Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

In Focus

10 years of (not) closing the gap

This year Behind the Lines includes a new section that looks at how a significant issue has been portrayed over time. Year after year, one event in particular has generated some of the most impactful cartoons: the government's annual release of the Closing the Gap Report. The following cartoons have been selected by Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist, who has reported extensively on the lack of meaningful progress detailed in these reports.

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, 28 May 2020

Malcom Turnbull's head sticks out of an elevator stuck between floors. A group waits below. Turnbull says, 'If you could just bear with us'. An Aboriginal flag is behind the elevator. Text reads 'The Gap'.

The Gap

David Rowe, The Australian Financial Review, 15 February 2017

A man holds a piece of paper 'Closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage'. Text underneath him, 'The theory. Second man closes a jail cell door on an inmate, text underneath him, 'The practice'.

Closing the Gap - the Theory, the Practice

John Ditchburn, The Courier (Ballarat), 9 February 2016

Two pillars with a chasm between. Left pillar is taller and has a fence. Inside two people watch TV asking, 'Close the gap? What gap?' Two people on the short pillar on the right say, 'This is going to be harder than we thought'.

The Ignorance Gap

Fiona Katauskas, Eureka Street, 1 February 2012

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, 27 May 2020

Two groups of people with a gap between. Pointing to the gap are statistics on average life expectancy, median weekly income and incarceration. Text at top reads: 'Extreme social distancing. In Australia, as in America.'

Extreme Social Distancing

Andrew Weldon, The Big Issue, 3 May 2020