Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
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MICHAEL LEUNIG
So sad to hear of Michael Leunig’s passing. I can’t imagine life without the mystery and sublimity he has offered us over such a long time. It is always possible to refer to him to enable us to find the insight he brought to our troubled world.
He was a different cartoonist – sensitive and empathetic to a fault! He had the ability to challenge us with his unique perception and his insights in to the real world; the world that he inhabited and to which he brought a unique view of hope (even if he made you look for it). He challenged us further by exploring the mundane world we inhabited.
Leunig was an oracle, and his passing leaves us with a feeling that we are now alone and ill-equipped to handle whatever life throws at us. Vale Michael Leunig.
Noel Butterfield, Eltham
Teapot of truth
I have sat in your ″armchair of philosophy″, drank from ″the teapot of truth″, rested my head on ″the pillow of faith″, lain on the ″rug of constancy″, accepted ″the vase of tranquillity″, and followed ″the dog of sanity″. Thank you, Michael Leunig for your wise musings, and glorious drawings. We will miss you immensely.
Margaret Collings, Anglesea
Warbling magpies and dappled sunlight
This morning, I rose early and wandered the local suburban streets. I marvelled at the warbling magpies and gazed in awe at the beauty of dappled morning sunlight upon the eucalyptus trees. I walked barefoot upon the oval and felt the energy of the earth feed my soul. I then sat on a bench and reflected on the legacy of Leunig: his fierce creativity and gentle activism forced us to reflect on our values and the extent of our authenticity.
His vision for a simpler and slower world will forever remain the antidote to the chaos of modernity.
Jonathan Hill, Old Erowal Bay, NSW
Magic he kindled never failed
Vale Michael Leunig, with great respect for such exceptional talent, courage, and humanitarianism. Far from the bustling public domain, Leunig’s art helped adult refugees and migrants to learn English. The magic it kindled never failed.
Pairs of students would sit back-to-back, one with a notepad, the other with a Leunig drawing. The latter’s task was to describe it so their partner drew the same scene of, say, a man with a teapot on his head kneeling on a table, filling the cup on the lady’s bouffant. Or a man in his underground, heart-shaped burrow, perfectly at peace, with his vase of flowers, duck, and teapot.
The students’ drawings could be somewhat off-piste. Perhaps the teapot would be a samovar, or the burrow was in a cloud not underground, or the duck resembled a dog, or a fish. Sometimes, beautiful drawings of delicate artistry resulted.
All radiated peace, reflecting the gentle stirring of a healing experience, with plenty of laughter.
The pen may have run out but never the measure of this remarkable man, or the transformations of spirit his art can inspire.
Barbara Chapman, South Yarra
Festival of Alans
Thank you Michael, the Festival of Alans will remain a fitting memory of your God-given skills, and I stand with the duck, the goat, the teapot and Mr Curly in reflecting on your life’s work as you reunite with the heavenly angel.
Allan Gibson , Cherrybrook, NSW
The crazy and ridiculous
Michael Leunig had a special gift of showing us how crazy and ridiculous life could be. His unique talent managed to cut through all the lies and rhetoric that goes with just about everything that’s wrong with the world today.
From one cartoonist to another, goodbye Michael, and thank you.
For so long you made me think, laugh and share your thoughts and ideas with friends. Today though, I cried.
Peter Dodds, Montmorency
Thank you
Leunig’s The Prayer Tree (1991):
″Let us live in such a way
That when we die
Our love will survive
And continue to grow
Amen.″
You did. It will. We give thanks.
Roger Gamble, St Andrews
Marsden and Leunig
Vale John Marsden and Michael Leunig. Two of our most wonderful and creative artists.
John Marsden’s stories turned my son from a sports-page reader to immersing himself in John’s books, eagerly awaiting the next release, under the doona with his torch to read long after lights out.
Two such gifted people gone from our daily lives. I will appreciate them all my days.
Wendy Daniels, Hawthorn
Two remarkable men
This Christmas will be a poignant one for me as I lovingly hang Michael Leunig’s last calendar. It has been my one constant over so many years as I refer to it frequently each day.
