Political Cartoonist of the Year announced in Canberra
Sydney-based Fiona Katauskas was bestowed the honour by former journalist and Old Parliament House chair Barrie Cassidy on Wednesday, ahead of the opening on Thursday of the 2023 Behind the Lines exhibition, showcasing the best of political cartoons this year.
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00:00 As probably most people have noticed, 2023 was a pretty grim year news-wise.
00:23 So I shifted my approach a bit this year to be a bit more, because the issues are still
00:31 very heavy, but I wanted to take a lighter touch and try and find some humour in some
00:37 of the very grim stuff.
00:38 So I think I was a little bit less savage this year than I normally am, which I do also
00:44 enjoy the savage stuff, but it is when things are relentless and when the news is so depressing,
00:50 you don't want people to switch off as well, and I think there has been a lot of people
00:53 disengaging from news in general because it is so relentless and so depressing and we're
01:00 not getting a lot of good news.
01:01 And we've had all those new issues to deal with as well, like that's really hit hard
01:06 this year with cost of living, housing shortage, high inflation and the disinformation.
01:13 Things that have been probably coming along but we didn't notice them, and now this year
01:18 and 2023 just feels like it's been a bit of a cascade.
01:22 So yes, if I can try and make a lighter side of something then yeah, it probably helps
01:30 me therapeutically as well.
01:32 I was extremely surprised to be cartoonist of the year but also got insanely chuffed
02:00 because I love this exhibition so much.
02:02 And also I love all these cartoonists, we just have so much talent in this country,
02:07 so much amazing talent and I know all the cartoonists as well and deeply respect all
02:13 of them.
02:14 So to be amongst these peers and to get this award, I was extremely surprised but could
02:21 not be happier.
02:22 Thank you.
02:23 Thank you.
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02:57 Thank you.
03:03 Thank you.
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