Australian cartoonist Mark Knight has once again been at the centre of controversy for one of his cartoons published on 21 May 2024 in the Herald Sun. The cartoon alludes to the rise of immigration in Australia, an issue that has generated widespread political debate in the country. However, an anonymous complaint to the Australian Press Council resulted in a report that found the cartoon's depiction of immigrants to be"offensive and prejudiced". The complaint also noted that the Liberal and opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was depicted as a "superhero".
In the scene, Dutto addresses Prime Minister Anthony Norman Albanese, nicknamed "Albo", who turns the wheel of a drawbridge while saying "Stand aside, Albo".
At the bottom of the cartoon it reads: "Australia's front door".
The complaint pointed out that migrants were mostly represented as Muslims from the Middle East and Africa, which did not reflect the reality of the predominant groups currently leading immigration to Australia, led by people from India, China and the Philippines.
In the report issued by the Press Council, it was accepted that the representation of migrants did not match the ethnic and geographical composition of migrants actually arriving in the country.
The Council accepts that the intention of the cartoon was to comment on the political debate surrounding immigration figures and not on who or where the immigrants were arriving from. The Council also accepts that it was not the cartoonist's intention to cause offence or prejudice. However, it considers that the depiction of immigrants, which it notes does not reflect the ethnic and geographical composition of immigrants arriving in Australia, together with the raising of the drawbridge, implies that these immigrants are undesirable.
The Council considers that, in the context of a national policy debate on the potential negative effects of significant increases in immigration on Australian society, the portrayal of such people as being predominantly brown-skinned, with prominent facial features and dress reflecting a stereotypical representation of people from the Middle East and Africa, including Muslims, is offensive and prejudicial.
For his part, Mark Knight defended his work in a column published in the Herald Sun. He claimed that his intention was to show a "mix of people" entering Australia, dressed in diverse ethnic and western clothing, some with suitcases and all happy to be in the country. According to Knight, the cartoon did not show a "stampede" suggesting an invasion, and he denied that the characters looked threatening or violent. In particular, he noted that one of the characters, a woman at the front, was smiling, while an Indian man was raising his fist in jubilation.
This new controversy has sparked the usual acrimonious debate, with different voices once again pointing to the limits of humour on sensitive issues such as immigration. In an interview on Sky News Australia, Knight lamented that the world of journalism is an "easy target" for those seeking to express their outrage.
This is not the first time the author has been accused of racism. In 2019, a cartoon about Serena Williams, which showed the tennis player in an angry pose during the US Open, was also heavily criticised for alleged racial stereotyping. On that occasion, the Press Council found that the cartoon was not racist and that the Herald Sun had taken reasonable steps to avoid causing substantial offence.
Knight's immigration cartoon, however, remains the subject of debate as to the limits of political satire and the responsibility of cartoonists to avoid depictions that perpetuate harmful prejudices or stereotypes in Australian society.
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
