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Behind the Lines

Cathy Wilcox

Sydney-based cartoonist and illustrator Cathy Wilcox has been drawing cartoons since 1989. Her work appears almost daily in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She is the president of the Australian Cartoonists Association. She is also an award-winning illustrator of children's books. Wilcox has received numerous awards for her cartoons, including Walkley, Kennedy and Stanley Awards. She was MoAD's Political Cartoonist of the Year in 2009, 2016 and 2020.

cathywilcox.com.au

A huge trail of people walk on a road with their luggage. A sign pointing in both directions reads, 'Genocide'.

Exodus

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

A man sleeps through a news presenter discussing risks associated with climate change until falling house prices are mentioned; he awakens with a gasp.

Priorities

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

An ASIO officer says to PM Anthony Albanese and Senator Penny Wong, 'Turns out Iran was responsible for those antisemitic attacks on our soil.' Albanese says, 'Expel the ambassador! Brand the regime terrorists!' In the next panel, a DFAT officer says, 'Yet another Palestinian hospital bombed by Israel, 20 civilians and journalists killed.' Albanese frustratedly replies 'How many strongly worded statements will it take?!'

Red Lines

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Two men sit in lounge chairs in a barren landscape with a dinosaur skeleton. One says, 'So I said, you ladies don't need special quotas – you're assertive enough as it is! Just joking of course…'

Prehistoric

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Nationals leader David Littleproud says to Sussan Ley, 'Ok, I'll go outside and have a think.' Outside he sees many natural disasters, comes back and says, 'Nope, I can't see what the problem is.'

Have a Think

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Nationals leader David Littleproud and Liberal leader Sussan Ley sit on a split couch, and say, 'Mummy and Daddy still love you very much,' to a bucket of coal.

The Split

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Former Liberal leader Peter Dutton puts fuel into a van labelled 'Pauline Hanson's One Nation.'

Pump It Up

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and PM Anthony Albanese talk to two kids. Chalmers says, 'Kids, we need to level with you. There's a lot going on in the world right now. There's a power crazy lunatic in the White House who threatens the world order, and even our way of life…' Albanese says, 'We might need to make some tough choices…' Chalmers says, 'Just kidding. Who wants cake and ice cream?'

Tough Choices

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

People escape burning homes saying, 'I guess we'll never know what caused it.' The word 'facts' is on fire.

Burning

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Two men look out of a window at people protesting war. One says, 'Can you believe the violence of these protestors?' The other replies, 'Absolute barbarians, the lot of them.' Behind them are large tanks. A half-obscured sign reads, 'As tested in Ga…'

Barbarians

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

A sign reads, 'Highest average global temperature ever recorded.' A child says, 'Why won't the government do something about it?' Their parent says, 'They have.' The sign has changed to 'Climate protesters jailed.'

Climate Action

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Labor senator Fatima Payman asks, 'Well, do we recognise a Palestinian State, or don't we?' Senator Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stand in front of a box labelled 'ALP, two state solution,' and Albanese says, 'you've heard of Schrodinger's cat?'

Two States

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

A man walks through a room. On the wall is a whistle behind glass with a sign that says, 'In case of corruption or misconduct, break glass.' Another sign says, 'Glass breakers will be prosecuted.'

Break Glass

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says, 'This is my policy, and it's up to the CSIRO to provide the evidence for why it's not viable.' He points to a picture of a winged unicorn.

Dutton's Policy

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Parents watch a TV that says, 'How do we get men to treat women with respect?' In a darkened room, their child searches on a computer, 'How to make girls do whatever you want them to do.'

Upstairs, Downstairs

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Text reads, 'Lest we forget.' Two sets of graveyards are labelled 'Men and women who gave their lives for their country,' and 'Women who lost their lives because men got angry.'

Lest We Forget

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

The beginnings of a scam email from 'Prince Rishi Sunak' reads 'Dear Beloved Sirs and Madam, Due to political instability in my home country of Brexitlandia, I have a Significant Defence Capability that I would like to transfer to you. Please send AUD$4.6 BILLION to clear the bottlenecks and I will repay your kindness by sending you...' Below, next to balloons labelled 'AUKUS,' UK politicians propose obvious scams to Australian politicians. Defence Minister Richard Marles gives away the security code to a g

AUKUS

Cathy Wilcox, Nine Papers,

Alan Joyce in a suit and glasses collects colourful 'Exec's baggage' from a Qantas flight airport conveyor belt. Bags include 'Latest profits' and 'COVID bail-out'.

Exec's Baggage

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four women sit discussing how to report harassment. Two men look on, one says, 'Women's problems!'

Women's Problems

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Entitled 'Uneasy lies the head...' King Charles wears a large purple crown. On the crown there is a list of uncomfortable truths about his past and the British monarchy.

Coronation

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Two girls are playing with dolls, one says, 'Let's play politicians'. The other replies, 'Bags I be Jacinda'. Background is pink with inspiring words describing Jacinda Ardern.

