First Nation People

An old Australian $5 banknote with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

This site has a good many Australian readers, (for whom the Grousist has a great deal of gratitude) most are second or third generation Scots plus a few politicians and academics. This article will be of interest to them and to Scots who are familiar with the question of what to put on paper – now polymer – currency.

Australia is having a debate about whether or not to put King Charles III’s portrait on their dollar bills. The debate arises out of the general wish of citizens to become a republic. Is a portrait of a colonial power fitting for a nation that understands and acknowledges what early settlers did to the indigenous people?

Scots know that not only did Scotland invent the paper pound note, but also we have featured Scots luminaries from the worlds of art and science on them, leaving faltering out-of-date portraits of England’s aristocracy to Bank of England notes. Our unschooled colonial masters often refuse to accept our notes, (as the South Georgia Post Office manager did some days back) but they are legal currency so we print them just the same, proud of our heritage and inventions.

The Australian Government backs its Reserve Bank’s decision to replace Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait with a design ‘honouring culture and history of First Australians’. Opposition to the change is not a winner, critics appearing racist or lackeys to the English monarchy. There are stirrings of a cultural revolution happening down under.

Aussie readers are free to add positive comments or advice on inaccuracies in the article.

King Charles III will not feature on Australia’s $5 note after a decision by the Reserve Bank to replace Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait with a design “that honours the culture and history of the First Australians”. With the Australian government backing the decision, the move to balk at the presumed tradition of having Australia’s head of state on the note has already generated fierce debate.

Australia’s opposition leader, Peter Dutton, weighed in shortly after the announcement on Thursday on Sydney radio station 2GB, saying the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, would “have been central” to not placing King Charles on the note and should “own” the decision. “I think it’s another attack on our systems, on our society and our institutions,” he said.

The Australian Monarchist League also disapproved, accusing Albanese – who is a long time supporter of Australia becoming a republic – of “trouncing Australian democracy. “It is virtually neo-communism in action,” said Philip Benwell, chair of the league.

However, Australian Greens party senator and Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman Lidia Thorpe called the change a “massive win for the grassroots, First Nations people who have been fighting to decolonise this country”. Thorpe has previously called for the Aboriginal actor and activist Uncle Jack Charles, who died in September, to feature on the note. “We just lost a king in our own country, who was subjected to colonial violence from the moment he was born,” Thorpe said at the time. “We owe it to him, and First Nations people, to remember King Jack Charles and end the stolen generation once and for all. Uncle Jack is a great candidate for the $5 note.”

The Australian treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told reporters on Thursday the change to the $5 note was the right decision. “This is a good opportunity to strike a good balance between the monarch on the coins and a First Nations design on the fiver,” he said.

The Australian Republic Movement chairman, Craig Foster, said Australians should only see themselves in national symbols. “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,” he said.

According to polling in October by the Sydney Morning Herald, voters preferred the $5 note to feature an Australian, with 43% voting as such and only 34% saying King Charles was their choice.

In September when the debate on the $5 note initially flared, Albanese, refused to be drawn on his view. But he said advocates for Australia becoming a republic were urging that an Australian feature on the $5 note, which is the most widely used note in Australia. After the Queen’s death, the long-term debate on whether Australia should become a republic was reignited, with the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, using his condolence message upon the Queen’s death to push the cause. This was in contrast with the Australian Republican Movement, which temporarily suspended campaigning after her death. Fellow Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi also called a republic to be advanced but went further, saying she “cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire”.Bandt was described as “ignorant” and “graceless” by a former Coalition minister for his comments.

In 1999 Australia held a referendum that ultimately voted ‘no’ on whether Australia should become a republic. The change to the $5 note comes as Australia is expected to vote in another referendum by the end of the year – to recognise First Nations Australians in the constitution and enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament on policy matters that affect them. A spokesperson for Australia’s Reserve Bank said it “has a proud history of recognising the culture and history of the First Australians, including on Australia’s banknotes” and will consult with traditional owners on the design. They said the other side of the $5 banknote would continue to feature the Australian parliament.

“The new banknote will take a number of years to be designed and printed. In the meantime, the current $5 banknote will continue to be issued. It will be able to be used even after the new banknote is issued.”

Australia’s $50 banknote already features Ngarrindjeri man David Unaipon, who was an author, activist, inventor, musician and preacher. Before the introduction of polymer banknotes, paper $5 notes featured philanthropist Caroline Chisholm the 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia.

The British high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, says Britain is “relaxed” about the prospect of not having King Charles III on the $5 note. Treadell said the UK was “not at all” offended by the move. It is for Australia to decide what it wants on its coins, and on its notes,” she told ABC radio on Friday. You are a realm in your own right.”

The first $1 note, designed by Gordon Andrews, featured imagery of Indigenous rock paintings and carvings with a bark painting by artist David Malangi Daymirringu. After the $1 note was taken out of circulation, it wasn’t until the $10 polymer note was introduced in 1988 that a note featured Indigenous designs again. The queen also featured on the paper $1 note from decimalisation until it was discontinued. The current $5 design, updated in 2016, is the last Australian banknote design to feature the monarch – with Canberra’s Parliament House on the other side. The $10 has Dame Mary Gilmore and Banjo Paterson, the $20 Mary Reibey and Rev John Flynn, the $50 David Unaipon and Edith Cowan, and the $100 has Sir John Monash and Dame Nellie Melba.

NOTE: Thanks are due to Jordyn Beazly for the facts.

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