Australia / Second series (1992–present)

 The $50 polymer banknote was first issued on 4 October 1995.

 

Australia 50 dollars UNC

Front: David Unaipon

Back: Edith Cowan

Ngarrindjeri man, made significant contributions to science, literature and improvements in conditions for Aboriginal people. Despite having no advanced education in mathematics, Unaipon researched many engineering problems and developed a number of his own inventions. In 1909, he patented an improved hand tool for sheep shearing, depicted on the front of the banknote. Unaipon gained a reputation as ‘Australia's Leonardo’ for his promotion of scientific ideas. He became the first published Aboriginal writer; his earliest published works included newspaper and magazine articles and a booklet entitled Native Legends, published in 1929. 

David Unaipon (born David Ngunaitponi) (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967)  Indigenous Australian of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. David Unaipon believed that the aerodynamics of the boomerang could be applied to aircraft and predicted the development of the helicopter.  Read more

When Edith Cowan was elected to parliament in 1921, she narrowly defeated the then Attorney-General, T.P. Draper, who was responsible for introducing the changes to legislation that allowed her to run for the seat. Edith Cowan is best remembered as a social worker and the first female member of an Australian parliament. Gaining insight from her husband's work as a police magistrate, Cowan was involved in many voluntary organisations throughout her life and worked towards important reforms for women, children and migrants. She helped found the Women's Service Guild, which advocated equal rights of citizenship. Cowan was also a founding member of the Children's Protection Society, which was instrumental in establishing the Children's Court, where she was one of the first women appointed to the bench. Cowan was elected to the Legislative Assembly in Western Australia in 1921.   

Edith Dircksey Cowan (née Brown), OBE (2 August 1861 – 9 June 1932) was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament. Read more

Image and information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and RBA Banknotes

Australia / Second series (1992–present)[

Australia 10 dollars UNC
Front: Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson
Back: Dame Mary Gilmore

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson (17 February 1864 – 5 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales, where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include "Waltzing Matilda", "The Man from Snowy River" and "Clancy of the Overflow". Read more

Mary Gilmore, aged 83

In 1890, she moved to Sydney, where she became part of the "Bulletin school" of radical writers. Although the greatest influence on her work was Henry Lawson it was Alfred "A. G." Stephens, literary editor of The Bulletin, who published her verse and established her reputation as a fiery radical poet, champion of the workers and the oppressed.

She followed William Lane and other socialist idealists to Paraguay in 1896, where they had established a communal settlement called New Australia two years earlier. At Lanes breakaway settlement Cosme she married William Gilmore in 1897. By 1900 the socialist experiment had clearly failed. Will left to work as a shearer in Argentina and Mary and her two year old son Billy soon followed, living separately in Buenos Aires for about six months, and then the family moved to Patagonia until they saved enough for a return passage, via England, in 1902 to Australia, where they took up farming near Casterton, Victoria.

Gilmore's first volume of poetry was published in 1910, and for the ensuing half-century she was regarded as one of Australia's most popular and widely read poets.[citation needed] In 1908 she became women's editor of The Worker, the newspaper of Australia's largest and most powerful trade union, the Australian Workers' Union (AWU). She was the union's first woman member. The Worker gave her a platform for her journalism, in which she campaigned for better working conditions for working women, for children's welfare and for a better deal for the indigenous Australians. Read more

Image and information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Australia Second series (1992–present)

Australia 5 Dollars VF 1992
Front: Queen Elizabeth II
Back: Parliament House and old Parliament House

Parliament House, known formerly as the Provisional Parliament House, was the house of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament after its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra, until a more permanent building could be constructed. In 1988, the Commonwealth Parliament transferred to the new Parliament House on Capital Hill. It also serves as a venue for temporary exhibitions, lectures and concerts.

On 2 May 2008 it was made an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. On 9 May 2009, the Executive Agency was renamed the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, reporting to the Special Minister of State.

Designed by John Smith Murdoch and a team of assistants from the Department of Works and Railways, the building was intended to be neither temporary nor permanent—only to be a ‘provisional’ building that would serve as a parliament for fifty years. The design extended from the building to include its gardens, décor and furnishings. The building is in the Simplified or "Stripped" Classical Style, commonly used for Australian government buildings constructed in Canberra during the 1920s and 1930s. It does not include such classical architectural elements as columns, entablatures or pediments, but does have the orderliness and symmetry associated with neoclassical architecture. Read more

Old Parliament House as viewed from the front

Opening of Parliament House in May 1927

The front architecture built into Capital Hill, including the forecourt and main entrance, and illustrating a ground level view of the boomerang-shaped design

Parliament House is the meeting facility of the Parliament of Australia located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and opened on 9 May 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. Costing more than A$1.1 billion, it was the most expensive building in the world at the time of its construction.[citation needed]

Federal Parliament meetings were first held in Melbourne until 1927. Between 1927 and 1988, the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional Parliament House, which is now known as "Old Parliament House". Construction of Australia's permanent Parliament House was delayed while its location was debated. Construction of the new building began in 1981. The principal design of the structure is based on the shape of two boomerangs and is topped by an 81-metre flagpole.

It contains 4,700 rooms and many areas are open to the public. The main foyer contains a marble staircase and leads to the Great Hall which has a large tapestry on display. The House of Representatives chamber is decorated green while the Senate chamber has a red colour scheme. Between the two chambers is the Members' Hall which has a water feature and is not open to the public. The Ministerial Wing houses the office of the Prime Minister and other Ministers. Read more

Image and Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia