Leunig axed from The Age after 50 years over anti-Dan Andrews cartoon
Cartoonist Michael Leunig has been dropped from his position as a cartoonist for The Age over a controversial image comparing resisting mandatory COVID-19 vaccination to the Tiananmen Square protests.
Leunig shared the cartoon on his Instagram account, with the picture depicting one of his lone ‘everyday man’ characters standing in front of a tank armed with a loaded syringe and the caption “Mandate”.
The cartoon mimics the iconic “tank man” image of an unidentified Chinese protester standing in front of a column of tanks, with Leunig including the photo in his cartoon.
The image never made it to print in The Age.
Some speculation about Leunig’s continued role at the newspaper emerged last week, after a statement published in The Age’s letters section said it was “trialling new cartoonists”.
Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram
Speaking to The Australian’s columnist Nick Tabakoff, Leunig confirmed that he has been taken off the newspaper’s editorial page position following the emergence of the controversial cartoon.
Leunig told the publication that The Age’s editor Gay Alcorn called him to “break the news gently” that his cartoons would no longer feature in the newspaper.
He said he was told he was “out of touch with the readership”.
“Gay feels this type of cartoon is not in line with public sentiment, and The Age’s readership, who it does seem are largely in favour of the Andrews Covid narrative,” he said.
“But my job is to challenge the status quo, and that has always been the job of the cartoonist.”
Leunig - who has had a 50-year-long career as a cartoonist - also claimed that he has had 12 cartoons “censored” this year, “all about Covid and/or Dan Andrews, with next to no explanation”.
Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram
Leunig defended his reference to the Tiananmen Square image in his cartoon, saying it is often used as a “Charlie Chaplin-like metaphor for an overwhelming force meeting the innocent powerless individual”.
It divided fans on his Instagram page, with some describing it as “brilliant” and others saying it was in “pretty bad taste”.
The cartoonist has shared a series of images on social media including figures in the likeness of Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, alongside critiques of politicians and the handling of the pandemic by the Victorian government.
Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram
Ms Alcorn told The Australian that Leunig was “entitled to be upset” about being let go from the position.
Though she declined to comment further, she told news.com.au that Leunig was still “employed by us to provide a Saturday cartoon”.
Leunig has also faced criticism over past cartoons, including one that compared the Victorian government to fascists following news of a proposal to ban unvaccinated children from childcare centres.
Another controversial cartoon depicting an absent mum has been labelled as “condescending” and upsetting for young mums struggling with raising young children.
Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram