Coalition marriage between city and country at the end of the road
Political life imitated reality TV this week after new Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley’s speed date with the National Party ended in a bad break up in Mark Knight’s homage to Farmer Wants a Wife
READING LEVEL: GREEN
One of the secrets to success in politics is keeping the troops in line. If a political party can maintain discipline among its MPs* and be a cohesive* unit with policies that its members believe in, it says to the voters that they are electable.
The old saying is, “Disunity* is death”. Former PM John Howard was very good at keeping it all together and as a result was Australia’s prime minister for over 11 years.
This week we saw a wounded federal Liberal Party break up its coalition with the National Party. The federal Coalition is no more. They are now calling it the “No-alition”. The Liberal and National Parties will go their own way.
The Nationals are the party of the bush, our farmers and the regional areas. They have policy disagreements with the Liberals on things like nuclear energy* and it seems both leaders, newly appointed Lib leader Sussan Ley and David Littleproud from the Nats couldn’t see eye-to-eye. So they had a break-up. Maybe there was a bit of post-traumatic stress* after PM Albo won such a huge majority at the recent election. His party will most likely win the next one now in three years’ time.
Such a huge political story deserved my attention in a cartoon. My immediate interpretation* of the break-up reminded me of the reality TV show Farmer Wants a Wife. The program is basically a bunch of lonely country boy farmers looking for a partner.
A host of city girls put themselves forward and after a process of dating, dinners and farming activities, the farmer makes his choice. But it doesn’t always work out and heartbreak sometimes happens. This is what we are seeing with the Liberals and the Nationals. So how do I illustrate this?
Sussan Ley and David Littleproud are both great to draw and seem to fit well into my cartoon metaphor* of a farmer and partner. I was also looking to include in the cartoon some of those great visual cliches* from the bush. The roadside mailbox, the dusty driveway track to the homestead, a farm ute and, of course, a dog.
After several sketches I came upon the idea of poor ol’ Sussan Ley being dropped at the farm gate, next to the mailbox with her luggage, implying that she was leaving. Littleproud is in his ute driving back down the dusty track to the farmhouse, his kelpie in the tray, forlornly* looking back at what has just happened. It is the end of the love story between the Liberals and the National Party.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- cohesive: united and working well together
- disunity: major lack of agreement that stops people from working well together
- nuclear energy: the energy in the nucleus, or core, of an atom
- post-traumatic stress: mental health condition caused by extreme stress or a terrible event
- interpretation: explanation or opinion of what something means
- metaphor: comparing two things that are otherwise unrelated
- cliches: ideas and phrases which that have been used very extensively to describe or depict something or someone
- forlornly: sadly, regretfully
EXTRA READING
Why the federal Coalition split up
Pioneer wins Libs’ leadership duel
Albanese’s Labor scores landslide
QUICK QUIZ
- Who is the new leader of the Liberal Party?
- What is one of the policies the Coalition disagreed on?
- Mark based his cartoon on which reality TV show?
- What are at least three of the farming cliches he uses in his cartoon?
- What is the old saying about the importance of being united?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Humour analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News explainer, complete the following analysis questions to help you get the full humour out of his drawing.
Mark Knight cartoon analysis:
- What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting:
- Who is portrayed in the cartoon?
- How are they portrayed?
- What is the humour in the drawing?
- Who might agree with his viewpoint?
- Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?
- Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the people or objects portrayed in the cartoon. Think, what would be their response to the speech bubble and satire from the cartoon.
Write or draw your response below.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this story is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part One. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking
Why the federal Coalition split up
The Liberals and the Nationals made headlines with the announcement their long-term parliamentary coalition was over, but what does the split mean and why did they part ways?
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Pioneer wins Libs’ leadership duel
Cartoonist Mark Knight draws on the classic western plot of cowboys pulling pistols at dawn to capture the Liberal Party’s leadership vote – but is the female pioneer now on clean up duty?
Read more