Australia’s central bank has announced it will be deleting the British monarch from its banknotes, replacing the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II on its Australian $5 note with a design honoring indigenous culture.
The decision not to feature Charles III means that no British-based monarch will remain on Australian paper currency. The nation’s republican movement, in welcoming the decision, stressed that indigenous people predated British settlement by 65,000 years.
The historic decision was announced by the Central Bank of Australia, citing the fact that the time has come to adopt “a new design that honors the culture and history of early Australians”. The new design will therefore be intended to replace the figure of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who still appears on banknotes in circulation. However, the central bank added that the new banknote will not be ready for a few years.
