Bill Leak
Brilliant Australian cartoonist Bill Leak has been accused of racism for his cartoon depicting an Aboriginal father holding a beer can, unable to remember the name of his son. He said the cartoon was inspired by Aboriginal men who spoke the truth.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council, Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion and many other posters on social media said they were disgusted with the cartoon, but a defiant Mr Leak came back yesterday with another one, this time with himself in place of the Aboriginal boy.
Mr Lek said the outrage of "sanctimonious Tweety Birds" and "tantrum-throwers" was preventing intelligent debate "on serious social issues such as the rampant violence, abuse and neglect of children in remote indigenous communities."
"I was trying to say that if you think things are pretty crook for the children locked up in the Northern Territory's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, you should have a look at the homes they came from" he wrote.
Paul Whittaker, editor in chief of The Australian, defended the cartoon. "Too often, too many people skirt around the root causes of tough issues" he said. "Bill Leak's confronting and insightful cartoons force people to examine the core issues in a way that sometimes reporting and analysis fail to do."
Liberal Democrat's David Leyonhjelm said Bill Leak had "a knack for point out the obvious."
Bill Leak has won 9 Walkely awards, 19 Stanley awards and two News Awards.
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