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Behind the Lines

Nine Papers

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,

Cavemen gather around rocks, one of which is carved like a wheel. They hold up signs, 'Slow the transition to the wheel,' 'We love our rocks,' 'Wheels… but at what cost?'

Rocks in Their Heads

Matt Golding, 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,

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a military parade overlooking a large vehicle in the shape of former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.

The Parade of Useful Idiots

Badiucao, Nine Papers,

Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley tries to inflate a sign that says, 'Liberal.' It is weighed down by a ball and chain that says, 'Old ways.'

Weight of the Past

Joe Benke, 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,

In an office text reads, 'Are we getting smarter?' A glass box sits over the top of a desk, where a man at a laptop says, 'Yes, Max… I know it's your legislated right to work from home twice a week, but do you have to insist we Zoom inside the cone of silence?'

Working from Home... and Loving It

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

The title reads, 'Join the dots.' A giant, dead fish is on a beach with an outline created in dots marked with points like 'bow to fossil fuel lobbies' and 'repeal the carbon tax.'

Join the Dots

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

An Aboriginal man walks sadly away from rock art which reads 'Yoorook Justice Commission'. A quote above reads, 'For communities who have lived these truths, the findings offer not shock, but relief. The violence is no longer just remembered; it has been recorded. Marcus Stewart, former co-chair of the First Peoples' Assembly.'

History - Markings

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

Scissors cut through a row of pink paper people. The handles are labelled 'Loopholes for predators,' and the blades, 'Child safety and wellbeing not a priority in this country.'

Child Safety Not Being a Priority in Childcare

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

A collage of images makes up the American flag. Top left is President Donald Trump's profile in red matchbox texture. The horizontal stripes are made from matches; the bottom one is on fire and the third from the top has just been lit.

Inflammation of a Nation

Matt Golding, 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,

A mock Ikea instruction manual shows Peter Dutton crossed out, with a man and a woman building a chair. The instructions have names in the style of Ikea furniture names. The final panel shows 'Kooyong' out of stock, and 'Goldstein' in stock.

The Liberals' Post-Election Complete Rebuild

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

A painting in the style of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks shows former Australian prime ministers at a bar, with someone tapping on the window.

Nighthawks at the Sky After Dark Diner

Matt Golding, 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,

The Earth lies in bed hitting snooze on its alarm, which says, 'This is your climate emergency wake-up call, beep beep.' When the clock gets to 2025, the Earth gets up and dresses.

Responding to Our Wake-up Calls

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

One Catholic cardinal says to another, 'Pope Francis has asked for his funeral rites to be down to earth and simplified.' They stand in an ornate papal building.

A Pope's Humble and Final Gesture

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

A real estate agent shows a depressed couple a house for sale and says, 'And this house has a design feature unique to Sydney – the closer you seem to get to it...' In the next panel, it's off in the distance, he says, 'The further away it actually is…'

Real Estate... The Closer You Get...

Warren Brown, Nine Papers,

A meteorite hurtles towards two dinosaurs. One asks, 'What's your number one issue?' The other says, 'Cost of living.'

The Cost-of-Not-Living Crisis

Matt Golding, 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,

An artist carves a stone cube face with sharp lines. A person says, 'The coalition social media team have asked if we could soften Dutton's image?' The artist climbs down and says, 'My work here is done,' leaving it with minute alterations.

Softening Dutton's Image

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

A crowd celebrates in war-torn Gaza. One injured child says to another, 'Maybe somebody won?'

Who Wins, Who Loses?

Megan Herbert, 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,

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paints on a small canvas. A large canvas signed by former Prime Minister Bob Hawke looms behind him.

The Vision

Jim Pavlidis, Nine Papers,

A fuel pump with Peter Dutton's face and a meter labelled 'opinion poll' that reads 'O%' pours fuel on to a small fire.

Fuelling Division

Jim Pavlidis, Nine Papers,

A woman climbs up a hill to a monk. She says, 'Oh wise one, should I give my last dollars to the tax-benefitted landlord who raises my rent without fixing my draughty windows, or the government-subsidised fossil-fuel company that offers expensive warmth today in exchange for climate chaos tomorrow?' The monk says, 'Sorry lady, I do moral contemplation. You need decent legislation.'

