This cartoon, titled 'Everyone Has Their Price', by Megan Herbert was published by the artist on Instagram on the 30th of January 2023. It is square shaped, measuring 24 by 24 centimetres.
The cartoon juxtaposes the same four politicians. On our left they are drawn with an unflattering hand: exaggerated features and awkward expressions. On the right they are drawn again, this time to appear attractive and at ease.
Two rectangular columns side by side, each with a black border. On our left, inside the first rectangle text across the top reads 'how cartoonists draw government ministers the day before the new arts package'. The text is underscored by a black line.
Below, the head and shoulders of four politicians in suits. All in blue jackets, two per row. Three men and one woman.
From the top left, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is drawn as a pale-skinned and grey-haired man with glasses. His nose juts, as do his teeth. His nose is long, thin and upturned, his expression open mouthed, white teeth above a small chin. He wears a light blue tie and a white shirt beneath. Adjacent, Minister for the Arts Tony Burke, is pale skinned, slack jowled, sunken eyed and curly haired. He peers warily. His white shirt is open at the neck.
Below these two, from left to right, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, drawn as a pale-skinned, brown-haired, fluffy-eyebrowed man with large ears and nose, smiles goofily, his teeth showing. At his neck his suit jacket is tightly buttoned, beige tie over a white shirt. Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher beside him, to our right, is pale skinned and worried looking, with a square face and a straight blond bob. Her eyebrows angle toward one another. Her nose is pointy and her cheekbones sharp. She wears a downturned expression on her lips, above a flat jaw.
In the bottom left, Megan Herbert has signed her name with her social media handle @meganjherbert.
At right, in the adjacent column, text at the top reads 'How cartoonists draw government ministers the day after (the word after is underlined) the new arts package, asterisk'.
The text is underscored by a black line.
Top left, our pale, bespectacled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese now has a light tan, a lock of hair curled at his forehead, thick-rimmed glasses, an average-sized nose, and a smile on his square jaw, which has a 5'o'clock-shadow. Gone is the tie, a white t-shirt replaces his business shirt, a blue jacket serves to accentuate his broad shoulders. His dark-haired, jowly companion Tony Burke is now long faced and tanned. Even his curly hair stands taller. He sports high cheekbones proportionate to his rectangular face. His mouth is closed, a cleft to his chin.
The lower two faces are also tanned and angular. Treasurer Jim Chalmers at left no longer has big ears and a big nose. He has closed lips with a defined jawline and is looking out at us with his eyebrows cocked (not bushy). Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher has lost her worried look. Her layered blond bob frames a tanned face with pink cheeks. Her almond-shaped eyes are fringed by black lashes. The cut of her round-necked blue top emphasises her long neck.
Underneath the figures, the cartoonist has placed an asterisk, it reads 'Subject to change depending on detail dot dot dot'.
The label text for this cartoon reads: The Australian Government launched its landmark National Cultural Policy Revive on the 30th of January 2023. It pledged an additional $199 million in funding over four years for the Australian cultural sector, along with establishing some key organisational bodies. Megan Herbert employs a dash of self-aware humour to acknowledge what this policy means for artists such as herself.
