Hail Australia’s public school P&Cs, the unsung heroes of the election sausage

A sausage sizzle on NSW state election day, 25 March 2023 – ‘courtesy of your local public school Parents and Citizens Association’. Photograph: James Gourley/AAP

Politics may be divisive but there’s one thing that brings Australians together every election day: a love of – or at least affection for – the democracy sausage. And while it’s never a good idea to wonder how a democracy sausage is made, it’s worth sparing a thought as to how and why they came to be.

Democracy sausages are not a meat-and-bread tradition passed down by the ancient Greeks. Nor are they, as I once heard an American political podcast assert, provided by the Australian government as a reward for fulfilling our compulsory duty.