From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage

Book excerpt: It’s compulsory to vote in Australia. We are one of a handful of countries in the world that enforce this rule at election time, and the only English-speaking country that makes its citizens vote. Not only that, we embrace it. We celebrate compulsory voting with barbeques and cake stalls at polling stations, and election parties that spill over into Sunday morning. But how did this come to be: when and why was voting in Australia made compulsory? How has this affected our politics? And how else is the way we vote different from other democracies? Lively and inspiring, From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage is a landmark account of the character of Australian democracy by the celebrated historian Judith Brett, the prize-winning biographer of Alfred Deakin. Judith Brett is the author of Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People and emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. The Enigmatic Mr Deakin won the 2018 National Biography Award, and was shortlisted in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, NSW Premier’s History Awards and Queensland Literary Awards. ‘A tremendous piece of work.’ ABC Radio National: Minefield ‘Brett’s writing is capable of extraordinary clarity, insight and compassion.’ Monthly ‘A great treasure that sizzles like the sausage in the title. I’ll be surprised if, by the time you’ve finished it, you don’t, like me, feel a little bit prouder of the Australian democratic system.’ Andrew Leigh MP, Shadow Assistant Treasurer ‘Australia led the world in broadening the franchise and introducing the secret ballot, but few nations followed us down the path of compulsory voting. This absorbing book explains a century-old institution, how it came to be, and how it survives.’ Antony Green ‘Magnificent...Brett has constructed an excellent, fast-moving narrative establishing how Australia became one of the world’s pre-eminent democracies...[She] skilfully weaves her way through what would be in the hands of a lesser writer a dull, dry topic...Brett is right to point out that we need “more than the Anzac story” to understand our success. From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting will be an important part of that conversation.’ Weekend Australian ‘Excellent...Brett’s book shows how democracy sausages are the symbolic culmination of the proud history of the Australian contribution to electoral and voting practice around the world.’ Canberra Times ‘The Australian way of voting seems – to us – entirely ordinary but, as Judith Brett reveals, it’s a singular miracle of innovation of which we can all be fiercely proud. This riveting and deeply researched little book is full of jaw-dropping moments. Like the time that South Australian women accidentally won the right to stand as candidates – an international first. Or the horrifying debates that preceded the Australian parliament’s shameful decision to disenfranchise Aborigines in 1902. This is the story of a young democracy that is unique. A thrilling and valuable book.’ Annabel Crabb