Jon Kudelka, much-loved Australian political cartoonist, dies aged 53

Award-winning Tasmanian artist’s work was published by the Australian, the Saturday Paper and the Hobart Mercury

Jon Kudelka, the Australian political cartoonist, has died at the age of 53.

His wife, Margaret Kudelka, announced the news in a statement on Monday: “We are sad to tell you that our beloved, brilliant Jon Kudelka died peacefully in South Hobart on Sunday afternoon, surrounded by his family and friends.”

“Jon was deeply loved and admired by many, including fellow Tasmanians, the legions of fans of his inimitable art, countless newspaper readers over 30 years, and even by the politicians he relentlessly skewered in his award-winning cartoons (many of whom have his work on their walls).

“He loved his family, friends, making art in many forms, and firmly calling out political and anti-science bullshit with his typically dry wit and compassion.”

The Tasmanian artist’s work appeared regularly in the Saturday Paper and the Hobart Mercury, where he began as a cartoonist in 1993.

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Kudelka was born in Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania in 1972. After selling his first cartoon at the age of nine, he went on to draw political cartoons for more than 30 years, some 10,000 of which were published.

He won Walkley awards for best cartoon in 2008 and 2018, as well as Kennedy, Stanley and News awards. He was the Museum of Australian Democracy’s political cartoonist of the year in 2010 and 2019.

His 2018 Walkley-winning image, From the Heart, was drawn for The Australian, where he worked for 20 years. In it, he depicted Uluru in the shape of an upturned middle finger, with the words: “Official government Uluru statement response.”

The judges praised the cartoon for simply and powerfully capturing “how many felt after the Government so quickly dismissed the central recommendation of the Uluru Statement From The Heart”.

In her statement, which was posted to Facebook and their website, Margaret Kudelka said: “Jon believed in showing up fully for life and embracing humour even in the hardest of times. In the past two years, he was heard many times to say, ironically, ‘good times’.”

“Jon’s presence remains in the love he gave and the lives he touched. He will always be with us.”

Alongside his searing and comical political commentary, he pursued life drawing and animation and authored a number of books.

After being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2024, he last year penned an article for the Saturday Paper, titled Lessons from political cartooning.

“The noble art of political cartooning is a profession that isn’t terribly important in the scheme of things, but doing it well is a lot harder than it looks,” he wrote.

“If you do try to do the job properly, then it becomes a bit more like threading a needle at gunpoint, which I probably flatter myself in claiming I occasionally succeeded at … The downside to all this effort is that, disappointingly, none of your finely crafted little sketches ever bring down the government, even if they absolutely had it coming.”