her position as monarch.
Also read: 3 Indian-American legislators got jobs in US committees.
The decision to update the note comes as Australia’s center-left Labor government pushes for a referendum, which is needed to change the constitution, to recognise Indigenous people in the document and require consultation with them on decisions that affect their lives.
Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes. The nation’s central bank said Thursday its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III https://t.co/Gn3Y38hy5u pic.twitter.com/h9LUdLr0P0
— TIME (@TIME) February 2, 2023
Australia’s national anthem was officially changed in 2021 to take out the line about the country being “young and free.” This was done in response to calls to recognise that Australia’s Indigenous people are the oldest civilization in the world.
When designing the A$5 bill, the Reserve Bank said it would talk to Indigenous groups. It will take a few years to make the new banknote and print it. Until then, more of the current note will be printed.
