Superboy, Firefighters and Mums!

Are they searching the right place?! ... Hath the Lord taken away?

An extraordinary journey by an extraordinary man.

I saw "Despicable Me 2" with the family over the school holidays and loved it; I think the kids did too! ;)
I really loved the animation and I couldn't help but notice some similarities in the main character (Gru) to PM Kev 2!

The minions have conceded that Rudd's popularity with the constituency is the ALP's only hope of winning the 2013 Federal election.

This toon originally went with a newspaper editorial regarding a letter that had been written to the leaders of the major political parties by Jenny Bell. Jenny, a grandmother from the Barossa Valley spoke of her disillusionment with the leaders for their self-indulgent and childish bickering, whilst neglecting the Voice of many Australians.

Last night, Harrison Craig became the winner of "The Voice" of Australia 2013.

Ford Australia Chief Bob Graziano declares that the declining sales figures for the Ford Falcon have reached a point where production of the Falcon cannot be sustained beyond 2016.

Meanwhile the leaders of the Australian Federal Labor and Liberal parties persevere despite omnipresent unpopularity!

On the same day that New Zealand parliamentarians passed legislation to legalise equal marriage rights for gays, the owners and trainer of Black Caviar announced that the mare would be retired to a stud farm and that the search for a suitable stallion would commence soon.

Judia Gillard seems pretty chuffed now that Kev is entombed in the back benches...
but are there really "no circumstances" in which the ALP's 2007 saviour could be resurrected?!

Another extraordinary week in politics! This time the Fed ALP Leadership was under attack (again).
As Prime Minister Gillard and Senator Conroy prepared for their mission to make the media barons more accountable, ex PM Rudd again offered his full support... but with Zero chance of success things were about to get worse for Kamikaze Julia.
An exasperated Minister Simon Crean threw a grenade in the ALP Hanger, practically forcing Rudd to suit up!
But Rudd didn't have the ground support... Gillard still commands the Zero but the roar of jet engines couldn't muffle the delight from Liberal HQ.

What a week! Victoria has a new Premier after the Liberal Party practically forced Ted Baillieu to resign from that position and the Northern Territory has a new Chief Minister after a mutinous coup.
But as the world awaited a plume of white smoke from the Vatican to signal the appointment of a new Pope, the federal opposition leader Tony Abbott continues to sit pretty whilst the federal Australian Labor Party persists with embattled Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.

At an Australian Workers Union conference held at Jupiter's Casino recently, AWU Secretary Paul Howse assured Julia Gillard: "We've got ya back!", which I think is a tad ironic considering he was one of the so-called faceless men that stabbed then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the back, in favour of annointing Ms Gillard into the Leadership role.
Now that Prime Minister Gillard's popularity with the Australian electorate could hardly go lower, I think her only chance for a win would be to get a ride on Black Caviar!

Since Christmas 2009 I have created the artwork that appears on the front page of the Mildura-Weekly (newspaper) Christmas edition. The request this year was to depict some of the staff in a nativity scene infused with some Australian and local humour.

A proposal to build a brothel in Buronga (across the Murray River from Mildura) has divided opinions in the community... Meanwhile, Police have reported that at least 6 people have become lost in the Sunset National Park after relying on Apple-Maps to direct them to Mildura; ~70 kms off course!

I wonder where the 3 wise men might've wandered to if they hadn't followed the North Star!

The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital suffering severe morning-sickness.

The news couldn't be better for the Paparazzi! A new heir to the throne is on the way.
It seems Kate's bump will be photographed all the way!

Temperatures are predicted to break November records in many parts of Victoria today, including 45 deg C in Mildura! The heat will also be on Ricky "Punter" Ponting in Perth tomorrow. Having failed to produce an innings of substance recently, pressure is on for Ponting to make some runs or make way in the Test team for somebody else.

Update: Ricky Ponting has announced that he will retire after the Perth Test match.

Have conflicts of interest handicapped the judgment of the custodians of this gargantuan gambling industry?
In light of the recent Damien Oliver betting scandal and the arguably lenient penalty, the perception of veracity and integrity in the institution of Racing Victoria seems to have gone backwards.

It will be interesting to see the result of the subsequent investigation by the Racing Integrity Commissioner into the Oliver inquiry.

I guess you'd have to be living under a rock if you didn't know by now that Prime Minister Gillard has announced a Royal Commission into institutional child abuse.

Abysmally, some of the supposed servants of god, the preachers of morality, those that were entrusted within such institutions to nurture and protect children became the devil's disciples; predatory paedophiles; hideous hypocrites!
Perhaps worse, is that rather than exorcising the evil reprobates and making them accountable to laws of decency, the executive evangelists found new holes for the rock spiders to crawl into.

Let's hope the Royal Commission will flush these inhumane creatures and their unconscionable protectors out from their hidey holes and that justice will provide the surviving victims some relief and new faith in our society.

A lot of people this week were celebrating the rise of Green Moon in "The race that stopped the nation" or barracking for their preferred President in "The race that stopped America".
As a Dad, the race I thought had the greatest relief and happiest ending was the one to find Dante.
In Mildura on the night of the Melbourne Cup, two year old Dante and his trusty dog Dasher were reported lost. Fourteen hours later Mildura Police discovered Dante half naked in a field about 3.5 kilometres from his home.
Apart from mild hypothermia and dehydration Dante was well.
It seems Dasher, a German shepherd can now add "Toddler shepherd" to his C.V. :)

Asia seems to be the flavour of the month. While Psy has been rocking the world with his Gangnam Style dancing, our PM has pledged to sell yellow rocks (Uranium) to India and while she was in India she tried to rock New Delhi with her belly! Now Julia Gillard wants all future school age Aussies to learn an Asian language.
Meanwhile, Tony Abbott still struggles with his own language and just can't put a foot right!

We adore and cherish our children but for some reason, they seemed extraordinarily demanding over the last few days of the school holidays. In a scene reminiscent of the movie When Harry met Sally, the relief when they went back to school and kindergarten was the inspiration for this toon ;)

Each year the Kelly Racing brothers Todd and Rick make their journey from Mildura to Bathurst in an unconventional means of transport. This year they borrowed their mum's 52 year old FB Holden to mark the 50th anniversary of the Great Race.

The Kelly Boys promised Mum they would take good care of the old car but it's hard to imagine a couple of lads that like racing down Conrod Straight at close to 300 kmph dawdling along the 800 kilometre trip to Bathurst so...
I thought they might tweak and spruce the old sedan up a bit! ;)

Gone from the AFL Finals are the Eagles, Magpies and Crows; only Hawks and Swans remaining!
Who will steal the prized Premiership Cup in what has become the battle of the birds?

A toon re the Paparazzi invading the privacy of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Wills and Kate, intertwined with some expertise and exploits of Prince Harry.

AFL super-star Chris Judd seems to have momentarily forgotten that he was on a football field, again!

Matthew Newton allegedly took his frustration with poor phone reception out on a Miami Hotel Clerk.
I wonder if he got a better reception at Miami-Dade jail!

Update 15-Nov-2012; Newton discovers that The Gravity of Law is inversely proportional to the amount of money thrown at it! To purchase this cartoon for your publication or website, please make your request via the Contact page.

Three police vehicles were snapped by a speed camera in the small town of Carbunup River Western Australia on Saturday the 26th of November. A Police motor cycle was booked at an alleged speed of 129 kmph.
The two police cars following had alleged speeds of 116 kmph and 110 kmph. All three were exceeding the designated speed limit of 80 kmph.

FYI: if you are not familiar with Cold Chisel; the lyric in the toon is a play on the lyric from the CC song "Bow River".

The inspiration for this cartoon came after listening to the early morning breakfast broadcast from Melbourne radio station 3AW. During November 2011, public debate as to whether or not equal marriage rights should be legislated for same sex couples was filling pages and air-waves in the media. On the morning of 15 Nov 2011, 3AW radio compere Ross Stevenson asked his on-air partner John Burns for his thoughts.
I thought John Burns' response, was very funny.
It was perhaps a stereotypical response from a man that had been married a very long time and so I decided to depict a stereotypical long-term married couple in a lounge room setting using the dialogue from Ross and John.
The inspiration for depicting Julia Gillard on the TV screen came after the ALP conference.
Gay marriage rights protestors were in attendance at the venue for the conference.
Gillard was broadly lambasted by the media for using the term "We are us" in her speech.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard seems to enjoy a fond relationship with the President of the United States, Barack Obama; a cuddle in Cannes, a couple of kisses in Canberra... don't they look adorable?
Meanwhile, there is still no imminent solution to the Afghanistan dilemma.

The Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu has launched a public campaign asking people to make suggestions
for a new slogan to appear on Victorian registration plates. So many ideas, such a small space!
Whilst many debate the Pros and Cons of speed cameras, it seems speed cameras are here to stay, so if
you're out on Vic roads today, SMILE! :) You're bound to drive past one of Ted's cameras soon!

Update Sep 06, 2012: Almost a year later!
Ted and the Victorian Liberal party have announced the new slogan that will appear on registration plates:
"VIC - STAY ALERT - STAY ALIVE"

Blog [17-Aug-2011]
Chief Executive Officer of QANTAS, Alan Joyce, has announced a commercial decision that a major restructure of the organistion will occur over the next five years. As many as 1000 Australian Qantas jobs, particularly employees associated with the International routes will become redundant or be reassigned to new routes or duties.
Will this commercial decision tear the heart out of the flying kangaroo?

In May this year the AFL investigated betting plunges that were made on 2 Brisbane defenders and a Hawthorn defender to kick the first goal of a match. Daniel Merrett was backed in from $101 to $15 and then started the game in the forward line! The AFL feared some footbal club insiders might have exploited privy pre-match team-list information to make exotic bets. Although no breaches of the regulations were discovered on that occasion, AFL Operations Manager Adrian Anderson issued a stern warning that such bets or the passing on of such confidential information would be met with harsh penalties. [Fairfax news article May 24, 2011]

So why soon thereafter would any AFL footballer, let alone the Captain of the reigning premiership club, not be aware that such activities would bring them into disrepute and damage the integrity of the game and further exacerbate concerns about gambling on football?!

Heath Shaw took a punt on skipper Nick Maxwell to kick the first goal of the Round 9 match against Adelaide.

The Collingwood Captain, normally a defender, told family members he'd be starting the game in the forward line.
Maxwell claimed he naively failed to tell them that they were not allowed to use the privy information to make bets.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's popularity is so low, various polls indicate that even a recycled Kevin Rudd would be preferred as PM!... Unlike the herds of cattle awaiting departure to Indonesian abattoirs, the Federal Government has become a laughing-stock! ... Unfortunately they're not funny (unless you're a cartoonist! :) ... Seriously, the serial incompetence of this government is surely now beyond a joke! ... But wait, there's more;
Juliar's prattle has prompted more cynical chuckles by vowing to pound the pavements until her shoe leather is worn-out in a bid to convince the electorate that her hide is worth saving and that her carbon (dioxide) tax will save the world! ... The polls suggest it's time for an alternative poll-ution solution!

Pakistan Border patrol soldiers give an intimidating impression at the Wagah Gate but nothing seems to intimidate US Navy Seal Team 6, especially when the prize catch is Osama Bin Laden!
The location of Osama Bin Laden's hideaway so close to a Pakistani Military complex in Abbottabad has raised questions as to how the Pakistani government could not have been aware.
This toon was drawn for a regional newspaper melding an article in that paper about the Wagah Gate with the news of 'Operation Neptune's Spear'; however this toon was not published due to other editorial priorities.

Most Australians would agree with the heartfelt sentiments of Prime Minister Gillard's speech in the House of Representatives yesterday (8-Feb) but crikey, was it the real or unreal Julia that delivered the speech (or script!)?
Did the PM really cry or were they crocodile tears? It was difficult to distinguish any real tears on the television.
There was certainly quivering and sad expression and no doubt the Prime Minister has empathy for people effected by floods, cyclones and bush-fires but the read, show and tell delivery certainly looked contrived.
Was it mere coincidence that after being recently criticised for being 'wooden' and 'unemotional', Gillard was spontaneously sad and sobbing on Australia's most televised stage?!
Should our PM receive an Academy Award nomination for best performance by an actress in a leading role?

