Latest work

A policeman stops a queue of politicians at a checkpoint in Christchurch saying 'Sorry, no politics past this point'. In the queue are Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Finance Bill English carrying a ledger, leader of ACT Rodney Hide wearing his yellow jacket and carrying an axe and a saw and lastly leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff. Context - the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 and the danger of political point-scoring rather than serious co-operative work to rebuild Christchurch. 4 March 2011

Cartoon depicts a view from a corporate boardroom with two businessmen drinking champagne looking down to protestors far below. "don't worry about protestors. We corporations occupy the beehive. Refers to #occupywallstreet protests while PM John Key had a reputation for involvement in international corporate banking finance. 2011

Cartoon depicts In the stern of a rapidly sinking boat sits a large grinning businessman with a glass of champagne in one hand and a bottle in the other. PM John Key flings buckets of money overboard and says 'Never fear, matey. We've got plenty of buckets for bailing you out'. In the prow of the boat sits Minister of Finance Bill English surrounded by empty buckets and gloomily watching as his hopes for any kind of sweetening in the May budget recede even further. The fourth man in the boat is ? who is happily tipping money into the sea also. Context - the bail-out of AMI. it appears the Crown will underwrite any loss from the failure of a large enterprise. BNZ (twice), Air New Zealand, finance firms, leaky homes, AMI. Sir Roger Douglas called for the AMI support package to be conditional on the Government declaring that this will be the final such act of largesse. But if the Government were to make such a declaration it would have the credibility of a chronic drunk swearing off the booze. Repeated bailouts have created an environment where poor decisions are not punished but rewarded. The AMI board and management need to account for their performance, and prudent insurers should benefit from an influx of customers. This is what is meant to happen in a capitalist economy. (Damien Grant - AMI bail out rewards poor business practice in NZ Herald 24 April 2011)

Cartoon depicts John Key feeding Don Brash from a baby's milk bottle labelled 'Epsom'. Brash is dresssed in a baby's daipers. Key" "One day you'll be big enough to feed yourself". Refers ro the cup of tea deal made where National concedes an electorate to Act in order to subvert the 5% vote threshold for an MMP. 2011

Cartoon depicts a man representing the 'right wing' blows an enormous dog-whistle that represents 'Dog whistle politics' and says 'Why is everyone looking at me?' Nearby is a grave covered with flowers which has a headstone bearing the word 'Norway'. Context - On 22 July there were two terror attacks in Norway. The suspect is Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right activist, who shot dozens of young people who were attending a Labour-Party youth wing camp on Utoya Island near Oslo and another seven in a bombing in Oslo - in all he killed 77 people. Dog-whistle politics is defined in www.doubletongued.org as a concealed, coded, or unstated idea, usually divisive or politically dangerous, nevertheless understood by the intended voters. It appears that the message was so strong that no-one could possibly fail to understand its import. 29 July 2011

Labour leader Phil Goff holds a sign that reads 'Detour' and Prime Minister John Key holds one reading 'Go' as a stream of lemmings charges towards the edge of a cliff. The context is the 2011 elections. The cartoon suggests that the lemmings are less likely to survive under a National government.
Alexander Turnbull Library
31 October 2011

Cartoon depicts an enormous creature from the cretinaceous era surfaces through a pool of mud saying 'Uh-oh male sticky problems. Am I on the geological record yet?' On a bank nearby a small hairy creature replies 'Yes, Alasdair. Hopefully this means the end of the cretinaceous era'. Context - Alasdair Thompson, the Head of the Manufacturers and Employers Association, was dismissed for his controversial statements on women's workplace productivity. He said that women take more sick leave because of their 'monthly sickness problems'. The 'male sticky problems' refers to semen. 2011

Cartoon depicts cleaners at a roman coloseum after bloodsports , Cleaner: "I love a good contest of ideas" refers to parliamentary debate invloving ad hominen attacks. 2011

Cartoon depicts Denniston open cast mine with each level signposted with '100% pure' at surface, %80, 60, 40, 20 declining deeper into the pit. 2011.

