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Leunig axed from The Age after 50 years over anti-Dan Andrews cartoon

<p dir="ltr">Cartoonist Michael Leunig<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/cartoonist-michael-leunig-axed-from-prime-spot-at-the-age-over-offensive-vaccine-image/news-story/3b6b99a4101ebe53df58cb21827df0d4" target="_blank">has been dropped</a><span> </span>from his position as a cartoonist for<span> </span><em>The Age</em><span> </span>over a<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/leunig-cartoon-divides-the-internet" target="_blank">controversial image</a><span> </span>comparing resisting mandatory COVID-19 vaccination to the Tiananmen Square protests.</p> <p dir="ltr">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”.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUTONJjBIHA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUTONJjBIHA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michael Leunig (@leunigstudio)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">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.</p> <p dir="ltr">The image never made it to print in<span> </span><em>The Age</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Some speculation about Leunig’s continued role at the newspaper emerged last week, after a statement published in<span> </span><em>The Age</em>’s letters section said it was “trialling new cartoonists”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845068/leunig1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c595938f095241e6bd21cebb17e03c19" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/peter-fitzsimons-a-closed-book-on-lisa-wilkinson-coverage/news-story/fd5acfa9e7f6dc420c38a116177c0bcc" target="_blank">The Australian</a></em>’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.</p> <p dir="ltr">Leunig told the publication that<span> </span><em>The Age</em>’s editor Gay Alcorn called him to “break the news gently” that his cartoons would no longer feature in the newspaper.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said he was told he was “out of touch with the readership”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Gay feels this type of cartoon is not in line with public sentiment, and<span> </span><em>The Age</em>’s readership, who it does seem are largely in favour of the Andrews Covid narrative,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But my job is to challenge the status quo, and that has always been the job of the cartoonist.”</p> <p dir="ltr">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”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845069/leunig2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9ceb768377dd448f92bbf4b25bc454fb" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram</em></p> <p dir="ltr">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”.</p> <p dir="ltr">It divided fans on his Instagram page, with some describing it as “brilliant” and others saying it was in “pretty bad taste”.</p> <p dir="ltr">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.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845070/leunig3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c3929cca63a44ae8b92ded40dede2168" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Alcorn told<span> </span><em>The Australian<span> </span></em>that Leunig was “entitled to be upset” about being let go from the position.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though she declined to comment further, she told<span> </span><em>news.com.au</em><span> </span>that Leunig was still “employed by us to provide a Saturday cartoon”.</p> <p dir="ltr">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.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another controversial cartoon depicting an absent mum has been labelled as “condescending” and upsetting for young mums struggling with raising young children.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @leunigstudio / Instagram</em></p>

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New Zealand travellers burst Australia's travel bubble

<p>Travellers arriving as part of the newly minted international arrangements with New Zealand have left state authorities scrambling after taking internal flights to jurisdictions outside of the travel bubble.</p> <p>Under the original arrangements, passengers from New Zealand were permitted to enter New South Wales and the Northern Territory.</p> <p>But on Friday night, it was revealed that a few trans-Tasman arrivals took connecting flights to Melbourne.</p> <p>Authorities in Victoria have now spoken to all 55 people who were gearing up to arrive in the state to explain local coronavirus rules.</p> <p>The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) released a statement saying some of the travellers were in family groups, with most of them staying in private homes.</p> <p>Three of the travellers expected to enter the state remained in NSW.</p> <p>And one who was in Victoria returned to NSW on Sunday.</p> <p>"Twenty-one of the 55 travellers arrived at Melbourne Airport … the remainder arrived using other modes of transport," the statement said.  </p> <p>"DHHS authorised officers continue to meet incoming flights at Melbourne Airport and provide information to arriving passengers."</p> <p>Authorities in West Australia have also confirmed 23 people, including a child, all from New Zealand, are currently in hotel or home quarantine after flying into Perth overnight. </p> <p>WA has a hard border and Premier Mark McGowan said the Federal Government needed to provide more support.</p> <p>"We would like further assistance from the Commonwealth, in particular, about making sure that those people who come on aircraft into WA that we get proper manifests and proper advice as to those people that are coming so we can deal with these situations," he said.</p> <p>Unlike Western Australia, Victoria does not have restrictions on incoming arrivals, but Premier Daniel Andrews has issued criticism over the way events unfolded.</p> <p>He said his government had repeatedly requested to be excluded from the arrangement.</p> <p>"We were asked, 'Do you want to be in the bubble?' and we said no," Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday, as he announced easing of restrictions in the state.</p>

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Leaving Neverland: Director says police are convinced of Michael Jackson’s guilt

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The director of the explosive </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leaving Neverland</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> documentary has claimed that police who investigated Michael Jackson over child sex abuse claims were convinced of the singer’s guilt.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jackson is facing renewed allegations that he molested children after the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leaving Neverland</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> documentary aired graphic claims from Wade Robson and James Safechuck.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The claims have angered the Jackson family and fans of his music.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, director Dan Reed said that their allegations went through a vigorous process of fact-checking.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking to </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/none-of-them-had-any-doubts-at-all-about-his-guilt-leaving-neverland-director-dan-reed/news-story/b44cc1532b5cb88b76b15c3f3d8abe79"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Morning Show</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Reed explained that he “went in with an open mind” before becoming convinced of Jackson’s guilt. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I didn’t approach this in a naive way. I listened very carefully to days and days and days of interview, then we went and did about 18 months of research and checked everything we could and tried to poke holes in Wade and James’ accounts,” Reed explained.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We didn’t find anything that cast any doubt on their accounts — on the contrary, we found a lot of corroborating evidence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I interviewed the police investigators and the sheriff’s department investigators who were part of looking into Michael Jackson’s background, and none of them had any doubts at all about his guilt.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reed explained that he was worried about the impact that the documentary would have on Jackson’s children, but the stories of Robson and Safechuck needed to be told.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The politics of the Jackson clan is very complicated and this supposed attempted suicide of Paris, which she has immediately denied, that’s very puzzling. I don’t know what’s going on there,” Reed said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Jackson’s children had nothing to do with the sexual abuse and of course they’re upset that their dad is being accused of all this stuff. But these allegations have been around for decades now and they won’t come as any surprise to the kids.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I feel for them, I wish them the very best, but the truth must come out because I think this is an important story.”</span></p>

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