Nationals leader faces a tough ride against One Nation in Knight toon
The National Party has chosen Matt Canavan but cartoonist Mark Knight imagines the new leader as next to saddle up against One Nation’s bucking bronco and its threat to Coalition support
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
This week the Coalition* Opposition made the news again. Not for any policy announcement, nor for moves to hold the Albanese Government to account. No, they were talking about themselves once more.
This time it was the National Party leader David Littleproud, who took the decision to step down from the leadership. He explained the reason for his departure in good old Aussie country terms: he said he was “buggered”.
Fair enough.
It’s been a tough year for the National Party leader. He has taken the party out of the coalition with the Liberal Party on two occasions, citing differences on policy and disagreements with the then Liberal leader Sussan Ley. Luckily the two leaders patched up those differences and in scenes reminiscent* of the reality television show Farmer Wants a Wife, Littleproud and Ley remained together in coalition.
Then the Liberals gave Sussan Ley the chop and installed Angus Taylor as new leader in a bid to lift the party’s sinking opinion polls. And now Littleproud has gone, and that meant that a new leader needed to be chosen by the Nationals’ Party Room members. Leading the Nats was not an easy task, with the Albanese Government holding a huge majority in the parliament and a resurgent One Nation Party taking votes away from the Coalition. Pauline Hanson’s party was even out-polling the Liberals and posed a major threat to the future of the Coalition. This was something the new leader of the party that represents rural Australia would have to deal with.
The Nationals voted in Senator Matt Canavan, a social conservative* from Queensland who vowed to “fight back” for Australians. Obviously when a major political party votes in a new leader, it makes the news, and therefore it would be the topic of choice for my daily cartoon. Matt Canavan is great to caricature*; he is an interesting politician, with conservative views on fossil fuels, immigration and in his opinion that he believes Australia was changing for the worse.
He also came out in his first press conference as Nationals leader and had a crack at Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party, which was polling extremely well at the expense of the Nationals. If Canavan was going to be a successful leader, he would have to steer voters away from One Nation and back to the Nationals, but Pauline Hanson had harnessed the electorate’s* anger over the cost of living, immigration* levels, crime, housing affordability and energy prices. It wasn’t going to be an easy ride!
My cartoon’s theme was to look at how, as new leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan had to deal with not only policy issues but also One Nation’s popularity. Being a rural-based party, I thought I would set the scene in a country location. Thinking about Hanson, I wanted to illustrate what a tough survivor she was in politics, and how she has been dismissed many times by the pundits* but always seems to come back. What a thick hide she has politically to have lasted so long. It was then that I decided to situate the cartoon in a country rodeo*. I imagined the new leader of the Nats trying to conquer the One Nation juggernaut* would be something similar to a rodeo rider in outback Queensland, trying to stay on a bucking beast.
I sketched a tentative* Canavan in the chute strapped onto a large Brahman beast, which symbolises Hanson’s One Nation (you will note it does have red hair and those piercing eyes). A rodeo cowboy worker has his hands on the gate, awaiting the call to open it. The cartoon is that frozen moment before showtime. The rider tenses, grips the rope tight, leans back and says “ready”.
Will Matt Canavan last the eight seconds with Pauline’s One Nation? We will wait and see!
POLL
GLOSSARY
- Coalition: a group of two or more political parties working together to win an election, govern an area, or band together in Opposition to hold the government of the day to account
- reminiscent: something that recalls a particular person, event or thing
- conservative: political position that seeks to preserve traditional institutions, customs, values and practices
- caricature: a drawing or description of them that exaggerates their appearance or behaviour in a humorous or critical way
- electorate: all the people (Australian citizens 18 and over) who are eligible and registered to vote
- immigration: the process of coming to a country in order to live in it permanently
- pundits: people who know a lot about a particular subject, or whose job is to give their opinions in public
- rodeo: sporting event at which cowboys show different skills by riding wild horses, catching cows with ropes and so on
- juggernaut: any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, such as war, a giant battleship, a powerful football team or a political party enjoying a rapid rise
- tentative: not sure or definite, uncertain
EXTRA READING
Liberals fire up the leader barbie
Country romance over for Coalition
QUICK QUIZ
- Who is the new leader of the National Party?
- They are currently in Opposition with which other major party?
- Who is the leader of One Nation?
- What are some of the main issues the electorate is angry about?
- Mark Knight likens the relationship between the former National and Liberal leaders to which reality TV show?
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 cartoon 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