Best Australian Political Cartoons 2003

Edited by Russ Radcliffe

‘Give me a good cartoonist and I can fire half the editorial staff.’ H. L. Mencken

As Mencken realised, the contents of the little black box to the right of the editorial often have a more profound impact on public perceptions of people and events than do many column inches of considered argument.

Australia has had a long and proud tradition of superb cartoonists, but we have never needed them more than we do today. Displaying more than 100 examples of the cartoonist’s art, Best Australian Political Cartoons 2003 is a superb survey of the past political year as interpreted by such sardonic luminaries as Judy Horacek, Mark Knight, Jon Kudelka, Sean Leahy, Bill Leak, Michael Leunig, Peter Nicholson, Bruce Petty, David Pope, Geoff Pryor, David Rowe, John Spooner, Andrew Weldon, and Cathy Wilcox.

As they move from irony to anger, these sharp-witted iconoclasts practitioners of our most democratic and levelling art form revel in the freedom of expression denied to other commentators. No print journalist has the same exhilarating ability to skewer the pomposity, the glib rhetoric, and the deliberate lies of our political elites. With a witty and perceptive introduction from Don Watson, Best Australian Political Cartoons 2003 is an unforgettable portrait of the past year and a tribute to the art, power, vitality, and wit of our finest cartoonists.