Politically Spruiking exhibition captures 26 years of FNQ politics through cartoon and controversy

A bull-catching, croc-hunting, straight-talking North Queensland MP might not be the first person you’d expect to champion marriage equality, but Warren Entsch has always relished the unexpected.

Warren Entsch with two significant cartoons that feature in the Politically Spruiking exhibition at the Cairns Museum.

A bull-catching, croc-hunting, straight-talking North Queensland MP might not be the first

person you’d expect to champion marriage equality, but Warren Entsch has always relished the unexpected.

Following his retirement from politics, former Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch is the subject of a new exhibition at Cairns Museum.

Politically Spruiking captures more than two decades of his political life through the sharp, satirical lens of cartoonist Harry Bruce.

Featuring more than 70 original cartoons collected, framed and now donated by Mr Entsch himself, the exhibition is a lively take on the controversies, campaigns and characters that shaped the region.

The cartoon inspired by Warren Entsch’s appointment as the government’s special envoy to the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Harry Bruce

The exhibition reveals the complexity of Mr Entsch’s public life: a larger-than-life FNQ figure who defied party lines to push through landmark marriage equality legislation, all while becoming a recurring caricature in the pages of The Cairns Post.

A cartoon following the vote for marriage equality. Picture: Harry Bruce

“Every time Harry Bruce put me in a cartoon, whether I was riding a croc, chewing on a cigar or getting slammed over policy, I bought the bloody thing and hung it on the wall,”

Mr Entsch said.

“You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself in this game.

“If you can’t take a joke, you’re in the wrong business.”

“This is a legacy moment,” said Dr Sandi Robb, executive officer of the Cairns Historical

Society.

Politically Spruiking exhibition.

“We’re used to seeing collections like this end up in Canberra, but Warren was clear that he

wanted these cartoons to stay in the north, where the stories happened.

“It speaks to the deep connection he has with this place and its people.”

The cartoons, often blunt, funny and wildly expressive, capture a distinctly northern political

character: unpredictable, loyal to the region and never one to follow the mob.

“Far North Queensland has always had its own voice in politics,” Dr Robb said.

“These cartoons reflect that, not just Warren’s story, but the broader tone of political life here – irreverent, passionate and often at odds with the southern narrative.”

Politically Spruiking runs from July 5 to September 22 in the ground floor gallery of the Cairns Museum.

Originally published as Politically Spruiking exhibition captures 26 years of FNQ politics through cartoon and controversy