The agreement will see Mr Onthemoon leave Crikey and contribute cartoons for Guardian Australia on the national and international issues of the day. His work will also appear on the UK and US editions of the Guardian.
"First Dog on the Moon gets to the heart of political life in Australia like no one else," said Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of Guardian Australia. "First Dog makes me laugh and makes me cry. I'm delighted to be able to showcase First Dog's work to the Guardian's 90 million unique browsers worldwide."
Commenting on the appointment First Dog on the Moon said: "This is very exciting. I am very excited. When I was growing up I always wanted to be Steve Bell and work at the Guardian! And this is almost as good... I have a beard and everything now. This really is the greatest day of my life! No seriously, to be on the same roster as a cartoonist of Mr Bell's calibre, to become part of the fabulous team at Guardian Australia is more than I could have ever hoped for as a cartoonist and marsupial enthusiast. This is going to be hilarious."
Mr Onthemoon has been the full time editorial cartoonist for Crikey since 2007. In 2012, First Dog won a prestigious Walkley Award for the best political cartoon of 2012 for the cartoon 'Drowning' and was named the MOAD (Museum of Australian Democracy) cartoonist of the year in 2011.
The news comes off the back of Guardian Australia announcing last month it will open a third Australian office located in Melbourne to support the rapid expansion of its Australian operations, and the creation of 12 new roles in Sydney and Melbourne since the beginning of the year.
