Sunrise host Natalie Barr has asked why the $5 note is being redesigned after a report revealed the consultation process cost over $500,000.

In March, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced it would update the banknote, with the winning Indigenous theme called ‘Connection to Country’, replacing Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait following her death in 2022.

It also confirmed King Charles would not feature on the note.

Endorsed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, RBA staff conducted consultation in Alice Springs, Barmah, Bathurst, Broome, Cairns, Condobolin, Darwin, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Orange, Port Augusta, Shepparton, and the Torres Strait.

‘Overall, we met with around 100 First Nations community representatives from over 40 organisations. Multiple online information sessions were also conducted to facilitate participation from all parts of the country’, the RBA’s annual report stated.

On March 17, the RBA said the new $5 banknote would honour First Nations People.

Ms Barr asked why Queen Elizabeth II, the nation’s longest serving monarch, was being replaced given Australia was not a republic.

‘You do wonder why they would replace the Queen, even if we’ve now got a King, because she is the longest-serving monarch. She’s an iconic figure,’ she said. 

Sunrise host Natalie Barrr (pictured on Tuesday) asked the question every Aussie wants answered about the planned redesign of the $5 banknote

Sunrise host Natalie Barrr (pictured on Tuesday) asked the question every Aussie wants answered about the planned redesign of the $5 banknote

‘(Maybe) if we’d become a republic, then we could think about that. I could actually understand that.’

Ms Barr was joined by Western Sydney Women CEO Amanda Rose who took aim at the costly change to the note.

‘I’m glad my taxes paid for them to go on a nice little trip while people can’t afford their rent,’ she said. 

‘This is a classic example of how disconnected our government is – because people can’t even afford food and they’re using taxpayer money to go on this road trip to ask people on something that we didn’t even vote for.

‘They didn’t even ask the general community. Who said they wanted it changed? We’re not a republic. Why are they getting rid of any monarchy at all on our $5 note?’

The Australian Monarchist League (AML) slammed the government decision to remove British royalty from the $5 note, branding the move ‘neo-communism’.

The group is calling for King Charles III to be on the note.

‘I believe all Australians would be proud of AML’s design,’ Australian Monarchists League spokesperson Jack Barton said.

The proposed $5 banknote put forward by the Australian Monarchist League

The proposed $5 banknote put forward by the Australian Monarchist League

‘Unlike the Labor government’s divisive decision to remove the portrait of the sovereign from the $5 note, this design is a testament to the shared journey between Indigenous Australia and the Westminster Parliamentary system underpinned by our constitutional monarchy,’ AML said in a statement. 

Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency and for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, also hit out at the $507,000 expense.

‘There is a consistent theme where the Albanese Government is guided by ideology more than a commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous Australiana. They have spent half a million dollars on this pet project, yet how many marginalised lives have been actually improved?’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on every Australian bank note series since her coronation in 1953. Her image will remain on the nation’s coins, which is a decision of the Royal Australian Mint.

The new $5 design will also feature additional security features to prevent fraud.

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