The King of the World

'The King of the World' by Mark Knight is a digital illustration made in the style of pen and watercolour drawings. It was published in the Herald Sun on the 21st of February, 2024.   

To the left is a large grey ship, labelled '$11 billion warship upgrade,' its bow jutting out to the right.  

At the very front of the ship is a decorated Navy captain, a man with a large nose and potbelly, in a white uniform with his medals and a 'NAVY' tag over his chest. He wears sunglasses and a white cap with gold Navy symbols. He stretches his arms out to either side.  

Behind him, in the style of Jack holding Rose up at the bow of the movie Titanic, is an exaggerated version of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, wearing a blue suit, red tie and glasses. His hands hold the Navy captain up by the wrists.  

In white speech bubbles, Albanese says, 'Open your eyes…' and the Navy captain says, 'I'm flying!'  

Around them, many green notes with dollar signs flutter away in the wind. The background of the scene is a sunset sky, purple at the top, fading to orange, yellow and then blue. In the top left corner is the artist’s signature, Knight.  

In the bottom right corner, a tiny cow pops up to say, 'I hope it doesn’t end up like the Titanic…'  

The label text for this cartoon reads: For Mark Knight, the government's plan for the RAN, scheduled to cost $11 billion over a decade, presented an opportunity to refer to one of Hollywood's highest-grossing films, Titanic (1996). The plan includes six new warships capable of being operated remotely. Knight's cartoon has the prime minister and a naval officer taking their hands off the wheel to re-create the famous scene from the film featuring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.