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The King’s portrait will not feature on Australia’s new five dollar bill, the nation’s central bank announced on Thursday, in a worrying sign for the future of the British monarchy in the leading Commonwealth nation. Instead, a new design will honour “the culture and history of the first Australians”.
“The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian parliament,” the bank said in a statement.
The change, which will replace the notes which currently show a portrait of the late Queen who died in September 2022, was Australia’s only banknote to still feature the monarch.
But Australia’s Reserve Bank said that the King will still appear on coins.
The bank has stated that the decision was made after a consultation with the government, who supported the change.
Discussing the move, treasurer Jim Chalmers said that the change will be a good balance for the country, adding: “The monarch will still be on the coins, but the $5 will say more about our history and our heritage.”
He added that he only sees the change as a “good thing”.
The current $5 note will still be circulating, until the new tender is released in due course.
A portrait of King Charles III is expected to be on Australian coins later this year.
However, opponents say that the change is politically motivated.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who likened the move to changing the date for Australia Day, said that he knows “the silent majority don’t agree with a lot of the woke nonsense that goes on”.
Mr Dutton claimed that he believes Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was central to the decision and claimed he should “own up to it”.
The British monarch remaining head of state in Austraia is reportedly seen as largely symbolic in today’s society.
Tweeting out a story about the change, Former BBC correspondent and presenter Peter Hunt wrote: “And so it begins. Slowly.”
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Australia is still currenting debating whether, and to what extent, they should continue their constitutional ties with Britain.
Cindy McCreery, a historian specialising in the British Royal Family at Sydney University, recently told Express.co.uk that, following Prince Harry’s claims, Australians are turning their backs on the monarchy.
It comes as a new poll suggests a rise in Republican sentiment following the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, which was released last month.
The survey, conducted by Resolve Strategic for the Sydney Morning Herald, asked participants if their responses had been influenced by the Sussexes recent disclosures.
Over one fifth (21 percent) said the stories had an impact on their view, with 14 percent saying they were now more likely to support a republic. Seven percent said they were less likely to do so.
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