Brisbane
CNN
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Australia’s new $5 banknote will not feature Britain’s King Charles III but instead a new design that honors the “culture and history of the first Australians”, its central bank announced on Thursday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said the design would replace the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. in a statementadding that the decision was made after consultation with the Australian government.
will consult the bank first australian He said that designing the $5 banknote, which could be issued, could take several years.
first australian Refers to the country’s indigenous population, or First Nations people, made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, descendants of the world’s oldest continuous culture, which has occupied the continent for more than 65,000 years. Together they make up about 3.2% of the country’s population of 25 million people.
In the meantime, according to the RBA, the existing $5 bill will continue to circulate and remain legal tender even after the introduction of the new banknote. The authorities have also pointed out the existing coins bearing the image of the queen will remain Legal tender “forever.”
King Charles III will continue to be featured on the coins, which are expected to begin production “in the second half of this year” by the Royal Australian Mint, Andrew Leigh, The Assistant Minister for Competition, Endowments and the Treasury told ABC Radio in an interview.
is mint Told It hopes to unveil the design of the first King Charles coins early this year.
Billions of bills and coins around the world featuring Queen Elizabeth II are in the process of being replaced by his death last September.
The Queen’s image is embossed on some banknotes and coins of the Commonwealth – a federation of 54 countries, almost all of which were formerly colonized by the United Kingdom.
In Australia, the Queen’s portrait has “featured on every Australian banknote series since her coronation,” over the course of seven decades, according to rba,
CNN reporter predicts what we’ll see from King Charles
— CNN’s Anna Coban and Angus Watson contributed to this report.