The central bank of Australia announced this Thursday (02) that it will stop using the portrait of the British monarch on the new banknotes to be put into circulation in the country, replaced by elements that pay homage to the aboriginal culture.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said the new Australian five-dollar notes would not feature a portrait of the new British monarch, King Charles III, but would feature elements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture.
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The central bank said Aboriginal people will be consulted on the new banknotes, which will take years to design and print, in a project that “honors the culture and history of early Australians”, according to a statement.
The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II first appeared on the Australian five dollar banknote in 1992, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of her accession to the British throne. This was currently the only note that still contained the portrait of the monarch, who died in September.
“the monarch [britânico] it will still be on the coins, but the five dollar bill will speak more about our history, our heritage and our country,” said Australian Finance Minister Jim Chalmers at a press conference.
The move was welcomed by the Australian Republican Movement, pointing out that Aboriginal people had lived on the island for at least 60,000 years before British colonization in 1788.
“To think that an unelected king should be on our money rather than First Nations chiefs and elders and prominent Australians is no longer justifiable in a period of reconciliation and ultimately formal, cultural and intellectual independence,” said the movement’s chairman. , Craig Foster.
The Labor government of Anthony Albanese, which took power in May 2022, has already promised to hold a referendum this year to give Aboriginal people a voice in Parliament and recognize Indigenous communities in the Constitution.
The aborigines, one of the oldest cultures in the world, represent 3.2% of the total population of Australia, but they have denounced constant mistreatment, in addition to being evicted from the land and systematically discriminated against by institutions, organizations and society in general.
Although he is a staunch republican, Albanese said, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, that the priority was the referendum on the political rights of the Aboriginal people, and not replacing the monarchy with a republic.
In 1999, Australians rejected the move to a republic in a referendum. At the time, polls taken before the Queen’s death showed that a majority of Australians were in favor of ending the monarchy.
The republican question has been revived since Albanese came to power, promptly naming the country’s first “deputy minister for the republic”, hinting that another referendum could be held in the future.
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