His poem ‘Keep on going’ remained on my fridge all of 2023 as I survived a tough year of treatment for cancer. His poems and a cartoon featured in my husband Rob’s funeral service.
I shall miss his whimsical humour, his insight into our human foibles, his forgiveness for our errant ways.
As a retired school librarian, I also acknowledge the superb author, John Marsden. He inspired millions of young people to read, encouraging them to take risks, to be brave, respecting their youth.
Thank you, John and Michael, for all you did for humanity and the world.
Annie Young, Junortoun
Teapots of tomorrow
″Tomorrow when the world began,
Before the world was up
I chanced upon a teapot man
And happened on a duck
‘A duck with views can too be news,‘
He turned to me to say.
Then whimsy teapot man and duck
Went on their curly way.″
Amber Nissen, Beaumaris
THE FORUM
Nuclear waste ignored
The Coalition may scoff at what it terms “fear campaigns” against nuclear energy, however, Peter Dutton’s ignorance of nuclear waste is glaring (″Dutton’s waste figure goes nuclear″, 20/12).
The farcical statement about waste “equivalent to the size of a can of Coke each year” is emblematic of his cavalier attitude to this most serious issue. Recall the panic in 2023 when an 8mm by 6mm radioactive capsule went missing in transit from a Rio Tinto iron ore mine to Perth.
Only Finland has a ″permanent″, underground storage facility. It took 20 years, at an initial cost of $1 billion. Other nations store highly radioactive spent uranium fuel rods above ground, where it is vulnerable to accidents, leaks, neglect, sabotage or natural disaster. At the US Department of Energy’s Hanford site in Washington, leaky waste tanks contaminated groundwater. Experts believe it is only a matter of time before another major nuclear ″accident″ occurs.
If the Coalition is serious, when will it nominate a site for nuclear waste? Apart from all other costs of nuclear, will it put a figure on costs of decommissioning and waste disposal?
Fiona Colin, Malvern East
Liberal in name only
Re ″Former Nationals minister lashes party leader over net zero on his way out″, 20/12. Keith Pitt’s resignation is no great loss either to the parliament or to the Liberal National Party. Once a fierce defender of rural research and development as the Country Party, the LNP under the influence of Pitt and his like, has abandoned its former agrarian base, and has attacked the CSIRO for not giving it the answers it wants. Peter Dutton is not a Liberal. He is LNP; a separate regressive party with a regressive political agenda.
Dick Davies, North Warrandyte
At least there’s progress
Paddy Manning’s assessment of Prime Minister Albanese is a departure from the pile-on that has characterised much of the commentary over the last year (“Albanese has taken hits but isn’t a terrible PM”, 20/12).
Manning’s reflection on Albanese’s political skill is in contrast to what we see from a Trumpian-like Peter Dutton who seems to thrive on the populist approach without offering any real direction for the country.
Despite the frustration with what the government hasn’t done, it has delivered on some major policy initiatives and pursued a legislative agenda designed to improve the lives of all Australians.
Slow and steady it might be, but at least we are seeing progress. If we look back on 10 years of the Coalition government, it was a desert for any meaningful policy reform which left the country on the back foot.
Both Manning and David Crowe (“The nation has lost its horsepower”, 20/12) highlight how we need a courageous reform agenda to propel us forward. It’s hard to imagine that coming from Peter Dutton, or Angus Taylor.
Let’s hope the government can bring itself to find the courage and offer a transformative agenda to “fix the engine” as Crowe suggests.
Anne Lyon, Camberwell
Excessive development
The proposed 57-storey tower in the Arden redevelopment precinct needs to be rejected out of hand by state Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny.
The proposed tower is an ambit claim and nearly three times the 20-storey mandated height limit, which many would argue is already excessive. If this proposal, or even a scaled-down version of it, is approved, then in effect, the minister will be making it clear to all that there are no real planning controls in this state. If this is permitted, future applications may be for gross over-development, and we will spiral down (or is it up?) into a high-rise dystopia.
This is a test for the minister. Governments are there to protect the public interest. Time will tell if Kilkenny is minister for planning or minister for uncontrolled development.
