The sausage sizzles have long cooled and the ballots have been counted, and while the 2025 federal election has delivered its winners, in the Illawarra’s Cunningham electorate, the results suggest a deeper shift, with voters recalibrating.
Long considered a Labor stronghold, Cunningham has once again returned a Labor MP. But behind the headline, Labor’s primary vote has risen to 45 per cent, which is slightly higher to that of previous years, while The Greens rose to 20.2 per cent in the electorate. The result it seems reflects a growing appetite for alternatives, particularly among younger voters.
Among those casting a ballot for the first time was UOW student Mia Reynolds, 19, who said her decision was shaped more by what she saw on her phone than in the polling booth.
“It was my first time voting and I wasn’t really sure who to vote for,” Miss Reynolds said.
“But I took a lot of influence from what people were saying on social media, the news, and the TV ads. I just didn’t want to waste my vote.”
Miss Reynolds is one of thousands of new voters whose political compass is shaped more by the algorithm than by party loyalty.
At polling, volunteer James Hooper, who handed out how-to-vote cards for Labor, said the crowd was engaged and respectful.
“It was a good turnout for us this year,” Mr Hooper said.
“Of course not everyone is going to take a flyer, but a lot did and people were respectful for the most part. That’s the main thing, and everyone enjoyed the sausage sizzle.”
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, nationwide turnout rose to 92.1 per cent, continuing a steady trend of high voter participation since the reintroduction of targeted youth enrolment campaigns in 2019.
While political experts might point to policy shifts or strategic campaigning, this election revealed something more cultural, a changing tide in how people engage with politics, and who is driving that change.
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram were flooded with political content in the lead-up to the vote, some of it from candidates, but much of it from regular users, activists, and influencers.
Hashtags like #auspol, #climatecrisis, and #rentfreeze brought political issues into everyday scrolls to reach younger audiences more directly than traditional ads or party flyers ever could.
Sausages and social feeds can coexist, and together, it appears they are shaping a new era of Australian democracy.
