PM Malcolm Turnbull open to debate on the future of the five cent coin in Australia

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has admitted that it’s a “fair point” that many Australians want to ditch the nation’s five cent piece.

The five cent coin’s modern relevance has been a point of debate in Australia.

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has admitted that it’s a “fair point” that many Australians want to ditch the nation’s five cent piece.

Mr Turnbull was asked about the relevance of the smallest piece of our currency during his visit to Tasmania.

The issue is expected to come up at the Liberal State Council over the weekend.

“It’s a good question. I’ll be very interested to follow the local debate on that,” he told Launceston’s LAFM.

“You don’t see them a lot anymore, do you actually. It’s a fair point.”

Mr Turnbull was more open to the five cents debate than Treasurer Scott Morrison, who famously refused to answer the question when asked the day after the May budget.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is open to debate on the five cent piece.

“If you can get as many people as in this room again who are interested in that topic, I’ll answer your question,” Scott Morrison told News Corp’s Malcolm Farr in his traditional National Press Club address.

It now costs the Mint more than five cents to make the coin.

In February, then Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Alex Hawke said Australia was getting close to the point where the coin doesn’t have a lot of use, especially given you can’t use it in many machines.