Changing the $5 note

is now a political issue it would seem. 

Our current note has Queen Elizabeth II on it - and rightly so. It used to be a very commonly used note. Cash is becoming less common and the ATM only dispenses higher value notes. 

Despite that the Mint has decided that the note needs to be changed. This will not, as many expected, be to a portrait of King Charles III but to a "First Nations" design. There will be people who will applaud loudly at this. I do not.

If the design had been going to represent our past and our history I would perhaps have suggested a group portrait of the men who wrote our Constitution. I would do this because this is the document which now brings the country together. Any "First Nations" design will simply divide the country still further. It will be offensive to some, deeply offensive. Not all my aboriginal friends will be happy with the design. It is not what they want to see on any bank note.

I remember the day this country changed to decimal currency. (Yes, I am well and truly old enough to remember it clearly.) We had talked about it at school and some were excited by it. They wanted to see the new coins. It was some time before I received a 5c coin in my change.

There were, as there inevitably would be, attempts to defraud people as the changes came into effect. We had 1c and 2c coins then. Now I would hunt to find a 5c coin. Inflation has done that. They are still legal tender but a merchant is not required to accept more than five dollars worth of such coins. It is common to "round up" to the nearest 10c. The shape of the 50c coin has changed. There have been "commemorative" coins and more. 

Our coins have native animals on them and the late Queen Elizabeth II too. Our notes have people who have contributed to our history as a nation. 

And this is where the new $5 fails. If the design I have seen is accurate it does not reflect us as a nation either past or present. There are no people there. If this was an attempt to remain neutral then it fails completely.