Rafael Nadal's woes continued at the Australian Tennis Open. After suffering apparent jock-itch (caused by jockette wedgies!) Nadal endured a hamstring strain in his match against compatriot David Ferrer and gratiously bowed out of the 2011 championship.
Novak Djokovic did no wrong; he defeated Roger Federer in his semi-final and dominated the final against Andy Murray to win the Norman Brookes Championship trophy.

What if Captain Cook's 1770 search for the Great Southern Land had coincided with a 1 in 200 year flood?!
Would the British Empire have bothered sending a fleet to settle such a flood stricken land?!

You can click on each image to see an enlarged view...

In damned if you do, damned if you don't circumstances, Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited some of Victoria's flood regions. Some people seemed encouraged to have Julia "on the ground" but others lambasted her for apparent political rhetoric and cliches, leaving some pundits questioning her sincerity and wondering if it was the real or fake Julia that had visited... Victoria's present State slogan is "The place to be"; maybe it should be "The place to flee"!

Despite the gloom caused by floods in Queensland and Victoria; many people, flood victims included, hoped Lleyton Hewitt could raise Aussie spirits with a victory at the 2011 Australian Tennis Open but despite a tenacious effort that lasted almost 5 hours, Hewitt lost to David Nalbandian in 5 sets.

After spinning some flirtatious tweets to leggy Liz Hurley, Shane Warne was caught out locking lips with Liz in a London hotel lobby.

On November 2, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased overnight cash interest rates by 0.25%. Subesquently, Commbank Australia increased the interest rate for their variable mortgage loans by 0.45% sparking outcry from many. Commbank CEO Sir Ralph Norris intimated some empathy for mortgagees but nonetheless, opined the 0.45% increase was necessary for a sound economy. Is this 'the interest rate rise we had to have' or do you think this is comparable with the cold blooded rationale of CEO Count Dracula at the Coldblood Bank?

As many horse racing clubs around Australia prepared for the Spring Racing Carnival, the Federal election in August 2010 was a race that really stopped the nation! A hung parliament was the result with neither of the major parties able to form a majority government. As Gillard (ALP) and Abbott (LNP) negotiated with the newly elected Green and Independent Members of Parliament to form a minority government, the "Real action" to get Australia "Moving forward" came to a stand still.
So now that we have a hung parliament; which way is forward?!
Is Liberal Vs Labor or Blue Vs Red too Black & White to provide the governing needs of contemporary Australia?

Update 25/7/2011: This cartoon won the Political category of the Rotary National Cartoon Awards.
The medallion (& cheque:) was presented at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour.

Click here if you'd like to purchase a copy of this cartoon.

Well, the clash of the titans is nigh; the Procrastinator (controlled by faceless men) versus Row-boat Cop!
Less than two months after terminating Kevin Rudd's run at a second term as Prime Minister, Julia Gillard has canned a CPRS (Carbon Polution Reduction Scheme) and deferred Rudd's planned Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and will instead, conduct a "citizen's assembly" to brainstorm for better ideas to save our souls, our economy and the new Prime Minister.
Tony Abbott has pledged to save us from the other "greatest moral dilemma of out time" by stopping the sievs*!
* Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels.

Click here if you'd like to purchase a copy of this cartoon.

During a 3AW radio interview with Neil Mitchell on May 17, Julia Gillard assured listeners there'd be more likelihood of her lining up at Full-Forward for the Western Bulldogs (AFL) than toppling Prime Minister Rudd. Thirty eight days later, on June 24, allegedly at the behest of infamous faceless men, the Ginger Ninja, beheaded the Australian Labor Party and assumed the throne.

Click here if you'd like to purchase a copy of this cartoon.

Despite appeals from concerned experts for urgent funding increases and the promises of the Labor Government to increase funding for Mental Health services, K.Rudd's government bypasses the mentally ill and passes the booty baton to elite athletes. {No budget increase for Mental-Health. $237m increase for elite athletes.}

Whilst Al Gore, Keving Rudd and hundreds of world leaders flew in to Copenhagen to speak about the causes of climate change and their proposals to reverse the warming trend; news surfaced that Tiger Woods had been generating a lot of heat around the globe!