g

VIDEO FOOTAGE OF A CARTOON AUTHORISED BY PAULINE HANSON RESURFACES The cartoon depicts a vehicle striking well-known Australian public figure Robert Irwin and the beloved Bluey, apparently injuring them. One has to ask, particularly in light of the recent tragic incident involving Helen Haines, why would a registered political party commission, publish and distribute imagery depicting a vehicle being used to strike people? And what effect might presenting that violence as comedy have on its audience? Who knows what effect this sort of imagery might have on One Nation's buckle-headed followers? Well, as it turns out, Noisy is examining some rather interesting academic research, including work by researchers Jordan McSwiney and Kurt Sengul, who have studied One Nation's use of cartoons, humour and ridicule to communicate political messages. Because we believe this is serious stuff. A cartoon doesn't have to explicitly say, "Use a vehicle as a weapon." The imagery itself can associate violence, political messaging and humour, potentially trivialising conduct that would otherwise be regarded as disturbing. Crikey has also previously published an interesting article examining similar concepts. Links in replies. And there's a very important distinction between political satire and the normalisation of political violence. We're investigating that distinction. We won't show the entire cartoon, a copy of which is in our possession, but we will show you a short excerpt demonstrating the sort of material coming out of Pauline Hanson's cartoon factory. BE WARNED: The following clip contains cartoon imagery depicting a vehicle striking people.