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Cartoons provide snapshots of the nation's political life. The education revolution, the increase in paid maternity leave and a spot of prime ministerial air rage were among the many topics to attract cartoonists' attention. Indigenous life expectancy and health reform were also hot topics.

Mid-year, the resignation of the Minister for Defence and the Australian Labor Party National Conference dominated the newspapers. Towards the end of the year the swine flu pandemic, the 'ute-gate' controversy and the arrival of refugees provided inspiration for artists' pens.

'Alpha male' by David Pope

A colour cartoon depicting Sol Trujillo as a Mexican bandit. He sits on a horse, wearing a sombrero, ammunition belt, shirt, trousers and boots. He is smoking a cigar and has a rifle in a holster on the side of his saddle. Roped to his horse and walking along behind are three donkeys, each carrying two large sacks of money. In the background is a cartoon Mexican landscape with a cactus and distant mountains. Mr Trujillo is saying 'Australian cartoonists? Why, they're so racist they tried to paint me as some kinda dumb-ass Mexican bandit ...'. At the bottom of the cartoon is written 'Adios, amigo'. - click to view larger image — 'Adios, amigo' by Bill Leak

A colour cartoon depicting Wayne Swan standing in the bedroom of a man and woman, who are in bed. Mr Swan, at the left of the image, holds a pistol in his left hand over his head. In his right hand he holds a sack that has 'Paid maternity leave' written on it. Mr Swan is saying 'On your marks! ... Get set! ... Wait til 2011 ...'. The man and woman look at Mr Swan with expressions of surprise and uncertainty. - click to view larger image — 'On your marks!' by Sean Leahy

A black and white cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd as a passenger on a jet. He sits in a seat, holding a 'menu'. It has the RAAF kangaroo insignia on it. Next to him sits a man reading a newspaper, with the headline 'Rudd's in-flight tirade' on the front page. A female cabin crew member is wheeling a trolley along the aisle. The trolley has a pie, bottle of wine and bowl of fruit on it. The cabin crew member is saying to Mr Rudd 'Your "special" meal, sir ... humble pie followed by just desserts!' - click to view larger image — 'Humble pie' by John Farmer

A colour cartoon depicting two soldiers in an observation post on a flat-topped hill. One soldier attends to a machine gun while the other is drinking a hot beverage. Both soldiers wear camouflage uniforms and are surrounded by sandbags, ammunition boxes and barbed wire. In the background are rugged mountain peaks suggesting that the cartoon is set in Afghanistan. The soldier drinking is saying to the other 'Make yourself comfortable — we're here for another five years.' Directly beneath the soldiers is a figure who appears to be Osama bin Laden, hiding in an underground bunker. The soldiers unknowingly block the entrance to the bunker. The man in the bunker has a thought bubble next to his head; in the bubble are the words 'Oh brilliant!' - click to view larger image — 'Another five years' by Warren Brown

A colour cartoon depicting Steve Fielding and Nick Xenophon in clown clothing. Steve Fielding wears a red coat, red shorts, yellow and red spotted tie and outsized clown shoes. A pink bat with outstretched wings is sitting on his extended left forefinger. Nick Xenophon wears a blue and yellow spotted jacket, red shorts, red and yellow suspenders, white and red striped tie and outsized clown shoes. He points a gun at the pink bat and says 'Another billion for the Murray or the pink bat gets it ...'. At the bottom of the cartoon is written 'Unrepresentative Dills'. - click to view larger image — 'Unrepresentative dills' by Bill Leak

A colour illustration depicting a man and a woman standing beneath a street lamp. The light pole is at the far left of the cartoon. The woman stands closest to it, facing the pole, wearing a red dress. The man stands closely behind her, wearing a grey suit. He holds her left upper arm. Behind them is a large blue wall, onto which projects the large shadow of a pig. The pig itself is unseen, however the man and woman both look apprehensively in its direction. - click to view larger image — 'Swine flu' by Paul Newman

A black and white cartoon depicting characters from AA Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh'. Christopher Robin, Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo sit in a group in a clearing in a forest. All of them wear surgical face masks. A box on the ground in front of Christopher Robin appears to contain vials of H1N1 influenza vaccine. In the right background Piglet can be seen walking toward the group, not wearing a face mask. Christopher Robin is saying to the group 'Remember, just act naturally!' At the top left corner of the cartoon is written 'Panic strikes Hundred Acre Wood'. - click to view larger image — 'Poor Piglet' by Peter MacMullin

A colour cartoon titled 'The Education Revolution'. To the left of the image is a large group of students waving placards that say things such as 'Less Google more personal' and 'More teachers'. One student at the head of the group holds a large red flag that says 'Teach us!' in capital letters. The students are climbing a barricade made up of school furniture and discarded documents. At the right of the image is a group of adults who are taking shelter behind machines marked 'Auto student ranking' and 'School grading machine'. - click to view larger image — 'Teach us!' by Bruce Petty

A colour cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in a classroom. They stand before a wall-mounted whiteboard, upon which is written 'The Great Education Revolution of 2009'. Several students are sitting at desks, each with a laptop computer on it. Mr Rudd is asking the question '... and can anyone think of another word for "revolution"?' A student has his hand up and is saying 'Spin?' Mr Rudd responds asking 'Anyone else?' - click to view larger image — 'Another word for revolution' by Jon Kudelka

A colour cartoon depicting a group of high-ranking army officers gathered around a table. On the table are model tanks, aircraft and a gunboat, all arranged around a building marked 'Joel Fitzgibbon'. The officer in the foreground is pushing a tank forward with a pointer. - click to view larger image — 'War games' by Warren Brown

