"The pool of tears"

There were issues aplenty this year to cause anger, despair and tears, and cartoonists filled their mandate to shine a critical light on them all. Protests continued over asylum seekers detained on Manus Island and Nauru, while the major parties argued the ongoing benefits of immigration. The nation’s First Peoples met at Uluru to discuss a way forward for recognition and reconciliation, presenting the government with the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

With its recommendations rejected by the Turnbull government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people despaired at finding a way forward. Cartoonists tried to use humour to lighten the topic of sheep dying at sea while being transported to the Middle East, but it joined the list of issues that broke many Australian hearts.