Bob Katter offers alternative for King Charles on new Australian coins

There’s “nothing more un-Australian than to have a foreigner on our coins” says Bob Katter, who rejected plans for King Charles to appear on newly minted currency. The maverick MP has come up with an alternative design of his own.

Kennedy MP Bob Katter has rejected plans for King Charles to appear on newly minted Australian coins and has instead offered a new design. Picture: Supplied

A maverick politician has rejected plans for “done-nothing” foreigner King Charles to appear on newly minted Australian coins.

Bob Katter, the Federal member for Kennedy in North Queensland, on Tuesday offered a number of alternatives but said if all else failed that he was willing to “pose for a portrait of himself fighting a killer croc”.

There was “nothing more un-Australian than to have a foreigner on our coins,” he said of King Charles who had inherited power without ever having lifted a finger.

“Australians do not believe that any one individual is born superior to another,” he said.

“And now we’re affirming this inequality by displaying a man who has done nothing for this country on our coin.”

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Kennedy MP Bob Katter is opposed to “done nothing” King Charles who has only been to the country a handful of times appearing on newly minted Australian coins. Picture: Brendan Radke

King Charles will not replace the late Queen Elizabeth on the Australian $5 note but the new monarch will begin to appear on silver and gold coins by the end of the year.

Mr Katter said imprinting King Charles’ face on Australian coins was a slap in the face to the nation’s heroes who built and developed the country.

Bob Katter’s proposed new design if “all else fails”. Picture: Supplied

“How about an Australian soldier who has defended this nation; perhaps a soldier who fought along the brutal Kokoda Trail (during WWII),” he said.

“Or, a Kalkadoon warrior, holding a woomera and spear,” he added, in reference to the First Australians from the Outback “who fought legendary battles to fend off well-armed settlers”.

The outspoken head of the Katter’s Australian Party also put forward the names of Sir Leo Hielscher, the architect of the modern Queensland economy, and Dr John Bradfield, one of Australia’s greatest engineers.

Mr Katter, tongue firmly in cheek, said that he would be willing to personally appear in a life-and-death battle with a “killer crocodile” if there were no other viable alternatives.

“That’s still a considerable improvement to an English aristocrat who has only visited Australia on a handful of occasions.”

Originally published as Bob Katter offers alternative for King Charles on new Australian coins