New banknote labeled 'vomit-like', 'hideous'

It may be the smallest-denominated Australian dollar banknote, but a new design for the Australian $5 bill attracted an outsized amount of criticism when it was unveiled on Tuesday, with detractors calling it "hideous" and "like vomit."

The note, which will replace its more bland predecessor from September 1, features a yellow Prickly Moses wattle flower and a colorful Eastern Spinebill native bird.

"Each banknote in the new series will depict a different species of Australian wattle and a native bird within a number of the elements," Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement.