In 1972, shortly after Larry Pickering began cartooning for The Canberra Times, Gough Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to Government after 23 years in Opposition. The cast of colourful personalities, combined with the ups and downs of the Labor Government, made the Whitlam years a cartoonist’s delight—particularly for Pickering’s perceptive pen.

After the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in 1975, Labor spent over seven years in Opposition until Bob Hawke led the party back to office in 1983. Geoff Pryor’s daily cartoons present a blow-by-blow account of the Hawke years and show great insight into the personalities of the ALP during that time.

By 1991 Hawke’s former Treasurer, Paul Keating, had toppled his leader to become the third Labor Prime Minister since 1972. After the Labor lost the 1996 election Keating was succeeded by Kim Beazley, who then faced the task (until recently) of defining the party’s future direction.