Peter Hogg, North Melbourne
Not a transport plan
Is it any wonder that the West Gate Tunnel toll road, as it nears completion, is poised to fill up the Melbourne CBD with even more motor vehicles (″West Gate Tunnel traffic on a city collision course″, 20/12)? That is what it was designed to do.
Meanwhile, enhanced public transport services from the west have been sidelined.
We have a similar threat approaching central Melbourne from the north-east with a massive increase in road capacity on the Eastern Freeway via the North East Link Project. While the Andrews government wisely ditched the East West Link when elected in 2014, the Victorian government has since been sitting on its hands with no sign of any worthwhile improvements in public transport capacity in the corridor.
In particular, future prospects for a rail service to Doncaster have been dismissed as the median strip on the Eastern Freeway is now being torn up for extra road lanes via the North East Link Project.
Transport planning? I think not.
Ian Hundley, North Balwyn
Deeming answers
I think it is important that all members of the Victorian parliamentary Liberal Party who voted to continue to exclude Moira Deeming explain their reasons for doing so to the Victorian public.
I hope they have the courage to do so. I think this information is in the public interest and in the interests of good governance. Those members who did not attend the meeting should explain why they were absent.
Adrian Hassett, Vermont
Christmas wrapped
For the second year in a row, I’ve had a great time Christmas shopping. A true joy.
I’ve spent the afternoon in the Avenue Bookshop working through my present list, perusing beautiful books, the latest books and treasures that I never knew existed.
When I got stuck for ideas, the wonderful staff quickly sorted me out.
I stuck a stick-on note on the chosen books indicating who they were for, paid the bill and arranged to come back later to pick up all my beautifully wrapped presents with my stick-on note telling me who each book was for. All I had to do was write a card for each recipient.
No frustration, no sore feet, just a complete joy.
And I slept well that night knowing I had made a good contribution to our writers and everyone who makes up the book industry.
Jennifer Grimwade, Richmond
Great Gunns
Rachel Gunn is giving all we good Gunns a bad name. (“Raygun says legal drama with comedian has been ’put to bed‴ 20,12).
My sisters, brothers and I are very disappointed in her bringing the great name of Gunn into disrepute.
Shane Gunn, Heathcote Junction
AND ANOTHER THING
Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig richly deserves a place in the pantheon of dazzlingly clever Australian cartooning talent. He was up there with the very best, alongside Ron Tandberg and Bruce Petty.
Dennis Walker, North Melbourne
Life without Leunig? Hard to bear. We have lost a national treasure.
Ian Brown, Sandringham
Thank you, Leunig for your inspirational wisdom presented to us through your insightful talents of verse and cartoons. You have made a difference and will be truly missed.
Patricia Rivett, Ferntree Gully
Every time I burn a sausage on the barbie, I’ll laugh and think of Leunig.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West
The world will be lesser place with the passing of Leunig who so skilfully portrayed human behaviour and the social issues of the day.
Glenise Michaelson, Montmorency
Only last week, in the local hardware store Michael sat, observing the shoppers. When he got up, the checkout man engaged him in conversation for some time. I caught up with him in the car park and jokingly said, ″you’re still recognisable, Michael”. His reply: ″Yes, it’s probably the duck on my shoulder they recognise.″
John Hart, Bright
Vale Leunig, you delivered sardonic truth wrapped in mirth. A rare bird (or bat). Thank you.
Lawrence Pope, Friends of Bats and Bushcare, North Carlton
How uncanny that John Marsden and Michael Leunig died very closely together and were born in the same decade. Both contributed enormously by their creative thinking.
Christine Baker, Rosanna
So hard to imagine a life without Leunig. Over so many years, his wonderful drawings and shrewd and sometimes quirky comments and poetry have brought joy and positivity in an increasingly miserable world. You’ll be sorely missed, old chap.
John Tilbrook, Seaford
Vale Michael Leunig. You brought whimsy and reflection in “the teapot of truth”, Mr Curly, and many ducks into our lives. Thank you.
Geoff Wenham, Lorraine Green, Malvern East
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