Things came to a head this month after he drew a cartoon that compared the Tiananmen Square massacre to Covid vaccination mandates, and subsequently lost one of his regular slots in The Age newspaper. In response, Leunig said that his ‘earthy working class perspective and values system’ now seems ‘out of touch with The Age’s cosy, inner-city mindset. … It is not rejection that bothers me. It’s the wokeism and the humourlessness, which seem without courage, good spirit or creative imagination.’
The archetypal Leunig cartoon is a man walking away: a vagrant escaping into nature and the imagination. The wellness guru Pete Evans (who would later become the promoter of a $14,990 light machine which he suggested could treat the ‘Wuhan Coronavirus’) noted this preoccupation with nature in a 2019 podcast conversation with Leunig. ‘A lot of your work is really about bringing us … back to nature,’ Evans said. ‘Appreciate nature, appreciate that time-out … It’s really about understanding yourself, and to understand yourself is to spend time by yourself in nature—maybe with a cup of tea as well.’ Leunig firmly agreed.
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