Australia To Remove British Monarch From Banknotes
Category: World News
Australia will remove the British monarch from its banknotes, replacing the
late Queen Elizabeth II’s image on its $5 note with a design honoring
Indigenous culture, the central bank said on Thursday.
The
decision to leave her successor King Charles III off the $5 note means no
monarch would remain on Australia’s paper currency.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said it would consult Indigenous people on
a new design that “honors the culture and history of the First
Australians”.
Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8 last year was
marked by public mourning in Australia, but some Indigenous groups also
protested against the destructive impact of colonial Britain, calling for the
abolition of the monarchy.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy,
a democracy with King Charles III as its head of state. A referendum proposing
a switch to a republic was narrowly defeated in 1999.
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The central bank said its decision was supported by the centre-left
Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who favors an eventual
move to an Australian republic.
The new banknote would take “a
number of years” to be designed and printed, it said, with the existing $5
note remaining legal tender even after the new design is in people’s
hands.
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