Cartoon depicts Text reads 'Why the U.S. prefers to bury at sea'. The cartoon shows Osama bin Laden, with concrete blocks tied to his feet, sinking rapidly to the ocean floor. The blocks are engraved with the words 'Osama C.I.A. connections', 'Abu Ghraib torture', 'Guantanamo', 'Illegal war', 'Death, destruction'. Context - On 1 May 2011 Osama bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA paramilitary forces at a compound in the city of Abbottabad in Pakistan and was buried at sea. The cartoon suggests that the United States' behaviour does not bear too close a scrutiny and that killing bin Laden rather than questioning him might save some embarrassment. 2011

The letters 'CHCH' are built from broken masonry and stand amongst the chaos of broken buildings. It is the usual acronym for the city of Christchurch; here however it stands for 'catastrophe', 'havoc', 'care', 'help'. Context - on 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck in Christchurch, which has probably killed more than 200 people (at this point the number is still not known) and caused very severe damage. The courage, generosity and 'can do' attitude of the people of Christchurch has been wonderful but the whole country and is contributing to the effort to get Christchurch back on its feet as well as aid from overseas. 2011

Prime Minister John Key clutches desperately a huge bag of money with a '$' symbol on it while Finance Minister Bill English stands nearby holding a large axe and looking very grim. John Key says 'Hack off what you want from the others - just don't take back my precious tax cuts'. Context - Refers to the May budget, and John Key's announcement that it is now likely the Government will not spend any new money in this year's budget. Published in the Listener 2011.

Illustration depicts a kiwi wearing flight googles and rockets strapped to his back labelled 'Ambition' and a larger 'Added Boost'. Refers to ambitious for New Zealand catchphrase.

Cartoon depicts a Birthday Cake made of a candle, mud, slash and flood debris. "Too much on our plate" observes a bystander. Title: Cyclone Gabrielle - one year on.'

Cartoon depicts pigs eating swill from a tough marked 'Appointments' heads down with their bottoms in the air. 16 Feb 2002

Cartoon depicts PM Helen Clark calling out to two demolition workers on top of a mountain of rubble made of the state, including hospital boards & telephone services. "Now put it all back together again" Refers to deregulation and out-sourcing of state functions to the private sector. 1 Jan 2000

Cartoon depicts Helen Clark stepping up via the face down form of Jenny Shipley to a pedestal labelled 'NZ's first elected female PM'. "Thanks for removing gender as a issue, Jenny." 11 Dec 1999

Cartoon depicts a pagan ceremony with a priestess ( Jenny Shipley ) holding two bloody knives before a large, angry skull-like stone idol (the Market ) surrounded by skulls. A volcano is erupting in the background. "Who among us has yet to make sacrifice?" The crowd of peasants point to each other. 17 Oct 1998

Cartoon depicts an man reading a newspaper and outraged by the headline 'Public servants sell data to credit agencies' He: "How dare they profit from selling other people's private information!" Frame 2 reveals he is the CEO of 'Newscartel'. Man 2: "that's our job" Man 1: "Exactly!"

"WHAT WE NEED IN THIS COUNTRY IS STRONG LEADERSHIP ...
CRUEL LEADERSHIP.
BRUTAL LEADERSHIP
PITILESS LEADERSHIP
DAMN M.M.P. "
Strong Leadership - right-wingers crave domination by strong, first past the post style government,( cruel, harsh, inhumane) leadership. Listener 15 Aug 1998

Cartoon depicts 4 t-shirts with slogans:
I'VE BEEN BEFORE THE PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE

THIS SPACE TO LET

JUST INCORRECT

M.P. FOR THE INTERNET

Title: 'T-SHIRTS OF THE FAR RIGHT '

Listener 6 June 1998

Cartoon depicts 6 panels with a heading 'Reform - it never goes quite far enough - some sectors WE would like to see broken up and subject to real competition...
• BREWERY GIANTS ( Storage vats of $ )
• MEGA LAW FIRMS "YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BE APPOINTED IMEETING AS COMPANY DIRECTORS TO PUBLIC UTILITIES " ( massed partners )
• TREASURY ( Robots )
• NZ CRICKET TEAM (Wickets taken out )
• BUSINESS ROUND TABLE "FROM NOW ON IT'S THE BUSINESS OCCASIONAL TABLES. "
• AUSTRALIA "HAVE SOME WATERFRONT REFORM YA SMUG BASTARDS." ( Says map of NZ to Australia )
Refers to quote from Guardian 1981? "It has been suggested that the Government (UK) is hooked by Prof J Kenneth Galbraith's advice "Please, whatever you do, don't give up, or Milton Friedman will be able to say it would have worked if only you had kept going." Listener 9 May 1998

Cartoon depicts a large yacht sailing the Hauraki Gulf with rich men drinking champagne. "Tax cuts - such a fantastic incentive to greater investment and productivity!" 5 Dec 1998

Cartoon depicts an election asteroid heading for PM Jenny Shipley and her legislative deregulation of ACC deregulation, ID Cards, Producer Boards half-built messy construction site for the Shipley Years Memorial. 28 Nov 1998

Cartoon depicts a bloated tick labelled 'Expatriate Profits' on the back of a starved cow with markings showing a map of New Zealand.

