Dutton's Policy

'Dutton's Policy' by Cathy Wilcox is a digital illustration in the style of pencil and ink, published in Nine Papers on the 24th of May 2024.   

Against a bright orange background, an exaggerated Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton, with a long face and a rectangular suit, to the left of a pull-down projector screen. On the screen is a cheerful white unicorn with purple hooves, multicoloured tail and mane, pale blue wings, and a heart on its cheek.  

Dutton points at the unicorn with a long pointer, and in a large white speech bubble he says, 'This is my policy, and it's up to the CSIRO to provide the evidence for why it's not viable.' 

In the bottom right corner is the artist's signature, 'Wilcox'.   

The label text for this cartoon reads: Unicorns — winged or otherwise — are a popular metaphor in climate- and energy-themed cartoons, as Australia searches for viable and sustainable energy solutions. In May the nation's leading science institution, the CSIRO, released a report which found that nuclear power would be the most expensive new source of energy and would take decades to establish. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton dismissed the findings, calling the report 'discredited', a response that provoked the CSIRO to defend its scientists and their research.