Queen Elizabeth II is the face of Australia’s $5 bank note. Australia will erase the British-based monarch from its banknotes, replacing the late Queen Elizabeth II’s image on its $5 note with a design honouring Indigenous culture, the central bank said Thursday. The decision to leave her successor Charles III off the $5 note means no monarch would remain on Australia’s paper currency. (AFP)

Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8 last year was marked by public mourning in Australia, but some Indigenous groups also protested the destructive impact of colonial Britain at the time, calling for the abolition of the monarchy. Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a democracy with Charles III as its head of state. A referendum proposing a switch to a republic was narrowly defeated in 1999. REUTERS

It is traditional for the monarch to appear on the lowest denomination of Australian banknote, like the now-defunct $1 note. The central bank said its decision was supported by the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who favours an eventual move to an Australian republic. The new banknote would take “a number of years” to be designed and printed. (Supplied: Reserve Bank of Australia)