Cartoon depicts businessmen rifling through the pockets of a government minister extracting cash. 15 may 1998

"Remember you are power companies - competing lowering prices - no gouging consumers" - says Max Bradford as he is about to unlock redoeo gates with ferocious bulls panting to charge out into the arena like wounded bulls. ( 24 April 1998 )

18 Jul 1998

"You have to admit - there's no problem defining their policy direction" comments one peasant to another as four horsemen of the apocalypse sweep humanity into the maws of death.

Cartoon depicts barbarians sacking Rome "We prefer to call ourselves change managers" says one barbarianas elephants knock down corinthian columns. 7 Nov 1998

"At least tax cuts have put more money in our pockets, eh?" asks a well-dressed man to a woman as they walk down a street in the post-apocalyptic ruins of welfare - manufacturing - industry - health - infrastructure, education, etc ( 11 Sep 1999 )

A Venn diagram shows 3 intersecting circles labelled Hilary-Incompetence and Trump with the intersecting into incompetence labelled 'Email' for Hilary and for Trump - 'Hotels-vodka-steak-business-temperament tax paying-charity-policy-truth',
2016

'National's $1bn Housing Investment' shows a prison building with narrow windows and the heads of inmates peeping out.

"Don't worry it's just politics" comments an apathetic man to a startled woman as behind him the earth collapses into the abyss of armageddon.

Cartoon shows Prime Minister John Key and Minister of Finance, Bill English, in a canoe underwater. English is paddling a sunken canoe labelled NZ. The word deficit appears in the water below the canoe. Key is pulling on English, trying to bring the canoe up to the surface. English says, "We're on course to be out of this by 2016." Refers to comments by English that the government will not return to surplus before 2016. Key has stated that he'd like to see a government surplus sooner than that. (Radio New Zealand, 10 May 2013)

Shows Prime Minister John Key standing on a red carpet in front of the entrance to 'National's Casino Economy Conventions', surrounded by glitzy Las Vegas-style signs: 'Revisit the '80s', 'No social cost', '1000s of jobs', 'Buy shares', 'Mining', 'No environmental impact', and 'Last night: Aaron Gilmore in "Utu"'. Refers to a 35 year deal signed between the government and SkyCity Entertainment group. In return for operating a $400 million convention centre in Auckland, SkyCity will receive an exclusive casino licence. Aaron Gilmore is a former list MP for the National Party who resigned in May 2013, and vowed 'utu' or revenge on his enemies.--Alexander Turnbull Library

Cartoon depicts a kiwi mānuka tree holding an Ancestry DNA report on mānuka, showing it to an Australian t-tree acrosss the Tasman Sea. The Australian tree has corks dangling from it's branches and says "Crikey, cobbe. We're not brothers after all? Who'da thought!"

Cartoon depicts the historic signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, with an additional appearance by David Seymour who is crawling from under the table to add an additional section to the treaty document. "Subject to any future changes that a tiny minority might want for any reason at all - Ka-Ching!" Title: The Treaty Reneger'

Cartoon depicts Anna Nelson the first woman elected to chair a major NZ meatwork company squeezing between a group of male meat execs at Silver Fern Farms to chair the big chair, saying "One in a hundred year event incoming"

Cartoon depicts a vet helping a cow to dliver her calf. A drone says "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Do you want me to play 'Push it' by Salt-N-Pepa?" Newsflash 'Vets to get Ai app'

Singing In The Rain
Australian and New Zealand farmers rejoice at rain falling. Refers to Gene Kelly scene.

Lack of rain previously forced Australian farmers to downsize herds on to a flooded market. World prices fell.

Cartoon depicts an audience of grumpy critics holding note books and pens entitled 'Night Of The Living Reviewers' ( They hate you,they hate themselves, they hate everyone, but most of all they hate to PAY!'

Cartoon depicts a section of bookshelves labelled 'Travel' rolling away on their own.