Australia Plans To Replace Queen Elizabeth II's Late Portrait With A Design That Reflects Indigenous Culture

Illustration of the Australian dollar in the wallet. (Wikimedia Commons/Martin Kingsley)

JAKARTA - Australia plans to replace the portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II on Australian $5 bills with a new design, to reflect and respect the country's cultural history, the central bank said Thursday.

The decision follows consultations with the federal government, which supports the changes, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, the banknote will continue to feature the Australian Parliament.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II last year sparked another debate in Australia about her future as a constitutional monarchy. The voters narrowly chose to defend the British king as head of his country in the 1999 referendum.

The decision was also taken as Australia's centre-left Labor Party government pushed for a referendum, needed to amend the constitution, to recognize the indigenouss in the document and require consultation with them on decisions that affect their lives.

Australian authorities say after Queen Elizabeth II's death, the image of King Charles III will not automatically replace him on Australian $5 banknotes, and he may be replaced by an Australian figure.

The decision to include his image on Australian $5 banknotes was about his personality which was against his status as king, they said at the time.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is an old republic, but said after Queen Elizabeth II's death in September, it was not the time to debate about the role of the monarchy in Australia.

Peter Dutton, the leader of the Liberal Party's main opposition, said the central bank's decision was politically motivated.

"There's no doubt, this was directed by the government and I think the Prime Minister should admit it," he said at the local radio station 2GB.

Reserve Bank said it would consult with the Pribumi group in designing Australian $5 banknotes.

It took several years to design and print new banknotes. Until then, the current record will continue to be published.

"This is a big win for the grassroots, the First Nations people who have struggled to decolonize the country," tweeted Lidia Thorpe, an opposition lawmaker for the Green Party of Indigenous descent.

In 2021, Australia will officially change its national anthem to remove the country's reference "young and free", amid calls to recognize indigenous peoples as the oldest civilization in the world.

It is known that the $5 banknote is the only Australian banknote with the image of Queen Elizabeth II. The Australian coin is mandated to display the image of the British king and the new coin will have an image of King Charles III.

King Charles III is head of state in Australia, New Zealand and 12 other Commonwealth regions outside the United Kingdom, although his role is mostly ceremonial.