{"id":632755,"date":"2026-04-26T21:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632755\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T21:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:13:11","slug":"why-street-artist-peter-drew-decided-to-bring-back-his-aussie-poster-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632755\/","title":{"rendered":"Why street artist Peter Drew decided to bring back his ‘Aussie’ poster series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlike his anonymous counterpart Banksy, Australian street artist Peter Drew has always been happy to own his vandalism.<\/p>\n

Ten years after creating one of Australia’s most recognisable street art series, Drew is still spending his days plastering posters on brick walls and decaying facades across the country.<\/p>\n

“I know it’s illegal, but I think the reason why I haven’t been brought to justice is that the posters are popular,” he told triple j hack.<\/p>\n

“People don’t want to prosecute me because they like them [the posters] and I put them up in places where there are ugly walls all over the city.”<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Drew started the “Aussie” series in 2016 as a way of challenging assumptions about Australia’s national identity.<\/p>\n

Last year, he announced he was revising the project in an effort “to fix racism”, adding five more pictures to the series.<\/p>\n

The first picture he used, a decade ago now, was of Muslim hawker Monga Khan, who arrived in Australia in 1895.<\/p>\n

“As soon as I saw the photograph, I knew that was the guy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He looks majestic and mysterious, and I knew he was going to be the hero of this project.”‘It’s so special’<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, the series has expanded to include other archival pictures of ethnically and culturally diverse people, with the word ‘Aussie’ displayed prominently underneath.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Drew has been putting up ‘Aussie’ posters for 10 years. (triple j hack: Angel Parsons)<\/p>\n

Drew estimates he has put up 5,000 posters in communities across Australia \u2014 all hand-printed and coloured by him.<\/p>\n

“I’ve tried to get out to smaller communities, but not enough because I’m doing it all myself,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s entirely self funded. I’ve had plenty of offers to partner up with government \u2026 but I just like being on my own and not having to be accountable.<\/p>\n

“This way, everyone knows that if they see a poster and they have supported the project, they have actually helped it happen.”<\/p>\n

The pictures he reproduces come from the national archives, which means he often does not know much about the people he is spotlighting.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes descendants will reach out and it’s super exciting,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I get so much information, and that part of it is so special to me.”<\/p>\n

‘A counterpoint to xenophobia’<\/p>\n

Originally inspired by the cameleers who were crucial in opening up Outback Australia in the 1800s, the idea for the poster series came to Drew in 2016, at a time he said was not too dissimilar to now.<\/p>\n

“When I started this project, there was this huge wave of anti-Islamic sentiment.<\/p>\n

“I thought this history would be a great counterpoint to that xenophobia which was on the street.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

One of Drew’s popular ‘Aussie’ posters on a wall in Sydney. (triple j hack: Angel Parsons)<\/p>\n

Despite the popularity of the posters leading him to write a book, grow a social media following and sell his work online, Drew admitted not everyone was a fan.<\/p>\n

He said that at times, he has been attacked or verbally abused while putting up his work.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to make someone that angry,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Usually after a few minutes, they’re embarrassed, and it dissipates pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n

More recently, the Aussie series was hijacked in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

A copycat poster started appearing across the city in the same style as Drew’s work, but featuring a picture of the alleged Bondi gunman, Naveed Akram.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“There’s a real sort of angry nihilism to it,” Drew said.<\/p>\n

“They’re not doing that out of love for Australia, are they?<\/p>\n

“They’re just wanting to get under people’s skin.”<\/p>\n

Sparking conversations<\/p>\n

Drew said the most rewarding part of the project has been the conversations it has started with so many people across Australia.<\/p>\n

He said curiosity often led to a more nuanced discussion.<\/p>\n

“Someone will say, ‘who is that guy? Doesn’t look very Aussie to me.’<\/p>\n

“Then I start to talk about this history, and by the end of the conversation, they can see a different perspective and understand it’s all good intentions.”<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

The artist said he was surprised by how many people resonate with the theme \u2014 even if they don’t resemble the people on the posters.<\/p>\n

“Recently, I met a couple from Ukraine, and despite there being no Ukrainians in the Aussie poster series, they got it.<\/p>\n

“They just really appreciated seeing somebody who doesn’t fit the norm being included in Aussie.”<\/p>\n

While he admitted he likes getting under people’s skin, Drew said his intention was never for those he wants to feel accepted to be made to feel targeted.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’ve got a pretty good instinct about where to put the posters.”<\/p>\n

Expanding the Aussie concept<\/p>\n

Ten years on, Drew believed the series is more relevant now than ever.<\/p>\n

He has committed to continuing the Aussie project, but said that while he will never use modern images, the concept would continue to evolve.<\/p>\n

“I’d like to include white people,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Drew with one of his new posters, weighing in on the campaign to increase taxes on gas exports. (triple j hack: Angel Parsons)<\/p>\n

“The project needs to try to depict the whole rather than just depicting the people who are excluded from the concept of Aussie.<\/p>\n

“The way I’d like to do it is by using mugshots.”<\/p>\n

He is also exploring other themes that he said are relevant to Australians, including pushing for a tax on gas exports.<\/p>\n

Defining an Aussie<\/p>\n

When asked about those who call him a criminal or say his work is divisive, Drew laughed.<\/p>\n

“They come down in the rain!” he said.<\/p>\n

“If it didn’t upset anybody, then it wouldn’t really have any bite to it.<\/p>\n

“But to be honest, I still want to win over those people who don’t agree with my work.”<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Drew started putting up ‘Aussie’ posters in 2016. (ABC)<\/p>\n

He said people often asked him what he believes makes an Aussie, and he always answered by referencing a speech made by former prime minister Bob Hawke in 1988.<\/p>\n

“He said ‘the commitment is all. The commitment to Australia is the only thing needed to be a true Australian’.<\/p>\n

“I really hope that idea doesn’t slip away.”<\/p>\n

As for how long he will keep sneaking around Australia’s streets, Drew said you can expect to keep spotting his Aussie posters for at least another decade.<\/p>\n

“I came to street art before politics, and I don’t see any reason to stop.<\/p>\n

“I really like the idea of being old and decrepit and still putting out the posters.<\/p>\n

“So I’ll keep doing this as long as I’m physically able.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlike his anonymous counterpart Banksy, Australian street artist Peter Drew has always been happy to own his vandalism.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,306429,63,306430,306433,44317,191674,460,134,12460,200251,306432,306431,57477,306434,3953,44318,306435],"class_list":{"0":"post-632755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-aussie-posters","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-posters","15":"tag-australian-street-art","16":"tag-dave-marchese","17":"tag-david-marchese","18":"tag-design","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-hack","21":"tag-peter-drew","22":"tag-peter-drew-aussie","23":"tag-peter-drew-posters","24":"tag-street-art","25":"tag-street-art-politics","26":"tag-triple-j","27":"tag-triple-j-hack","28":"tag-what-are-these-aussie-posters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}