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Australia announced Thursday that it will no longer issue banknotes depicting the British monarch, replacing the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II on the five-dollar bill with a motif dedicated to Aboriginal culture, AFP writes.

The decision by Australia's central bank not to depict the new King Charles III on the five-dollar bill means that monarchs living in Britain will no longer be represented on paper money in Australia.

The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank, has promised to consult with Aboriginal people about a new banknote design that will honor the culture and history of the first Australians.

The bank acknowledged that it would take several years to design and print the new banknote. The existing five-dollar bill will remain legal tender even after the new bills go into circulation.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 last year was marked by public mourning in Australia, but some Aboriginal organizations protested against the devastating effects of British colonialism and called for the abolition of the monarchy.

The central bank stated that its decision was supported by the center-left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Albanese supports the possible abolition of the monarchy and the declaration of Australia as a republic.

The central bank's decision was welcomed by the Australian Republican Movement, which noted that indigenous Australians had lived there for 65,000 years before the British settled the continent.

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