Behind the Lines: The year’s best political cartoons

Roll up, roll up to Behind the Lines 2017 and marvel at the political cartooning spectacle that is The Three-Ring Circus.

Behind the Lines 2017 is a travelling exhibition, coming to the Bunker from 26 October to 2 December, and proudly supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.

Showcasing the year’s best political cartoons, The Three-Ring Circus captures a world where fact and fiction collide and ringmasters, jugglers and acrobats have all stepped into the political Big Top.

This year provided a cavalcade of political characters and plenty of sensational events to capture the imagination of cartoonists and the public alike. There was citizenship chaos, calls for constitutional reform and a postal plebiscite. The federal Budget caught attention with its invitation to consider both ‘good debt’ and ‘bad debt’ and Donald Trump dominated front pages with his compelling Twitter habit and outspoken responses.

With its many tumultuous events, 2017 was another rich year for our nation’s political cartoonists who continue look behind the lines of the daily political sideshows to capture the spirit of our democracy in all its passion, scepticism and humour.

The cartoons are on display from 26 October to 2 December. Open daily from 10 am to 4 pm, admission is adults $5; children u16 $3; Friends of the Bunker and kids u5 free.