Australia has a new Prime Minister. Scott Morrison is the sixth PM in ten years. Morrison became PM through a leadership spill, a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for re-election, or when a rival to the existing leader calls for a spill.
In Australia’s parliamentary system, you vote for a political party, not an individual. The leader of the party becomes the Prime Minister. A leadership spill may happen if the leader/PM is not performing well and the party believes they may lose the next election, or if someone is ambitious and has a personal vendetta, they might gather reinforcements and stage a coup. We’ve seen this happen in both major parties in recent years. It just happened with the Liberal Party (which is the conservative party), and that’s why it’s also called a LibSpill.
But this post isn’t about the complexities of Australian politics. It’s about food and social media. Sausages, onions, and potatoes to be more precise. These are the foods of Australian democracy. Or, at least, funny #auspol memes.
#DemocracySausage
I’ve written before about how much Aussies love the sausage sizzle – the fundraising stands selling, you guessed it, sausages on white bread (or a roll, if you’re extra lucky). On election days, they grace voting sites at schools and churches and take on the special status of democracy sausage.
Prime Ministers Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, and Malcolm Turnbull have all been photographed cooking and serving democracy sausages. During the 2016 election, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Australian Labor Party, confused the whole country and made headlines by biting into his sausage sizzle sideways.
#PutOutYourOnions
During his time as Prime Minister, Tony Abbott was filmed eating onions raw, skin and all, at various onion farms around the country.
Yes, this is weird so, of course, it had to become a thing on social media. As he was about to be ousted as Prime Minister, the result of a leadership spill, Australians placed onions outside their front doors.
See ya, Abbott. #PutOutYourOnions pic.twitter.com/84FVoifV4W
— Nurse Ratched (@esesesse) September 14, 2015
#PutOutYourPotatoes
Malcolm Turnbull replaced Abbott. He was PM for almost three years until a couple of weeks ago. Peter Dutton challenged him in a leadership spill. But wait, didn’t I say that Scott Morrison is the new PM? Yes, yes, I did. Dutton lost. Morrison won the second leadership spill that happened a day or so later.
The memes will get us through these dark Sco Mo days. #LibSpill3 #libspill2 #libspill pic.twitter.com/8cjzu6FUAA
— Leah Dwyer (@Leah_CBR) August 24, 2018
In solemn tribute (#sorrynotsorry) to Dutton’s loss, Australians put out potatoes. Why? Because Peter Dutton looks like a potato.
Sorry, potatoes.
Lest we forget #PutOutYourPotatoes pic.twitter.com/1YxKI9BnPY
— Brinjen Russell (@BrinjenArt) August 21, 2018
#Putoutyourpotatoes a proud Mrs Dutton with baby Peter pic.twitter.com/I6HoQUpzWE
— Lazza (@lazzamar) August 21, 2018
#putoutyourpotatoes following the #libspill #auspol hoping #dutton could be sent offshore so we don't have to look at him. pic.twitter.com/NnHs5JpzoU
— Lisa Pownall (@lisapownall1) August 21, 2018
This isn’t the first time potatoes have made an appearance in Australian politics. In June, a bunch of potatoes staged a dramatic protest against Dutton’s treatment of asylum seekers.
The building security at Border Force HQ try to reason with the determined spuds but they are refusing to comment other than to insist via a liaison that Dutton is a dud and a #FakeSpud. #SackDutton #Justice4Refugees pic.twitter.com/zARE7GfFBv
— WACA (@akaWACA) May 31, 2018
Scott Morrison was sworn in as Prime Minister on 24 August. He is still the Prime Minister.
