Behind the Lines political cartooning exhibition opens in Canberra, awarding Matt Golding the top prize

For political cartoonists, a federal election feels a little like Christmas — the fodder is endless.

And it really shows in this year's Behind the Lines exhibition, the annual celebration of the year's best political cartoons at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra.

The landslide win of Anthony Albanese is front and centre but so too is the fallout that followed polling day on May 3.

Peter Dutton joins John Howard in the 'Australian Party Leaders Who Lost Their Own Seats Club'.

Former Greens leader Adam Bandt becomes DJ Bandt with the slogan "Out of Power" looming above his head.

And the Coalition break-up and make-up is transformed into a Mills and Boon rip-off.

Barrie Cassidy, chair of the Old Parliament House board, said this year's exhibition was considerably more light-hearted than previous years.

"There was something about last year — the terrible events internationally really dominated. They're still there in most cases but not in quite the same way.

"It was an election year in Australia and that's when political cartoonists come into the fore.

"They love elections and so there's so much focus on domestic politics this year and they've had a lot to poke fun at."

International affairs are also in sharp focus, particularly US President Donald Trump's second term in office and the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Housing, climate change and the challenges created by artificial intelligence are also key topics.

"The key to cartooning that journalists can't do is to take a really complex political issue and make it really crystal clear and simple," Mr Cassidy said.

"That's what they do and that's what we love about it."

A year of surprising plot twists 

This year's theme is 'Are We Rolling?', which is a nod to the fact that 2025 brought a mix of tragedy, drama and comedy.

Curator Matthew Jones said narrowing the entries down to just 130 political cartoons was both a difficult but enjoyable task.

"It seemed like a very crazy year — there were a lot of thrills and spills, romance and heartbreak and strange and surprising plot twists so that's why we thought cinema might be a pretty good idea for a theme."

Mr Jones said this year's exhibition boasted several works that are guaranteed to prompt visitors to laugh out loud.

"That is a tough thing to achieve, and I think the cartoonists do it in different ways," he said.

"Some are very good joke tellers, they use words very well, and some are able to just distil everything into a few lines and colours.

"And I think some of the cartoons we've picked are timeless — the jokes will still hit in a year or more."

'A job you love, that is a prize'

Every year at the opening of Behind the Lines, the political cartoonist of the year is named.

The 2025 winner is Matt Golding, a Melbourne-based cartoonist who draws for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

"To actually be paid to do a job you love, that is a prize," Mr Golding said.

"Every morning you wake up and you get one.

Mr Golding said he was spoilt for choice when it came to inspiration this year.

"It was a fast-moving year, everything was turned upside-down," he said.

"We started with Donald Trump, before we knew it we had Elon Musk and chainsaws on stage, the Federal election campaign, the Coalition car crash, and then leaders losing their seats.

"The conflicts and challenges facing Australia and the world — everything moved really fast." 

Nicknamed the master of the pocket cartoon, Mr Golding said he spends 99 per cent of his day absorbing the news and formulating ideas.

The other one per cent was spent illustrating the 5cm x 5cm artwork.

"Cartoons are about ideas so the longer you have to think the better," he said.

"Then within about two or three minutes you can draw up a small, pocket cartoon — that's the beauty of them."

Entry to Behind the Lines is free, with the exhibition to run until November next year.