Michael Leunig is a cartoonist from Melbourne. He enrolled at the Swisburn Film and Television School with the desire to become a documentary maker. He eventually began a career in cartooning in Lot's Wife, the student paper of Monash University, in 1965. He became professional cartoonist from 1969, with publications in Nation Review, The Digger and Oz magazine from London. His work has also been collected in many books.
Leunig's cartoons have mainly appeared in The Age from Melbourne and The Sydney Morning Herald. Elusive and outspoken at the same time, Leunig has presented his sometimes controversial views on the human condition, and in later years also on politics. Leunig employs social satire, political commentary and also uses fantasy images and reproductions of photographs.
One of Leunig's more controversial commentaries, the "Auschwitz 1942 cartoon" about Israel in 2002, was denied publication by The Age magazine, and has been challenged online for its appropriateness.