Steve Irwin could replace Queen on $5 Australian bank note if petitions get their way

Thousands of Australians are calling for King Charles III to be usurped on their banknotes by true “Aussie icon” Steve Irwin.

The late Crocodile Hunter has become the subject of petitions calling for the beloved TV personality to replace the Queen on the country’s $5 bills.

Following Elizabeth II’s death last month, the Australian government said that the new monarch would not automatically replace her on its paper currency, and that a local figure could take her place.

The suggestion sparked a flurry of suggestions as to who should grace the new notes, with contenders ranging from Kylie Minogue to Shane Warne.

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Irwin fans Vincent Wu, Kirby Miles and Kyle Ryan, are leading the campaign to get their hero immortalised in cash via separate e-petitions, with Ryan’s Change.org page garnering more than 31,000 supporters.

“It's about time we payed [sic] our respects to the all time greatest Australian bloke, Steve Irwin,” Ryan wrote in his petition’s accompanying blurb.

“Let's make a change for something in the history of our country. It's been ten years without the Aussie icon and although he's been recognised in many ways I'd imagine we could all support the idea of going one step further (well deserved).

“With a list a mile long of all the good Steve had accomplished in our world let's show our appreciation to a great true blue Australian by putting Stephen 'Steve' Irwin on our country's currency.”

Inevitably, Twitter users were quick to offer their input, with a number offering a possible vision of the currency’s future thanks to some creative mock-ups.

The excited speculation comes after Australian Treasury Minister Andrew Leigh said that any changes to the lowest denomination note would not be “automatic”.

This is because whilst coins are mandated to carry the image of the British monarch, notes are more open, so just because the Queen was the star of the $5 note that doesn’t mean her son will follow suit.

Asked by a reporter in Canberra last month if the government would consider replacing the British monarch with an Australian such as indigenous land rights activist Edward Mabo, Leigh said: "It will be a conversation to be had down the track.

“There's no rush about it. The priority now is changing over the coins."

He added: “The decision to include the Queen’s face on the $5 note was about her personally rather than about her status as the monarch.”

Still, whilst the door remains open for a new kind of note, we don’t expect to see Aussie’s paying for their coffees with Vegemite any time soon.

Sorry, guys.

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