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Cartoonists specialise in responding to the headlines. Among the many stories that demanded attention during the past year were leadership speculation, migration policy, the defining of Australian values, and rising inflation. Stem cell research and same-sex marriages also grabbed headlines.

Political cartoon of a soccer referee giving a red card from rebel coalition backbenchers to Amanda Vanstone. Her arms outstretched as goalkeeper with the words 'Nothing Shall Pass' on her jumper - John Howard is in the bottom right hand corner of the goal net. - click to view larger image — 'The Chipp legacy' by Vincent O'Farrell

Political cartoon of a Papuan family of four held up by a bird of paradise, with a giant Kangaroo coming towards them. - click to view larger image — 'West Papua' by Pat Campbell

Political cartoon of Bananas in Pyjamas characters B1 and B2 looking annoyed at reading a newspaper article about bananas being responsible for the inflation rise. - click to view larger image — 'Bananas' by John Farmer

Political cartoon of John Howard and Phillip Ruddock attending Alan Jones's wedding. The usher asks, 'Are you with the Groom of the Groom?' - click to view larger image — 'The wedding crashers' by David Rowe

Political cartoon of Peter Costello driving a bus very fast trying to be on time for the Prime Minister's 67th birthday. Ahead of him is John Howard walking across a pedestrian crossing. - click to view larger image — 'The Treasurer rushes' by Sean Leahy

Political cartoon showing Peter Costello presenting Budget number 11 - John Howard is in the background saying 'Don't those decades fly!' - click to view larger image — 'Unalloyed joy' by Ward O'Neill

Political cartoon showing a fox hunt, with Peter Costello as a rider, John Howard as the fox and the media as dogs. First Costello chases Howard, then Howard chases Costello, then at the end they are arm in arm. - click to view larger image — 'Fox hunt' by Peter Nicholson

Political cartoon of Dana Vale and a frightened looking Tony Abbott on a tiny island watching the ship 'RU486' sinking in the background; Dana Vale tells Tony Abbott that it's up to them to make sure they're not be outbred by the Muslims. - click to view larger image — 'Dana's crusade' by David Pope

Political cartoon of a series of images showing Tony Abbott sneering and criticising significant inventions and discoveries in the world such as fire, the wheel, the internal combustion engine, flying, inoculation and more recently, stem-cell research. - click to view larger image — 'Tony Abbott through the ages' by Warren Brown

Political cartoon of a man in his lounge room sitting in an armchair with spies and cameras hiding in various places including under a lamp, in a pot plant under the rug and floor and outside the window. - click to view larger image — 'Tony Abbott through the ages' by Warren Brown

Political cartoon of two miners underground surrounded by a swarm of reporters, cameramen and people offering them money. - click to view larger image — 'Buried alive' by Warren Brown

Political cartoon of an indigenous mother with child asking to be protected AND get the house they were promised. Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, holds a gun and shield, saying 'What! Do two things at the same time?' - click to view larger image — 'Two things at the same time?' by Bruce Petty

Political cartoon showing Parliament House in the background and a lone indigenous man with an Aboriginal flag in the foreground. A voice is heard from Parliament house, 'We must teach Australian History as a stand alone subject ...'. - click to view larger image — 'Stand alone' by Bruce Petty

Political cartoon of John Howard demonstrating how to get the most out of the goose that laid the golden egg (ie. Telstra). - click to view larger image — 'Telstra cooking class' by Cathy Wilcox

Political cartoon of two figures in an alley way in the city – one figure injecting drugs into his arm, while the other one looks on. - click to view larger image — 'The Bali ten & eleven' by Matt Golding

Political cartoon of Peter Costello at the top of a Mosque tower, calling out to those beneath about Australian values such as pies and beer, having a sense of humour and empowering women. - click to view larger image — 'Imam Costellos call' by Dean Alston

Political cartoon of a visitor to Australia swearing at an immigration officer who then tells the visitor he has successfully passed the understanding of Australian values test. - click to view larger image — 'Australian values' by Michael Atchison

Cartoon of John Howard wearing a t-shirt reading 'Tough on Terrorists', followed by Kim Beazley also wearing a t-shirt that reads 'Tough on Tourists'. A European man asks, — 'Tough on tourists' by Paul Zanetti

Political cartoon of Amanda Vanstone telling John Howard that Kim Beazley is flirting with a woman wearing a sash labelled 'racism'; Howard says — 'Flirting with racism' by Ron Tandberg

Political cartoon of Communications Minister, Senator Helen Coonan relaxing in an armchair drinking a glass of wine and watching television, with an irate iPod outside her window. - click to view larger image — 'A comfortable Coonan' by John Tiedemann

Political cartoon of two people watching ABC TV and one person commenting, 'Amazing!, the further I move to the right, the more left bias I can see'. - click to view larger image — 'Left bias' by Lindsay Foyle

An unsafe world

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