The Australian government were offered a choice over whether to include King Charles III on their new A$5 banknotes, according to documents that have come to light. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) gave federal treasurer Jim Chalmers the option to include the monarch or a piece of indigenous artwork and the central bank’s governor Philip Lowe said the government’s desire would be a major factor in the outcome.
It was announced earlier this month that the King would not replace the image of his late mother Queen Elizabeth II on the banknote, but that the image would instead honour the culture and art of First Nations people.
At the time Mr Chalmers said he had been consulted over the decision but that the RBA was responsible for making the choice.
However, according to information released to the website Right to Know, Mr Lowe said in an email to the treasurer on October 7 2022: “If the government is of the view that the king’s portrait should be on the $5 banknote, then the bank will proceed on that basis and seek an appropriate image from the palace.
“Alternatively, if the government’s view is that the monarch should no longer be on Australia’s banknotes, the bank will explore a new design that honours the culture and history of the First Australians.
“It is not our intention to replace the monarch with another individual.”
Mr Chalmers responded on December 16, saying the government would be “comfortable with a new design that honours the culture and history of First Australians, assuming a proper process for inclusive consultation is undertaken”.
He said: “I have copied this letter to the prime minister, the minister for Indigenous Australians, the assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, the assistant minister for the republic and Senator [Patrick] Dodson, who is currently serving as special envoy for reconciliation and the implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart.”
On Monday, Mr Chalmers once again stated the decision was made by the RBA but with the full support of the government.
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In a referendum held in 1999, Australians voted by 54.87 percent to 45.13 percent against becoming a republic.
Legal academic David Flint argued in Spectator Australia that the Royal Family is “more supported and more popular” and claimed “in a second referendum, a republic would, most likely, suffer a greater defeat than in 1999”.
However Cindy McCreery, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Sydney, said tht recent anti-royal sentiment in the Caribbean could influence opinions in Australia too.
She told Time: “When those countries become republics, and there are fewer Commonwealth realms, more Australians may look around and think, ‘we really part of a shrinking group of nations…maybe it is time for us to join those countries.”