Legislative Failings

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

Text reads, 'Airport slots.' A large Qantas plane whistles and holds up a hand at a small Rex plane, which veers off to the side.

Slot Hoarding

Matt Golding, 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,

Tourists gather around George Washington's tomb. Their guide says, 'And here you can see where he turned over in his grave in 2016, here again on January 6th 2021, and here, here and here since the commencement of the 2024 election campaign.'

Unpresidented

Megan Herbert, 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,

A plane in the shape of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's head spits exploding nuclear symbols onto a field of solar panels.

Dutton's Distract, Delay, and Destruct

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

A giant panda chews on a bamboo stalk which serves a part of the Australian coat of arms. The coat's kangaroo and emu look angry and scared. Text reads, 'Ties are back on track.'

Auss

Badiucao, Nine Papers,

Climate scientists yell warnings through the 'Policy Generating Science Translator 3000.' Politicians hear that everything is fine. One says, 'How good is science?'

Lost in Translation

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

A politician stands at a podium. Many of his speech bubbles overlap, things like 'We know you're doing it tough' and 'The system is broken.' He leaves, and people take his words, and try to assemble the letters into a makeshift shelter.

Only Words

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leans out of a high gate to offer a celebratory '2-years' cake to a hungry and unhoused group of politicians – Peter Dutton, Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd and Scott Morrison.

Feeding the Lodgeless

John Shakespeare, 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,

A child looks at a phone. From the phone, many red lines connect many different social media logos, and graphic imagery like guns, porn and targets. This leads to a line of yellow police tape.

Antisocial Media

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

Text reads, 'Gina Rinehart inspects her rebate for $300.' Mining magnate Rinehart leans over a microscope.

Gina's Bill Relief

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

Next to a cigarette labelled '50 years' is a water bottle labelled '1000 years,' and a person with a 3M logo inside them labelled 'forever.' The logo is made up of text that lists items like non-stick cookware and dental floss.

Lingering Problems

Megan Herbert, 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,

Text reads, 'Terror Australis.' Against a black and grey scrawl, a red silhouetted person raises their fist over a cowering red silhouetted person.

Terror Australis

Alan Moir, Nine Papers,

In a large gallery, Ken Done's colourful paintings adorn a wall. The last work is grey, and reads, '4th coral bleaching event.' A person says, 'I prefer his earlier work.'

I Don’t Know Much about Climate Art, But I Know What I Like

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

Treasurer Jim Chalmers shows off the new improved competition watchdog, represented by a giant dog with one new tooth.

Implant

Andrew Dyson, 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,

Text reads, 'Bulbs – a field guide.' Pointing to a plant bulb with green shoots that looks like former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, text reads, 'Hardy Perennial, pungent, can cause irritation, annoyingly bright.' Other text, pointing to a yellowing bulb with wilting roots and shoots and featuring Donald Trump's face, reads, 'Highly invasive, can cause nausea and/or vomiting, no discernible luminescence.'

Botanical Notes

Andrew Dyson, Nine Papers,

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen says, 'I anticipated obstacles, but not like this.' His Road to Renewables is blocked by a giant Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek holding a koala.

The Big Environmental Legislation

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

A truck labelled 'Bipartisan coal and gas rental', with Opposition leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese atop, is blocking the road for many solar panels, wind towers and batteries, which are saying things like, 'Honk!' and 'My child has an appointment with the future!'

Renewable Energy Transition Rebellion

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

Text reads, 'Messages from Dunkley.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese looks out on to the night sky, where bat-signal-like symbols show 'Tax cut' over a thumbs-up, and a picture of money going into a hand.

Dunkley Sends a Message

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

Transmission towers have fallen down in the shape of Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce lying on the ground. Text reads, 'Outmoded regional power structure flattened under the weather requiring urgent upgrade.'

Not Fit for Purpose

Megan Herbert, Nine Papers,

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