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Gulf Today
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Australians sizzle on election day with 'democracy sausages' and 'budgy smugglers'
Australians fired up barbecues and wore tight-fit swim trunks called "budgy smugglers" to voting centres as they welcomed election day on Saturday with some unique and quirky traditions. Voters across the country grabbed a "democracy sausage", which is sausages, burgers or other barbecued meat sold by volunteers at polling booths, as they turned out to cast their ballots. This Australian election day ritual was a talking point on social media as voters posted pictures and videos with their snack in hand under the #democracysausage. "You do your democratic duty, you get a snack while you wait, and you also raise a bit of money for charity," said Nick Fabbri, a voter in the Bondi area of Sydney, adding that money from the sales would go to the local surf club. Sue, who moved to Australia from Wisconsin in the United States in 2019, said that although early voting was available she decided to vote on election day to get the full experience. "People said vote early but we wanted to come and get a democracy sausage,' said Sue, who did not give her full name. She was voting at the Bourke Street Public School in Sydney. Democracy cupcake By afternoon the sausages were running out as more voters tried to get a quick snack. "The perfect democracy sausage is one that's available," said Andy H, a voter in Melbourne. "I missed out today but my daughter got a democracy cupcake – does that count?" Meanwhile, at polling booths near Australia's famed beaches, including Bondi, some swimmers cast their ballots after a dip wearing brief-style swimming trunks locally called "budgy smugglers". An Australian swim wear brand called Budgy Smuggler ran a campaign offering a free pair to the first 200 people who voted in smugglers. "It's a very Australian thing," said Fabbri. "It's a little bit revealing and may be confronting for some of your viewers. But a lot people here come out of the water and come and vote. I think it's a nice statement of Australian democracy." Voting began on Saturday in Australia's national election that polls show will likely favour Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over conservative challenger Peter Dutton, with voter appetite for change dampened by worries over US tariffs and global economic uncertainty. Reuters
The Star
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Australians sizzle on election day with 'democracy sausage' and 'budgy smugglers'
A voter in Sydney adding ketchup to a so-called "democracy sausage" on May 3, the day of the Australian federal election. -- PHOTO: REUTERS SYDNEY (Reuters): Australians fired up barbecues and wore tight-fit swim trunks called "budgy smugglers" to voting centres as they welcomed election day on Saturday with some unique and quirky traditions. Voters across the country grabbed a "democracy sausage", which is sausages, burgers or other barbecued meat sold by volunteers at polling booths, as they turned out to cast their ballots. This Australian election day ritual was a talking point on social media as voters posted pictures and videos with their snack in hand under the #democracysausage. "You do your democratic duty, you get a snack while you wait, and you also raise a bit of money for charity," said Nick Fabbri, a voter in the Bondi area of Sydney, adding that money from the sales would go to the local surf club. Sue, who moved to Australia from Wisconsin in the United States in 2019, said that although early voting was available she decided to vote on election day to get the full experience. "People said vote early but we wanted to come and get a democracy sausage,' said Sue, who did not give her full name. She was voting at the Bourke Street Public School in Sydney. By afternoon the sausages were running out as more voters tried to get a quick snack. "The perfect democracy sausage is one that's available," said Andy H, a voter in Melbourne. "I missed out today but my daughter got a democracy cupcake - does that count?" Meanwhile, at polling booths near Australia's famed beaches, including Bondi, some swimmers cast their ballots after a dip wearing brief-style swimming trunks locally called "budgy smugglers". An Australian swim wear brand called Budgy Smuggler ran a campaign offering a free pair to the first 200 people who voted in smugglers. "It's a very Australian thing," said Fabbri. "It's a little bit revealing and may be confronting for some of your viewers. But a lot people here come out of the water and come and vote. I think it's a nice statement of Australian democracy." Voting began on Saturday in Australia's national election that polls show will likely favour Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over conservative challenger Peter Dutton, with voter appetite for change dampened by worries over U.S. tariffs and global economic uncertainty. (Reporting by Cordelia Hsu, Zahra Matarani and Christine Chen in Sydney; Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Peter Hobson in Canberra; writing by Praveen Menon; editing by Stephen Coates) - Reuters
NDTV
03-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Democracy Sausage, Voting In Swimsuits: Bizarre Polling Trends In Australia
Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. The "democracy sausage," a grilled sausage in bread, symbolises Australian election culture, served at polling places nationwide and abroad. It reflects humility in politics and has become part of folklore and tradition, like voting in swimwear. A democracy sausage is a cultural tradition as Australian as koalas, vegemite and TimTams. It's a simple grilled sausage wrapped in a slice of white bread and topped with onions and ketchup, however, when the same is offered at polling places on election day, it becomes a 'democracy sausage' that has become a national symbol for participating in elections, and is served everywhere Australians vote. Not just in Australia, but these democracy sausages are also served at polling places for citizens abroad at Australian embassies in New York, Riyadh, Nairobi and Tokyo, and even at a research station in Antarctica. There is a website that also tracks in real-time crowd-sourced democracy sausage locations on polling day: "It's practically part of the Australian Constitution." The spokesperson of the website added, "We've heard reports of people who are tourists over here, foreign students, that will go along to election days just to get the sausages. I think that's a great piece of Australian culture for people to take home with them." The sausage is also a way for aspiring leaders to show that they are humble enough to eat a cheap piece of meat wrapped in bread, and photographs of politicians eating these democracy sausages have become memes, and generally a part of Australian political folklore. The Australian National Dictionary Centre also named "democracy sausage" as its word of the year. Moreover, the Australian constitution does not mention anything about a dress code for voting, and it has become a tradition to vote in swimwear. This started when the maker of "Budgie Smuggler" was giving out free swimming trunks to the first 200 people who voted in smugglers. "It's a little bit revealing and may be confronting for some of your viewers. But a lot people here come out of the water and come and vote. I think it's a nice statement of Australian democracy", Nick Fabbri, a voter in the Bondi area of Sydney, told Reuters. Voting in Australia for the national election began on Saturday. Per polls, voter appetite for change has been dampened by US tariffs, and hence the elections might favour Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over conservative challenger Peter Dutton.