Role Model

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four panels of a therapy session. A woman on a couch lists global issues. Therapist suggests focusing on fixable things. Woman lists more issues. Therapist says, '... we're cooked'.

Therapy

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Two people sit watching TV, Anthony Albanese is on the screen. An Aboriginal flag is above the TV. Text reads, 'I for one look forward to the inevitable call for media balance between the heartfelt well-informed and the strategically bad-faith.'

Balance

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A mother holding a newspaper says to her children, 'Hey kids, who wants to go to the wildlife sanctuary to say goodbye to all the animals?'

Say Goodbye

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A 'How not to vote' card with six caricatures and reasons not to vote for those political parties or politicians.

How Not to Vote

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A boat 'ALP' speeds away from someone wearing rainbow colours in the water. A man on the boat says, 'We'll come back and pick you up when we're in government...'

Kids Overboard

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four images depicting people trying to access COVID-19 tests and results. COVID impacts all stages, except the stage to pay a fine for not registering a positive result.

Domicron's Test Shop

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce say social media needs to be held accountable for misinformation. George Christensen and another backbencher in the background say, 'Free speech baby!'

Free Speech, Baby!

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Six panels, in each panel a journalist asks a minister a question. Text above is, 'Blind trust is the answer to everything.'

Blind Trust

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Scott Morrison's daughters sit with him. They ask, 'Daddy, what did YOU do in the COVID lockdown?' A bag with a CBR tag is in the background.

Daddy What Did YOU Do?

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

List of global disasters and issues such as 'corruption, covid and carbon emissions'. Text tells the reader to 'Lower your expectations and celebrate all the things you've learned to live with'.

Lower Your Expectations

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Barnaby Joyce says to a classroom of kids, 'Well, I for one won't be taking any action on climate change until I know the cost and who is paying for it'.

Who Pays?

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four people in suits sit in front of a map of Australia labelled, 'Australia by electorate'. They discuss paying people to get vaccinated against COVID.

Cash for Votes

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four politicians with 'Minister for...' titles relating to staying quiet or acting without consequences. Text reads, 'The PM has made some new appointments, to show just how serious he is about changing the culture for women in Australia. To name a few...'

Serious About Women

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four panels outlining Australian soldiers' training, which resulted in 'terrible acts' including murdering civilians in Afghanistan.

Killing Men

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Josh Frydenberg is on one side of a bridge made from money. He says, 'Fingers crossed!' to a woman as she is about to cross. On the other side is a sign saying 'vaccine'.

Bridge to Recovery

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Two people sit at a table with mugs in front of them. One, reading a newspaper, says 'This is such a bad policy. The opposition needs to stand up and refute it'. The other responds, 'The what?'

The What?

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Josh Frydenberg is on a quiz show. His response to every question is 'Tax cuts'.

Mastermind

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

The NSW and Victorian premiers stand in the bow of the ‘Inquiry Princess'. Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton race away on a small 'Border Force' boat, saying 'Hasta la vista, chumps!'

Hasta la Vista

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A flow chart of different soundbites that are synonyms for 'It wasn't me'.

Chain of Command

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A man and a woman watch TV on a couch. They reflect on pre-pandemic issues such as severe water restrictions due to drought. They now label these as 'Good times'.

Nostalgia

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

An anxiety meter with varying levels to measure 'Today's anxiety level'. It is styled as a cutout, and suggests attaching the needle to point to where their anxiety level is.

Today’s Anxiety Level

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

At 'Pleasant Meadows Aged Care' home a lady opens the door to the Grim Reaper. She says, 'Ah - you must be the new casual'.

The New Casual

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Four 'new monuments' with corresponding text are displayed. Each monument is an ironic comment on a stereotype, for example, 'The leader who felt ashamed'.

New Monuments

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Two men stand with a gap between them. One man's T-shirt reads, 'I climbed Uluru'. Other man's T-shirt reads, 'I still don't have a voice in the Constitution'.

The Gap

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A scorpion (Scott Morrison) and a frog (unions) are on one side of a river with a strong current. On the other side is 'Post-COVID recovery land'. The scorpion asks the frog to carry him over the river.

The Scorpion and the Frog

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A view of a windy road with signs pointing out steps to reconciliation. A point in the road is 'Encounter major political roadblock'. After this, the cycle repeats again.

The Road to Reconcilation

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

A man on steps at a rally asks the crowd, 'Whadda we want?' The crowd responds, 'Any excuse to get out of the house'. The crowd hold up placards asking for more freedoms.

Lockdown Protest

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Scott Morrison is in four panels confronted by disaster after disaster. He prays for 'another distraction' each time.

Pray for Distraction

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Native animals are labelled as good moral attributes. Pests are labelled as undesirable traits. Text says native species/good traits are at danger of becoming extinct, whilst 'feral pests proliferate.'

Endangered Species

Cathy Wilcox, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,

An endless cycle of the government cracking down on one thing, then the bank finding another way to take money from the customer.

The House Always Wins

Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald,

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