Ute Gate!

So, the biggest crisis to hit the Rudd government so far is.... a ute that a dealer gave the PM for his election campaign. And Turnbull's riding this one all the way to the stables. It's Swan's scalp he is after, for allegedly misleading Parliament over the affair. If the Treasurer is forced to resign, needless to say, it would be a tough blow for the government, and Rudd's credibility.

My prediction? Nothing will come of this. Howard rode out several crises unscathed. But time will tell...

The Final Heat!

All the heat winning cartoons of the NewMatilda.com cartooning competition are all online in the final heat (including my entry).... Can be seen at http://newmatilda.com/cartooncomp/ (if you read the fine print you will find that you can't vote for the winner this time, unless you are a member of the judging panel)....

Chinalco

OK, so New Matilda did publish my last cartoon, only it's not eligible to win as I won the first heat. It could be seen at http://newmatilda.com/cartooncomp/heat-8/ but now the page no longer exists!
Somehow it didn't get published straight away, so it's a bit old-newsy.

This cartoon is all about China's state-owned (naturally) resource giant attempting to double its stake in Aussie company Rio Tinto to some 20%. I think Wayne Swan would have quietly given the deal the go-ahead if Mal Turnbull hadn't brayed so loudly against the notion. Nothing agaist the Chinese, but do we really want them owning a fifth of our largest mining company? It would be kind of funny if they used our natural resources to build military jets and aircraft carriers, seeing as our new defense white paper is warily predicting a possible military threat from China by 2030! (Shades of "Pig-Iron Bob"...)

Guantanamo Rolf

Somehow, my mind made a connection between water-boarding and wobble-boarding. Apologies to Rolf Harris.

Incidentally, if you think this cartoon is out of date because Obama has closed Guantanomo Bay, well, he HASN'T.

Yet.

Rudd Fails to Blow It

There's a story in the media that the Mighty Rudd, whilst visiting the troops in Afghanistan, lost his temper because he couldn't plug his hair dryer in. Rudd vigorously denies the story...

I drew this pretty quickly, as you can see, using Artline pen on sketch paper. If I have the time, I use a nib and ink on bleedproof paper. I wanted to get into using a brush and ink more, but I find a nib easier to use.

I feel like a bit of a duffer. Here I was scratching my head as to why NewMatilda.com didn't publish my last two competition entries. It was because I didn't read the fine print that said "Entrants are eligible to win one heat only." Well, I already won the first round. Only one bite of the cherry.

Banimarama Beat-Up

This is the latest cartoon I submitted to the NewMatilda.com cartoon competition. They didn't publish it. I don't know why. So I'm publishing it here. If you don't know, it's about Fijian Prime Minister and two-time coup leader Frank Bainamarama.

Rudd's Rollout

Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull is struggling as PM Rudd goes from strength to strength. MT is languishing at 18% as preferred PM. First Rudd was handing out $900 to practically anyone with a pulse (and a taxable income), and now he has seized the headlines with a bold plan to roll out a brand new $40 bn broadband network!

What's an opposition leader to do?

First Heat Victory!

Wow! I won the first heat of the NewMatilda.com cartoon contest! You can see for yourself here! I have an entry in round two as well.

Party Pooper Pape

Ok, I've started posting again. This one is about "law lecturer and states-rights advocate" Bryan Pape's high court case, which is an attempt to halt the government's plan to give (most of) us $900 in free cash.

I don't believe this handout will turn the economy around- like me, I think a lot of recipients would choose to pay off some credit card debt and squirrel the rest away- but, regardless of its merit, Mr Pape may be the most unpopular man in the country right now!

Last blog entry for a while

NewMatilda.com have just announced their latest cartoon competition! So I guess I will be focussing on that. It runs from now up until June, and they accept only unpublished work. So hopefully my work will be up there, alongside the luminaries of the antipodean cartoon world!

The Hillside Philosopher

The Hillside Philosopher is a fellow who likes to sit on a hillside and think cheery, slightly subversive thoughts. Is it un-Australian to not care at all about the property market? To be non-materialistic? To roll the stem of a freshly-plucked flower between your fingers whilst gazing at clouds?

A Couple of Quick Ones

Some super funds have lost 20% of their value lately. All bow to the mighty stock market. Now there's an emperor who truly has no clothes. Kind of funny how we never had a plan B, isn't it? Invest everyone's money in the stock market. Watch it grow. But what if there's a crash? Perhaps it was a scam to begin with... why let people decide what to do with their money when it can be pumped into the market?

Second cartoon.... speaks for itself.

Go On, Aussie, Go On (Off to China)

So, Pacific Brands, makers of Bonds, are sacking their workers and moving their clothing manufacturing to China.

So, is Chesty Bond out of a job? Poor Chesty belongs to another era, and will face a tough challenge re-skilling and finding work in today's economy (note: is "reskilling" a proper word?)

It's sad. All the PM can do is wring his hands as yet another company takes its manufacturing offshore. Of course, they work for less in China. Everyone knows that. But is it a good thing to lose your entire manufacturing base? Because we lose jobs and tax revenue along with it. Maybe it's time for a bit of good old-fashioned protectionism.

Banks, Non-Banks, Money, and the Government, and Stuff

The Australian government tried hard to revive public confidence in "non-bank lenders", but to no avail. The big banks are enjoying a bigger percentage of the lending market than before the economic troubles. The public are staying away from non-bank lenders in droves.

Why? Something to do with "mortgage backed securities" not being very popular these days.

Like many folk who lack degrees in finance, I struggle with some of the terms and phrases bandied about these days. But I think my cartoon pretty much sums up the situation.

Abu Ghraib Re-Opens for Business (and Optional Blow-Dry)

So the infamous Abu Ghraib prison is being reopened.

Now it features all sorts of up-to-date facilities for inmates, such as "a library, outdoor recreational areas, green houses and even a barber shop."

This brings to mind some very odd (and disturbing) scenarios. Abu Ghraib will forever be associated with darkly iconic images such as The Man in the Hood...

Costello's Critic

longtime treasurer and now do-nothing opposition backbencher Peter Costello was the target of a very unflattering opinion piece by ex-Liberal leader John Hewson. John's smouldering invective can be read here.

A Stimulating Package Revisited

Another cartoon mining the same vein as the preceding one. Somehow credit card companies as vacuum cleaners is both silly and sinister at the same time. To me. The fellow in the background is meant to be some sort of Australian "everyman." And he is. He really is.

A Stimulating Package

The Australian government handed out $8.7 billion dollars to the public over Christmas as a stimulus package. Turns out a sizeable chunk of that was spent on credit card repayments. So I drew the package as a big plucked chicken and Australia's private credit card debt as a hungry crocodile.

Obama's Afghan Adventure

US President Barack Obama has just committed 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan. Just like the cartoon, he may as well be pouring them down a big hole.

The Coalition forces have achieved the impossible: they are less popular now with Afghans than the Taliban.

Unhappy Brontosaurus

This cartoon is from a book I illustrated. The author was Mark Juddery, and the book was called "BUSTED! THE 50 MOST OVERRATED THINGS IN HISTORY", and was published by Random House late last year.

The brontosaurus made the list as the most overrated animal. Why? Because it never existed! It was mistakenly invented by a fame-hungry paleantologist from the bones of two other dinosaurs.

To find out more about the book and Mark Juddery's other writings, click here.

When 2 Subs Collide

A Brit sub and a French sub collided recently in the Atlantic. Both were nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed. Fortunately no nuclear material was released in the collision. Experts say that despite being equipped with highly sophisticated sonar, the subs were virtually invisible to each other. They're designed that way, of course.

Or maybe what's going on in the cartoon is what really happened.
(click on image to enlarge)

Determined 2 B Different

I did this cartoon for the NewMatilda.com cartoon competition last year. I think people like seeing banks depicted as vampires. Unfortunately, it did not win its heat. I thought it was much better than the one that did win.

But then I would think that, wouldn't I?

Bowls Club Robbery

Armed robbers knocked over a bowls club. The filthy swine even stole donations intended for the victims of Australia's recent tragic bushfires. If they get caught, they will be the least popular guys in the lock-up.