Always read the small print

I found this $50 note in the gutter outside our house, and it has been stuck on the fridge door for days waiting for someone to claim it. No-one has, so I will have to choose a charity to donate it to.

Edith Cowan was the first woman ever to be elected to a parliament in Australia. She served in the West Australian Legislative Assembly from 1921 to 1924. She was also a tireless social reformer and advocate in the cause of women’s and children’s rights and welfare.

The hospital which appears behind her on the note is the King Edward Memorial maternity hospital in Perth, which Edith helped establish. The ground in front of the hospital is decorated with the opening words of her maiden speech in the West Australian Legislative Assembly, in tiny, tiny writing. The opening words are ‘It is a great responsibility to be the only woman here, and I want to emphasize the necessity which exists for other women being here’.

These words were introduced when the note was revamped in 2019. Some months passed before it was noticed that they included a typo – ‘responsibilty’ instead of ‘responsibility’. About 46 million notes were printed with the error. I don’t know if this is one of them. I don’t have a strong enough magnifying glass so in fact I can’t read the small print.