For years on Page 2 of The West Australian, a column titled Inside Cover was filled with juicy gossip or short stories that gave readers some levity to get them through the day. 

As part of the layout, a Dean Alston cartoon had pride of place as the perfect display to add some extra punch to one of the stories on the page.

More often than not, the newsroom would receive more calls about Alston’s sleight of hand than the Inside Cover stories. 

West cartoonist Dean Alston works at home. Credit: Nic Ellis.

West cartoonist Dean Alston works at home. Credit: Nic Ellis.

For years on Page 2 of The West Australian, a column titled Inside Cover was filled with juicy gossip or short stories that gave readers some levity to get them through the day. 

As part of the layout, a Dean Alston cartoon had pride of place as the perfect display to add some extra punch to one of the stories on the page.

More often than not, the newsroom would receive more calls about Alston’s sleight of hand than the Inside Cover stories. 

West cartoonist Dean Alston works at home. Credit: Nic Ellis.

West cartoonist Dean Alston works at home. Credit: Nic Ellis.

January 31, 2005 

Alannah the tank engine

The construction of the Mandurah train line between 2004 and 2007, and the regular updates about its progress from then planning and infrastructure minister Alannah MacTiernan, became a favourite target of Alston. 

January 31, 2005 

Alannah the tank engine

The construction of the Mandurah train line between 2004 and 2007, and the regular updates about its progress from then planning and infrastructure minister Alannah MacTiernan, became a favourite target of Alston. 

December 26, 2008 

A right royal klutz 

Prince Philip had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth and in this Christmas cartoon for Inside Cover, Alston thought the Queen may finally have had enough. 

December 26, 2008 

A right royal klutz 

Prince Philip had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth and in this Christmas cartoon for Inside Cover, Alston thought the Queen may finally have had enough. 

March 5, 2010

After a summer of flies drove holidaymakers crazy from Broome to Albany, there was the annual cry to make sure the dung beetles were out in force next season to contain those blasted ‘blowies’. 

August 17, 2015 

With West Coast on a roll leading into the AFL finals of 2015, and some die-hard fans putting a Sherrin in front of a spouse, Alston found one way to keep everybody happy… 

September 8, 2015 

Alston took a poke at the trend of families sitting in front of the TV while having their meals, instead of doing so around the dinner table.  


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November 20, 2017

70 reasons

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017. Even though their royal partnership was constantly in the public eye, seeing out seven decades of marriage probably felt the same as any other couple who had kept their strong bond for so long. 

November 20, 2017

70 reasons

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017. Even though their royal partnership was constantly in the public eye, seeing out seven decades of marriage probably felt the same as any other couple who had kept their strong bond for so long. 

January 2, 2016

Alston realised early on that Twitter would become a forum where egos went to see who could bark the loudest. 

October 31, 2017

After years of wondering who the dominant person was in a relationship, on October 31, 2017, Alston finally realised the answer and put it in print... 

December 8, 2015

A cheeky dig at blockbuster movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens after it ‘sped’ past box office records in 2015. 


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February 22, 2019

Grammar wars

To sit with a story on modern society’s disrespect for grammar, WA’s star cartoonist unleashed Alston’s ode to the apostrophe.  His punctuation poem was a rallying cry to those who had pride in making sure a dash was always delivered to the right spot. 

February 22, 2019

Grammar wars

To sit with a story on modern society’s disrespect for grammar, WA’s star cartoonist unleashed Alston’s ode to the apostrophe.  His punctuation poem was a rallying cry to those who had pride in making sure a dash was always delivered to the right spot. 

June 1, 2018

All fired up

A bum-burning, stomach-sizzling Perth hot sauce named ‘S… The Bed’ was setting mouths on fire across the city and attracting a blaze of publicity as customers loaded up on litres of water in an attempt to douse their damaged tastebuds. And, of course, when there was a hot local topic being smoked out, Alston felt he had to add some of his own spice to the issue.

June 1, 2018

All fired up

A bum-burning, stomach-sizzling Perth hot sauce named ‘S… The Bed’ was setting mouths on fire across the city and attracting a blaze of publicity as customers loaded up on litres of water in an attempt to douse their damaged tastebuds. And, of course, when there was a hot local topic being smoked out, Alston felt he had to add some of his own spice to the issue.


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