Cartoonist Michael Leunig lashes ‘futile’ boycott by his colleagues of this year’s Walkley Awards

One of the nation’s top cartoonists says his colleagues should voice their climate change views through their illustrations.

Michael Leunig: ‘I thought cartoonists were free thinkers by their nature and by their work.’

One of the nation’s top veteran cartoonists, Michael Leunig, has described the boycott of this year’s Walkley Awards by his colleagues as “futile and in vain” and urged them instead to voice their views through their artwork.

Many of the nation’s cartoonists have joined together in protest because of the award’s sponsorship deal with petroleum company Ampol and also “racist” comments made by the event’s founder, Sir William Walkley in a Sydney Morning Herald newspaper column written 62 years ago.

Leunig, who has worked for Nine Entertainment’s Age newspaper for more than 50 years, labelled the cartoonists who have boycotted the event as “tame” and described it as “activist conformity”.

“I thought cartoonists were free thinkers by their nature and by their work, one would hope and not a tribe who act in unison,” he said.

“These cartoonists are fairly tame and not seriously controversial in their work – such is the subdued nature of contemporary cartooning.

“Perhaps these protesting cartoonists are needing to do something a bit edgy and exciting to repair their credentials and reputations as colourful creative outlaws of bold conscience.”

Leunig said he’s never bothered to enter the Walkley Awards and he said those protesting won’t be missed at this year’s honours.

The latest controversy began after a group of cartoonists said they were boycotting the event because of its ties to Ampol, which they said was at odds with their growing concerns about climate change.

The cartoonists include The Australian Financial Review’s David Rowe, The Age’s Matt Golding, The Guardian’s First Dog on the Moon, The Mercury’s Chris Downes, and Fiona Katauskas, Glen Le Lievre, David Blumenstein and Andrew ­Weldon.

The Walkley Foundation on the weekend also issued an apology for its founder, Sir William’s “racist comments” that were published in a newspaper column in 1961 and said it did not align with its “ethical organisation”.

Sir William initiated the Walkley Awards and he was also the founder of Ampol in 1956.

Legendary political correspondent Laurie Oakes and eight-time Walkley winner Hedley Thomas have been among those in the journalism industry to criticise the stance by the cartoonists.

Thomas, The Australian’s national chief correspondent, urged his colleagues to stand up for the Awards and prevent journalism from being “further undermined by kneejerk activism”.

The Australian’s cartoonist John Spooner – who has won multiple Walkley Awards and has been cartooning for nearly 50 years – also criticised the boycott and said the cartoonists’ actions were similar to “activists gluing their hands to the road”.

“There’s something incredibly stupid about what they are doing,” he said.

“It’s a voluntary awards system, who cares if they go in it or not.

“I’m sorry that the cartoonists’ profession is being dragged into these idiot policies that are going to destroy the economy of this country if we go down renewables road.”

Cartoonists including the Herald Sun’s Mark Knight, The Australian’s Johannes Leak and The Daily Telegraph’s Warren Brown criticised the boycott by the group of cartoonists.

The Australian Cartoonists Association, which is led by The Sydney Morning Herald and Age cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, and Canberra Times cartoonist David Pope wrote a letter to the Walkley Foundation last week raising their concerns about the Ampol sponsorship.

“The fossil fuel industry uses its sponsorship of our sporting teams and cultural events to build a social license (sic) and distract attention from its role in heating the planet and delaying the transition to renewable energy,” the letter said.

Some have even withdrawn from judging at this year’s Walkley Awards including Joel Werner, a former ABC science journalist who posted on X, previously Twitter, “I’ve withdrawn from judging this year’s @walkleys”.

“I frequently report on climate change, and feel Ampol’s sponsorship of the awards is a conflict of interest,” he wrote.

The Walkley board is in the final stages of reviewing its sponsorship policy.

It is unclear whether Ampol will remain a platinum sponsor.

Ampol and the Walkley Foundation were contacted but did not comment.