Cathy Wilcox – ‘Break glass’
Publication
The Sydney Morning Herald
Year
2024
Category
All Media: Cartoon of the Year
In June 2024, Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was released from Belmarsh Prison, after years of legal and diplomatic advocacy and international pressure to prevent his extradition to the United States on charges of espionage.
Whistleblowers in Australia speak out at considerable personal risk, in a system that seems more geared to ensuring secrecy and sheltering wrongdoers than protecting those fighting for transparency. This year David McBride, an army lawyer who leaked classified military documents to the ABC, was jailed after helping expose allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. Whistleblowers Bernard Collaery and Witness K, who helped reveal Australia’s espionage against Timor-Leste, have been prosecuted. Days after Assange’s release, Richard Boyle lost his appeal for protection after exposing wrongdoing within the debt recovery team at the Australian Taxation Office.
Cathy Wilcox is a Sydney-based editorial cartoonist. She has worked for The Sydney Morning Herald since 1989 and The Age since 1993. She has illustrated numerous picture books and theatre productions. She is a member of Cartooning for Peace and president of the Australian Cartoonists Association. This is her fourth Walkley Award for cartooning.
Judges’ comments:
With a few strokes of the pen, Cathy Wilcox exposes the absurdity of the federal government’s harsh treatment of whistleblowers. The prosecutions of David McBride, Bernard Collaery, Witness K and Richard Boyle undermine the integrity and transparency of our institutions. ‘Break Glass’ cleverly and succinctly captures the reality facing anyone who dares to expose wrongdoing and corruption: do the right thing and pay the price.