Best Australian Political Cartoons 2025 by Russ Radcliffe

2025- the year in politics as observed by Australia’s funniest and most perceptive political cartoonists.

But after seeing the real and unchecked Trump in action, we decided we didn’t want any of that madness here, and the Coalition – more specifically, the Liberal Party – after a decade of negativity and culture warring, got their unambiguous comeuppance. While Teals-style candidates mostly held the line, the Greens took a severe beating as voters retreated into the imagined security of Albo’s one-party state.

If the Trump effect caused tremors in our domestic politics, globally it set off an earthquake. In trade relations, sanctions reduced established relationships with the US – even with long-time allies – to the crudely transactional. In case we had any doubts that the US-led post-1945 rules-based-system was over, 2025 dispelled them. The moral claims of that order, always dubious, were finally – even proudly – cremated in the ruins of Gaza and Ukraine. Forget international law- might has reasserted its traditional place in the ordering of nations.

In this profoundly disordered world, we have never needed the satirical insights of our great political cartoonists more. This year’s collection features Dean Alston, Badiucao, Matt Bissett-Johnson, Peter Broelman, Harry Bruce, Mark David, Chris Downes, First Dog on the Moon, Matt Golding, Megan Herbert, Fiona Katauskas, Mark Knight, Jon Kudelka, Johannes Leak, Glen LeLievre, Alan Moir, David Pope, Geoff Pryor, David Rowe, Phil Somerville, John Spooner, Andrew Weldon, and Cathy Wilcox.

About the Author: Russ Radcliffe created the annual Best Australian Political Cartoons series in 2003. His other books include- Man of Steel- a cartoon history of the Howard years in 2007;Dirt Files- a decade of Australian political cartoons in 2013; andMy Brilliant Career- Malcolm Turnbull, a political life in cartoons in 2016.

Russ has edited collections from some of Australia’s finest political cartoonists, including Matt Golding, Judy Horacek, Bill Leak, Alan Moir, Bruce Petty, John Spooner, and David Rowe, and curated several exhibitions, including Moments of Truth, Dirt Files, and Suppositories of Wisdom. In 2013, Russ was awarded the Australian Cartoonists Association’s Jim Russell Award for his contribution to Australian cartooning.

04 Nov 2025
 

Best Australian Political Cartoons 2025 by Russ Radcliffe ISBN 9781761381676