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Behind the Lines

Not letting sleeping dogs lie

COVID-19's radical disruption of the status quo brought various underlying systemic problems to the fore.

The American Black Lives Matter movement triggered protests in many countries. But it was the rising number of First Nations peoples dying in custody that lay at the heart of the protests in Australia. Other protests challenged inaction on climate change, a multinational company's destructive act, coronavirus lockdowns – and even the rollout of a wireless technology. With free speech front and centre, cartoonists also turned their attention to the role of social media, privacy and public interest journalism.

Martin Luther King Jnr's coffin is in front of the Capitol Building. Flames whip around the building.

Untitled

John Frith, The Herald (Melbourne),

The outline of Parliament House is shown as bars of a prison cell. A person sticks their hand out from inside the cell.

Not Drowning

Glen Le Lievre, Patreon,

Two AFP officers walk away from the High Court building. They say, 'The bad news is we shouldn't have gone through the underwear drawer, but the good news is we get to keep the underwear.'

The Underpants of Democracy

Jon Kudelka, The Saturday Paper,

Two people holding phones walk past a Google billboard with eyes tracking them and a Facebook billboard with a face watching. They discuss the COVIDSafe app saying, 'Imagine having your every move tracked'.

Privacy Concerns

Mark Knight, Herald Sun,

A butler called 'ACCC' at the 'Traditional media cafe' says to a king-like Mark Zuckerberg holding a 'content' bowl, 'We know it's delicious... that's why you must pay for your takeaway'.

Greed

John Spooner, The Australian,

Two men in two panels, one at Juukan Gorge, one at Bamyan Cliffs. They blow up sacred sites. They say, 'Humanity's cultural heritage must not stand as an affront... to the profit'.

Rio Tinto Blows It

David Pope, The Canberra Times,

Donald Trump wears a crown and holds a bible as he walks through a violent protest. He is much larger than everyone else.

Bible Basher

David Rowe, The Australian Financial Review,

Scott Morrison is an ostrich. His head in buried in sand. He says, 'There was no slavery in Australia'. Text beneath reads: 'Dark emu versus white ostrich'.

A Historical Perspective

Matt Golding, Nine Papers,

Protestors are in a museum. They look at a statue without arms. A man with a sledgehammer says, 'Looks like somebody's beaten us to this one'.

Untitled

Johannes Leak, The Australian,

Police at a Black Lives Matter protest say, 'Our barriers are down. We need back up, but beware their armed with cameras'. Protestors are in the background. A policeman suffocates a man with his knee.

Untitled

Danny Eastwood, Koori Mail,

Captain Cook's statue is being pulled down by protestors. A policeman asks, 'Why now after 200 years or more?' A protestor responds, 'It's because of that Aboriginals have suffered 200 years or more'.

Untitled

Danny Eastwood, Koori Mail,

A man with a tinfoil hat and 'My conspiracy theories matter!' sign approaches a group of Black Lives Matters protestors.

Anti-Social Distancing

Chris Downes, The Mercury (Hobart),

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