Towards change

With the introduction of decimal currency in 1966, the imagery of First Nations culture became more prominent and less dependent on colonial influence. The Bank’s first polymer banknote, issued in 1988, displayed examples of ancient and contemporary Aboriginal art, echoing the increased appreciation of its significance, both nationally and internationally.

1966

In the late 1950s, the Australian Government began to give practical consideration to the introduction of decimal currency. The new currency would replace the denominations of pounds, shillings and pence and simplify calculations, thereby increasing financial efficiency. The government, led by the Liberal-Country Party coalition of Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, announced in 1963 that it would introduce decimal currency in 1966. The Decimal Currency Board was established to oversee the conversion, and the Reserve Bank had responsibility for production of the decimal currency banknotes.

Prime Minister Menzies announced in June 1963 that the new banknotes would be known as the Royal, so preserving a shared feature of British culture, and maintaining aspects of the United Kingdom’s imperial relationship with Australia. One of the preliminary, unissued designs for the 1 Royal banknote combines this British allegiance with a portrait of a First Nations man, shown with a boomerang and designs drawn from interpretations of rock carvings and bark paintings. The choice of the term Royal proved to be unpopular with the public and, in September 1963, the decision was reached to call the new unit the Dollar.

The designs for the new decimal currency banknotes portrayed diverse identities from Australian history, including the social reformer, Caroline Chisholm, who became the first identified woman other than Queen Elizabeth II to appear on the currency. The new series also included a more prominent expression of First Nations culture than previous series when it was issued in 1966, just a year before the referendum that amended the Australian Constitution to allow the Commonwealth, rather than the states, to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to include them in the census.

The new $1 decimal currency banknote represented a significant means of increasing general awareness of the country’s First Nations culture. Designed by Gordon Andrews, the back of the banknote depicted imagery of Aboriginal rock paintings and carvings on the right side of the banknote, adapted from sources such as illustrated books. The images include Mimih figures, their spiritual status denoted by extreme thinness, together with examples of fauna that are distinguished as ancestral presences by the X ray views. They were united with imagery from a bark painting on the left-hand side, their combination being determined more by the demands of design than the relationship of narrative and meaning.

Titled Funerary rites of Gurrmirringu, the bark painting is by the eminent artist, David Malangi Daymirringu (Manharrngu). In the centre of his painting is the ancestral hunter Gurrmirringu, who has received a fatal bite from the snake shown beside him. He is surrounded by kinsmen with clapsticks, performing his funerary rites.

The painting, Funerary rites of Gurrmirringu, was acquired by the collector, Karel Kupka, for a French institution and it is now held by the Musée du quai Branly, Paris. Photographs of the paintings were made available to the banknotes’ designers by Kupka. Regrettably, the artist’s identity remained unknown to the designers and permission to reproduce the work was not sought by the Bank prior to the banknote’s printing. Following its release, however, payment of $1,000 was made in line with those of other contributors and Dr Coombs met with David Malangi Daymirringu in Darwin to present a commemorative medallion honouring his contribution.

1988

The first series of decimal currency banknotes quickly became vulnerable to counterfeiting, leading the Bank to seek scientific assistance with the CSIRO, an involvement that resulted in the innovation of polymer (plastic) banknotes. The first banknote to be printed on polymer substrate was the Commemorative $10 banknote of 1988, designed by Harry Williamson. It was released on 26 January, the bicentenary of Governor Arthur Phillip’s naming of the penal colony Sydney Town. The banknote featured a vessel of the First Fleet, His Majesty’s Ship Supply, the first ship to drop anchor in Sydney Cove, and a frieze of figures across the landscape, beginning with convicts and continuing with subsequent waves of migration to Australia.

Colonisation was contrasted on the other side of the banknote with imagery of the cultures of First Nations peoples, combining representations of the world’s oldest continuous civilisation with its most recent innovation in banknote technology. The design’s integration of images and styles illustrates the diversity of First Nations art and culture, rather than the description of a unified narrative between the components.

A sense of depth is created in the design to accommodate layers of imagery. In the centre of the banknote is an image of a youth with body decoration that was commissioned from the artist, Wayne Williams. Ancient rock paintings from Deaf Adder Gorge, Western Arnhem Land, appear behind the youth with a Morning Star Pole, used in the funerary rituals for the transportation of the deceased’s spirit. The pole was created by Terry Yumbulul (Djangu), and it is held by the Australian Museum, Sydney.

Different styles of First Nations art works are depicted in the background. They comprise hand stencilling (left); dot painting in concentric circles (centre), based on art works acquired by the Bank from Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi (Warlpiri; Anmatyerr); and cross-hatching or rarrk, (right) adapted from a bark painting commissioned by the Bank from George Milpurrurru (Yolgnu). The banknote’s references to First Nations art recall the widespread, international appreciation of its culture during the 1980s. ⁱ

References

i The transition of Western Desert painters such as Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi into practitioners of a contemporary art movement found a ready audience during this period, and a prominent platform was offered with the design of New Parliament House, Canberra (1988), where the forecourt mosaic was based on a painting by Kumantye Jagamara (Warlpiri). Titled Possum and Wallaby Dreaming, the art work denotes a large meeting of people for communal ceremonies, and it visually integrates Australia’s central government with a language of its traditional owners. The depiction of New Parliament House on the $5 banknote (2016) includes a portion of the forecourt mosaic.

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