<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>340612</docID> <postdate>2025-03-18 15:12:47</postdate> <headline>‘The King is King of Australia’: backlash over $5 note</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-340613" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250318180717359075-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Australia's $5 note has been printed with the face of the late Queen Elizabeth II since 1992. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Savannah Meacham</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Removing the monarch's portrait from the $5 note has sparked outrage among royalists who say the federal government is stealthily trying to make Australia a republic.</strong></p> <p>The Reserve Bank of Australia has revealed the refreshed $5 note will feature the theme "Connection to Country" to reflect Aboriginal culture and history.</p> <p>The central bank announced in 2023 that the $5 note would not feature King Charles III following Queen Elizabeth II's death.</p> <p>After more than 2100 submissions, the RBA's senior representatives alongside Aboriginal stakeholders decided on the "Connection to Country" theme for the $5 redesign.</p> <p>It will be the first time the banknote does not have a portrait but it will still keep an image of the Australian parliament on one side.</p> <p>The decision to omit King Charles has sparked outrage among monarchists.</p> <p>"The King is still King of Australia until the people decide otherwise and a government should not start removing images of the King," Australian Monarchist League chair Philip Benwell told AAP.</p> <p>"The government is pre-empting everything to try and force a republic by stealth on people and that is wrong."</p> <p>Mr Benwell accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of seeking another referendum on becoming a republic if re-elected in the upcoming federal election.</p> <p>Australia held a failed referendum in 1999 to ask whether the people agreed to change the constitution to become a republic with 54 per cent of people voting against it.</p> <p>Mr Benwell accused the federal government of lacking concern for the wishes of the people.</p> <p>He referenced the 1999 republic referendum and the 2023 Voice referendum when Australia voted no to recognising Aboriginal Australians in the constitution.</p> <p>"We are established under the Crown, the King wears the crown, the King is King of Australia and the government shouldn't forget that and shouldn't push the King aside," he said.</p> <p>Mr Benwell added monarchists did not have an issue with Aboriginal artwork being featured on the banknote but called for it to retain the King's image.</p> </body>