‘Dictator Dan’ front row at China military parade sparks Knight toon

Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was highly successful as a politician. He won three terms in office and was never defeated at the ballot box*. He retired from politics in September 2023.

During his reign as the state’s leader, he embarked on an ambitious infrastructure* building campaign, pursued a progressive* social agenda and ruled Victoria and the Victorian Labor Party with an iron fist. He also signed up Victoria to China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure scheme, but that was knocked on the head by the Morrison federal government* at the time.

He is probably most known for his policy of locking down Victorians for nearly two years during the Covid pandemic. Melbourne was the most locked down city in the world. Children’s playgrounds were closed, night time curfews*, businesses shuttered, the home schooling of children, people working from home, state borders closed and a ring of steel* around Melbourne, with police roadblocks to prevent the movement of people.

As a result of all these severe restrictions, Premier Andrews became known as “Dictator* Dan” due to his dictatorial style of leadership and his dealings with China. Some thought it unfair as Premier Dan was just trying to keep Victorians safe and pointed to the fact that he had been voted back into office three times by the Victorian public.

Fast forward to September 2025. Anyone who thought that the Dictator Dan nickname was a bit harsh or out of line may have had to reconsider their opinion when this week we witnessed photos and footage of Daniel Andrews attending the Chinese Communist* Party’s military celebrations in Beijing.

Private citizen Dan was invited by Chinese president Xi Jinping to attend the lavish* celebrations in Tiananmen Square. Being personally greeted by President Xi with a warm handshake on arrival was one thing, but the group shot of our Dan standing shoulder to shoulder with dictators like Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, the Chinese Communist leader, the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and a collection of leaders from countries for whom democracy and elections are an unknown concept, was completely astounding. The name “Dictator Dan” now seemed more appropriate than ever.

So out came my pencils and paper to draw a cartoon on Dictator Dan seemingly backslapping some of the world’s most infamous* dictators at a big military shebang* in China.

Where do you start?

I had drawn many cartoons of Dictator Dan over the years in his khaki Communist Party suit-style attire, so I thought I would bring that back. The military parade should be in there, as well as prominent dictators like Putin and Kim Jong-un, both of whom are a delight to draw. The problem was how to picture them all together?

The biggest newsworthy item from the event was the photograph of all the invited guests together. Mr Andrews is clearly shown with some unsavoury* leaders. Maybe I could recreate the photo?

Daniel Andrews was a very modern politician and embraced social media to great success. His socials were full of him grabbing selfies with voters while out campaigning, so why not a selfie with fellow dictators? It would be a lot of fun to draw. I imagined a scene where Dan has his phone out snapping pics of Xi, Putin and Kim Jong, who are all playing up to the camera as they stand with beaming smiles on the leaders’ platform overlooking Tiananmen Square*.

Dictators one and all!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• ballot box: a box into which people put their voting slips when voting
• infrastructure: the basic systems and services, such as transport and power supplies, that a country or organisation uses in order to work effectively
• progressive: developing or happening gradually
• Morrison federal government: Former prime minister Scott Morrison led the last Liberal Nationals Coalition government
• curfew: a rule that everyone must stay at home between particular times, usually at night
• ring of steel: series of road border checks separating Melbourne from regional Victoria
• dictator: a person who gives orders and behaves as if they have complete power
• lavish: large in quantity and expensive or impressive
• infamous: well known for something bad, notorious, a reputation of the worst kind
• shebang: everything that is included in something, be that an event, organisation or place, as in, “she was in charge of the whole shebang”
• unsavoury: unpleasant or morally and ethically objectionable or offensive

EXTRA READING

Gold leadership Logie goes to …

Games in ruins as history repeats

Vic and NSW lockdown styles in the spotlight

QUICK QUIZ

1. Mark Knight thinks that former Victorian premier Dan Andrews is best known for what?
2. What nickname was Mr Andrews given as a result?
3. Which current world leaders does Mark Knight note were also pictured in the photo in Beijing, along with Mr Andrews?
4. Mark Knight has drawn many cartoons featuring Dan Andrews dressed in what?
5. Which well known square in Beijing was the venue for the parade?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What are they thinking?

Imagine that Mark has asked you to help him with his cartoon. Write speech or thought bubbles that show what each person in the cartoon might be thinking or saying. Your purpose is to help kids understand more about what Mark is trying to communicate in his cartoon. Use information from the story to help give you ideas.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
Right of reply: what do you think Dan Andrews would have to say about Mark’s cartoon? Would he have a sense of humour about it, be offended, or want to give his side of the story? Imagine that you are Dan. Write a letter or email to Mark about what you think about the cartoon.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.