Australia’s $5 banknote will replace monarch portrait for Indigenous figures

‘I think it is another attack on our systems, on our society, and our institutions,’ said Australia’s opposition leader Peter Dutton. He also believes the central banks’ move is politically motivated in favour of becoming a republic.

Despite this, Australia’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told reporters that the change to the $5 note is the right decision.

‘To think that an unelected king should be on our currency in place of First Nations leaders and elders and eminent Australians is no longer justifiable at a time of truth-telling,’ Chalmers said.

Official statements from Australian authorities support this sentiment. They say that placing Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait on their money was a result of her character and personality rather than her status as a monarch in the first place.

And what do Australians feel about it all? Based on a poll conducted in a Sydney newspaper, the majority are not too fussed about featuring an image of the new king on their local currency, either.

In October, the Sydney Morning Herald asked their readers whom they would prefer to see featured on the updated $5 banknote. The results revealed that 43 percent of voters wanted to see an Australian featured and 34 percent would be in favour of King Charles.

Hearing of the news of an updated design, Lidia Thorpe, a Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman and Australian Greens party senator, labelled the change a ‘massive win for the grassroots, First Nations people who have been fighting to decolonise this country.’

According to the Reserve Bank, the updated note will still take a few years to come into circulation and all coins will be required to depict King Charles III. Still, the process of developing the new $5 note design will begin immediately.

They say all creative direction will be guided by and involve consultation with First Australians.