The 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting, 3-5 June, Suva Fiji: ‘Current economic shocks and escalating security and social pressures – deepening poverty, reducing jobs and increasing vulnerability, impacts which fall hardest on women, youth, children and persons with disabilities’.
I attended the meeting remotely, through Zoom. Here are some of the cartoons from the three days of presentations.
The city of Adelaide is ringed by parklands. Laid out in its original design they were to be ‘a place for everyone’. However, particularly in recent years, they are being whittled away by encroaching developments. One indicator is the destruction of trees and habitat: 585 trees have just been felled for the redevelopment of the North Adelaide golf course, 400 trees will have gone for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital (built on the parklands!) and about 45 trees will be removed for the MotoGP circuit ….
For much more on this, see the Adelaide Parklands Association website.
The FLAME Festival – 8-10 May this year – is a biennial community event in Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta, the three historic Copper Coast towns, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. here are some cartoon sketches from the weekend.
Friday: as the sun set on Wallaroo Beach the Nharangga Dreaming Story Winda The Owl was told by local students with song, dance, lanterns and large glowing puppets.
Saturday at the Kadina Showgrounds …
Sunday at Queens Square, Moonta …
In 1984 the Victorian Council of Social Service published Yoland Wadsworth’s Do It Yourself Social Research. as the back cover of the second edition said: “This introduction to social research methods became a runaway bestseller when it was first published. For fifteen years it has been used by students and professionals in sociology, social work, community development, education, health , welfare, psychology, management, environmental studies, legal studies and many other fields.”
This project was an education for me, an important stage in my cartooning development. Yoland Wadsworth knew exactly what the illustrations needed to depict: she understood how text and illustration combine to communicate with the reader.
Two further books followed: Everyday Evaluation on the Run and Human Inquiry for Living Systems. Now, just over 40 years since Do It Yourself Social Research Routledge has reprinted the revised and updated set – including revised covers and many of the illustrations : ‘This 3-volume collection of path-breaker Yoland Wadsworth’s crucial work will assist new generations in conducting research effectively at every stage’.
The ‘Swiss Cheese’ safety model. One of the cartoon illustrations developed with Dr David Low for the Australian Pollution Research Network report Improving Child Safety in Public Parks and Playgrounds: a case study on hazardous chemical use in the City of Clarence, along with other cartoons used in their anti-pesticides campaigns.
Ten years ago in South Australia as part of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission: SA citizens’ jury votes against storing nuclear waste. A demonstration of the real value of the citizen jury process. The AUKUS agreement with South Australian involvement in the building and maintenance of nuclear submarines challenges the citizen jury vote in 2016.
For a post on the 2016 Citizen’s Jury see here.
As designed by William Light Adelaide was a city surrounded by wide parklands – parklands for all. Over many years they have been encroached upon by various developments, and this has ramped up under the Malinauskas government, encouraged by various influential groups, developers, lobbyists and more – as detailed by the Adelaide Parklands Association.
Some of the illustrations for Simon Betts/Soul Trader’s new songs. The first song Alright in the end has been released with more to follow. Eventual ly the illustrations will be used on the album cover.
David Low (PhD), Australian Pollution Research Network:
‘Does this scene look unlikely? Actually, we found that the spraying of cancer-causing glyphosate and PFAS boosted herbicides onto children’s play areas is standard practice at Melbourne’s City Of Monash. The finding is discussed in a new report researched by students from Monash University’s Biosciences Department.
This reckless practice needs to be halted immediately to prevent further harm to children and expectant mothers using parks and gardens in Australia.’
Full copy of the researched case-study here:
https://lnkd.in/gMuSa2Rn
Cartoon from an idea by David Low.
The Australian government’s social media ban for under 16 year olds began this week.
Simon Kneebone - cartoonist and illustrator 