The Snag is a popular Australian snack with grilled onions and a sausage wrapped in white bread with a dollop of sauce © AFP / WILLIAM WEST
Australians are fired up as tensions simmer across the country over one of the hottest topics to skewer public opinion: should the onions be placed above or below the sausage in a certain national delicacy?
Wildly popular Australian hardware chain Bunnings, known for its charity fundraiser barbecues and its delicious ‘snags’ (a sausage sandwich), recently told staff to put onions under the sausages amid health and safety concerns over renegade loose onions escaping and causing patrons to slip.
You really couldn’t make this up… the @BunningsSausage guide for making a snag & bread. Tonight in @9NewsQueensland#bunnings#Snaggatepic.twitter.com/odnEIccLhp
— Tim Arvier (@TimArvier9) November 14, 2018
Testing the #Bunnings Onion Theory… ⚠️?#Sausagepic.twitter.com/HX0NIm9dqw
— Will and Woody (@willandwoody) November 14, 2018
The debate has gotten so out of control, it has even entered the international political sphere.
On Wednesday, at the ASEAN regional diplomatic summit in Singapore, Aussie Prime Minister Scott Morrison was caught unawares and asked to weigh in on an issue which may decide his future political career.
I love Australia so much. In what other place would the nation's leader be asked about a hardware store changing its policy on charity sausages – a journo just asked Scott Morrison about the Bunnings sausage/onion drama pic.twitter.com/gbMN90tSZA
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) November 14, 2018
I do not understand why this wasn't taken to a referendum! #bunnings#snaggate#auspol#letthepeoplespeakhttps://t.co/9PvxXEoPfE
— casualflexible (@casualflexible) November 14, 2018
“Whether the onions are on top or underneath, I’ll always be buying sausages on bread,” Morrison diplomatically replied.
However, the topic was also broached by his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, who described the #SnagGate issue as “the most pressing international or trans-Tasman news of the day.”
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“I think we should make a joint commitment that on our watches, the Bunnings sausage sizzle shall continue,” Ardern said, to which Morrison quickly acquiesced.
“I agree… Onions on top, or underneath, however you like,” Morrison affirmed, patently not wanting to invoke the ire of his voter base back home.
You have to love this country….#Australia
The only country in the world where the population shift their anger within days from a terrorist attack to #Bunnings#Snaggate
FREE THE #ONION
— MartianMoleInAHole (@in_martian) November 14, 2018
You can pretty much bet on anything now #bunnings#oniongate@sportsbetcomaupic.twitter.com/uhyfRmuhEF
— Chris Calcino (@chriscalcino) November 14, 2018
Australia is still reeling from the horrific Bourke St. attack in Melbourne last Friday in which three people were stabbed, one fatally. The #SnagGate debate may be a good-natured and welcome distraction for a nation in mourning.
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"Australia has reacted in the only way it knows how — by collectively losing its mind on social media"
? #Snaggate
— Stewart Paton (@StewPaton) November 14, 2018
Media personalities have all weighed in on the issue, with some resorting to televised hyperbole, pronouncing that this decision will “ruin Australia,” while others have penned thoughtful, emotive letters on the issue.
The iconic Bunnings sausage sizzle is undergoing a change for safety reasons! Now, the onions have to go UNDERNEATH the sausage in case they fall out and people slip on them… ? #9Todaypic.twitter.com/rcohcUSvxM
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) November 13, 2018
Radio DJ Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald, wrote an open letter to Bunnings that went viral, describing the food as a “vital staple in the Australian diet,” and noting that the onion should ideally be placed “on top with a dollop of sauce.”
“So why, why would you entertain the idea of bowing down to bureaucrats and safety officers to change the order of a recipe that doesn’t need to be fixed?” he added.
Praying for the person who slipped on a stray Bunnings BBQ onion sliver and prompted this policy change
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) November 13, 2018
As the debate rages on, the source of the extremely controversial decision has been found: Trevor, whose full name cannot be revealed, is a 65-year-old farmer from Queensland who signed an NDA after reaching a compensation agreement with Bunnings after a painful accident three years ago.
“It is serious stuff, this onion thing,” he told ABC news, adding that he had a panic attack upon returning to the store for the first time and couldn’t enter without “checking the floor for onions” first.
Contrarians among the Australian public seized on the opportunity to show their support for Bunnings’ health and safety officer, while other, more conspiracy theory-minded Twitter users called out what they saw as a canny marketing ploy.
Good work @bunnings. The onion first method leads to less droppage, and a more even amount of onion per bite, and tasty tasty onion-y bread if you let it soak in. This is striking a blow for progress and a better Australia. THANKYOU!
— Kyle Sheldrick (@K_Sheldrick) November 14, 2018
The Bunnings #snaggate of 2018 seems to have lured the entire NZ and OZ media into a very clever marketing trap #cunningbunnings@nzheraldhttps://t.co/l231T6L0dB
— Julian Lee (@JulianLee18) November 14, 2018
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