"Stop the wattle vomit" cried one petition against the new $5 note. "It looks like roo poo!" was the verdict of one of the people who signed it.
They're sentiments largely echoed by the Twitterati, in a race to tweet the wittiest put down. It was all in good humour, of course, but the opinion seemed to be almost unanimous: it's ugly.
I refute that. I actually think the new $5 note is beautiful. And I'd wager that same $5 many times over that you will too, once you hear the story behind it.
The new $5 has a hidden beauty – and it's all thanks to a boy from Sydney called Connor McLeod, who is blind.
Connor, 14, will never see the new note, but to him – and 357,000 Australians, it truly is a thing of beauty. That's because, when it's released in September, it'll be the first ever Australian bank note to include tactile markings, so people who are blind or visually impaired can differentiate which note is which. It all came about because of a frustrating Christmas present, technology and Connor's campaigning spirit.
When the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced it'd be making changes to bank notes, it initially refused to put tactile markings on them, fixating instead on the wattle and, it seems, freezing out the wrinkles of the Queen. Brazil, Thailand, Malawi, Bahrain and China all had banknotes with embossed braille. Australia lagged behind. Connor didn't think this was good enough.
One Christmas, Connor received some money but had no idea how much it was and had to ask his mum, Ally. That led to a discussion which led to Connor wanting to lead the charge on changing things. So, along with his mum, they logged on to Change.org and petitioned the RBA for tactile markings. They wanted them to be at least as important as the wattle in the new mint of money.
There were few Australians less empowered than Connor: he couldn't yet vote, couldn't see and, as his mum emotionally said on the petition, his prospects of independence and not being ripped off when he grew up depended upon people's honesty. He said he felt "embarrassed and annoyed" that he couldn't tell which note was which. But the power of sharing his personal story resonated with 57,000 people signing his petition.
Connor said: "People in the blind community left comments saying they'd been ripped off too. I used coins but then it sort of hit me that my life wouldn't be all coins so I decided to make things a little easier and easier for others too."
With a community of 57,000 signers, Connor was able to suggest actions for them, including lobbying then-treasurer Joe Hockey and filing a human rights complaint against the government. Connor didn't take no for an answer, even flying to Canberra with his mum to do a petition delivery to demonstrate how many people wanted this. It worked.
The combination of a 14-year-old's determination, his willingness to share his story to help others, and the people power he could command with thousands of engaged online supporters resulted in the RBA changing its mind. Come September, Connor will have made history. Perhaps, it's his face that should be on the note.
Speaking of his victory, Connor said: "Mum has told me that she wishes every day that I wasn't blind. Obviously, blind is blind, but if you don't let it stop you, what's it stopping you from doing? Nothing."
Yes, there are fun Change.org petitions asking for the currency name to be changed to "Dollarydoos" and to ditch the contentious new $5 design. But what Connor has given us all is a simple but poignant reminder: beauty goes beyond aesthetics.
Karen Skinner is Head of Change.org Australia
This article originally appeared on www.smh.com.au