A colour cartoon depicting an imaginary chair for the Minister of Defence. The chair has two attachments. One is a large arm extending from the back of the chair. Attached to the arm is a mechanical hand that holds a large knife. There is an opening in the back of the chair that allows the knife to enter the back of a person sitting in the chair. The other attachment is a curved arm extending from the front of the chair. At the end of the arm is a sledgehammer, facing back toward the chair. At the top of the cartoon is written 'Department of Defence Procurement Ref. C/27/4B: Ministerial Chair'. - click to view larger image — 'Ministerial chair' by Andrew Dyson

A colour cartoon depicting a man and a woman on a couch in front of a flat-screen television. Kevin Rudd is on the television. A large speech balloon issues from the television; the balloon is densely packed with words. Both the man and the woman are asleep. The man has a drink can resting on his stomach. There are three empty cans on the floor near the couch. A small dog stands near one end of the couch. A cat walks away from the television and past the other end of the couch. - click to view larger image — 'Ruddspeak' by Lindsay Foyle

A colour cartoon depicting characters from Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Kevin Rudd is Max, in a white animal suit with tall pointed ears. He is in a sailing boat with 'Parliamentary Party' on the side. Julia Gillard is the figurehead of the boat. Mr Rudd is sailing away from an island upon which sit two hairy monsters with horns. The monsters are dozing under a palm tree amid discarded papers bearing terms including 'gay marriage', 'corporate tax rates' and 'book industry protection'. One of them has 'A.L.P. National Conference' written on its front. At the top of the cartoon is written ' ... till Kevin said "BE STILL!" and tamed the Wild Things with the magic trick of pre-arranging fully-vetted back-room aspirational compromise resolutions ...'. At the bottom of the cartoon is written 'Then Kevin stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye'. - click to view larger image — 'Wild things' by David Pope

A black and white cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan in a ute. Mr Rudd is being interviewed by a female reporter, who stands to the left of the cartoon. A TV camera man stands next to her. Mr Rudd is leaning out of the ute window saying 'Us .. ute-type guys? .. don't be a flamin' galah ... crikey ... what'd give you that idea? I mean, fair dinkum .. fair suck of the sav .. fair shake of the sauce bottle! ...'. A dog sits excitedly in the back of Mr Rudd's ute. In the background Malcolm Turnbull sits in his own ute. It has a regular ute rear section and a Rolls Royce front section. Beyond Mr Turnbull's ute is a sign that says 'Finance for yer ute? Contact the ALP'. - click to view larger image — 'Ute-type guys' by Dean Alston

A colour cartoon depicting Peter Garrett as Uluru. Standing on the top of his head is Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd is urinating. A thought bubble emerges from his head. His thought is '... They really should build some permanent amenities up here ...'. There are numerous footprints on the top and side of Mr Garrett's head. A series of poles connected by a chain runs down the side of Mr Garrett's head. A sign to the left of the cartoon says ' "The Uluru Climb" Please do not walk all over Peter Garrett's last remaining sacred beliefs'. - click to view larger image — 'The Uluru climb' by David Pope

A colour cartoon depicting a hospital emergency department waiting room. Seven people are sitting on chairs: an elderly man, a woman with a young child, a man with a bandaged head, an elderly woman, a pregnant woman and a skeleton with cobwebs. The woman with the child speaks to a passing hospital staff member. She says 'We've been here for sixteen hours and all we've seen is one spin doctor'. As she speaks she points to a TV in the upper right corner of the cartoon. On the TV is Kevin Rudd. Under his image are the words 'Health Reform'. - click to view larger image — 'Spin doctor' by Fiona Katauskas

A colour cartoon depicting two men standing facing each other, some distance apart. Both wear suits and have briefcases. The man on the left has 'State govt.' on his briefcase. The man on the right has 'Federal govt.' on his briefcase. They are pushing a patient in a hospital bed backwards and forwards between them. The patient eventually comes to rest halfway between the two men. In the bottom right corner of the cartoon is written ' ... the happy compromise'. - click to view larger image — 'The happy compromise' by Ron Tandberg

A colour cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin with four Indigenous people. Mr Rudd and Ms Macklin stand at a lectern at the right side of the cartoon. The four Indigenous people are to the left of the cartoon. Two of them sit on the ground while the other two stand. In the background are some traditional Indigenous burial poles in amongst some lush tropical vegetation. The ocean can be seen in the distance. A red sign stands near the burial poles. On it is written 'This housing development brought to you by SIHIP'. Mr Rudd is saying 'This time we really are sorry ...'. Ms Macklin is crossing her fingers behind her back. At the bottom of the cartoon is written 'The Apologists'. - click to view larger image — 'The apologists' by Bill Leak

A colour cartoon depicting Kevin Rudd with a statistician. In the first part of the cartoon, Mr Rudd is saying 'First anniversary of the apology is coming up. Show me some indicators on Aborigines.' The statistician then holds up three graphs, one after the other. In each graph a red line climbs up from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. The statistician identifies the graphs as 'Income inequity', 'Infant mortality' and 'Alcoholism'. He shows Mr Rudd a graph that has a red line rising up and then falling down. Mr Rudd says 'At last ... a great indicator. What's that one?' The statistician says 'White guilt'. - click to view larger image — 'Indicators' by Phil Somerville

A colour cartoon depicting a wooden boat overloaded with what appear to be refugees or asylum seekers. The boat is beached and leans to the left. All of the occupants are dark-skinned. A large white-skinned hand reaches down toward the boat from the right of the cartoon. Two of the boat's occupants have stepped from the boat onto the upturned hand. Some of the other occupants are preparing to do the same. - click to view larger image — 'Helping hand' by Jonathan Bentley

Living with the dragon

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