☕️ Can you job-share the role of a politician?

Good morning!

Happy World Table Tennis Day to all who celebrate.

May the ick of seeing someone chase a tiny ping pong ball not be valid today.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“Students across the country now learn how to duck and cover before they learn how to read and write.”
U.S. President Joe Biden’s statement on the 25th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

Stat of the day

84
The number of WA public schools that will close or partially close during teacher strikes today.

Today in history

2005
The first video was uploaded to YouTube, titled “Me at the Zoo”.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Queensland Police have appointed a new commissioner after Katarina Carroll announced her retirement in February. Steve Gollschewski, described by Police Minister Mark Ryan as Queensland’s “most experienced” police officer, has been with the force for more than 40 years. Gollschewski oversaw hotel quarantine, airport and border security during the pandemic.

• NSW, Queensland, and WA have been announced as potential hosts for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. Australia was the only country to submit a bid to host the competition. If approved, Football Australia said hosting the 2026 Cup will create an economic output of $260 million alongside 1,000 new jobs. CEO James Johnson said hosting the Asian Cup is a “golden opportunity” for “women’s football in Australia”, following the success of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

I’ve got 1 minute

The Australian men’s Olympic football team has not qualified for the Paris Games

The Australian men’s Olympic football team, the Olyroos, won’t compete in the 2024 Paris Games.

It comes after the team was eliminated from the Asian Cup, which was also the men’s football qualifier for this year’s Olympics.

The Olyroos did not score a goal in their three Asian Cup matches, against Jordan (0-0), Qatar (0-0), and Indonesia (0-1).

Under 23

In men’s Olympic football, the majority of team players must be under the age of 23. Only three players can be older.

These rules were introduced in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics.

This is why the Australian men’s Olympic team is the Olyroos, not the Socceroos. The rule does not apply to women’s Olympic football.

There are 16 places in the Olympic football tournament for men’s teams, and 12 for women’s teams.

Women’s

Although Australia won’t be in the men’s Olympic football tournament, the Matildas are set to play at the Olympics.

The Matildas secured their spot by beating Uzbekistan in February.

In the first round, Australia’s women’s team will play Germany first, followed by Zambia, then the U.S.

I’ve got 2 minutes

These women want to job-share the role of a federal MP

Two women have launched an independent campaign to win a seat at the next federal election.

Bronwen Bock (left in the previous slide) and Lucy Bradlow (right) hope to run together for the same seat and share the responsibilities of a federal politician. This has never been attempted before in Australian politics.

Bock and Bradlow will contest the seat of Higgins in suburban Melbourne. It has traditionally been a Liberal seat, but was won by Labor at the 2022 election.

The next federal election must be held on or before 27 September 2025.

Bradlow and Bock

Bradlow and Bock, childhood friends, call themselves “community-backed independents”, similar to the ‘teal’ independents that won many city seats at the 2022 election.

Like the teals, their key policies are stronger action on climate change and integrity in government. However, they are not funded by Climate 200, who supported teal candidates in 2022.

Bradlow is a lawyer who has worked at the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency and for former Labor Senator Kristina Keneally. Bock is a finance professional who has worked for the Macquarie Group and REA Group.

Job-sharing

Bradlow and Bock plan on splitting the work as the MP for Higgins if they win the election.

Job-sharing is a working arrangement often used in the private sector where two employees share the salary and responsibilities of one job.

“Neither of us is able to take on the out of hours or travel demands of being a full time federal politician,” Bradlow said.

“But together, we bring two sets of skills and experience, fresh perspectives, and new energy to the role.”

How would it work?

Bronwen and Bock propose a ‘week-on, week-off’ arrangement, whereby one candidate would ‘hand over’ the job to the other at the end of every week.

They would have the same email address and diary, and make joint decisions about how they vote.

Bradlow and Bock plan on splitting the salary, entitlements and expenses allotted to a single MP. Under their arrangement, they could undertake paid or unpaid work outside of the MP role.

Is it legal?

It’s not clear if the proposed job-sharing arrangement will be allowed.

Bradlow and Bock claim there’s no requirement in the Constitution or legislation for only one person to hold a seat in parliament.

Currently, ballot papers only have enough space for one candidate’s name. Bradlow and Bock have called on Parliament to amend electoral laws to allow two names to be included on nomination forms, saying they’ll advance the matter to the High Court if this doesn’t occur.

Response

A spokesperson for Special Minister of State Don Farrell said the government “has placed a priority on improving the Commonwealth parliamentary workplace”, including further supports for those with different backgrounds and requirements.

However, they don’t support the job-sharing proposal.

Senate Opposition Leader Simon Birmingham also opposed the job-sharing proposal, telling the ABC it isn’t consistent with “the way in which our democracy was established”.

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Give me some good news

Australian kids TV juggernaut Bluey has been recognised by the Australian High Commission in the UK for its global cultural influence.

High Commissioner Stephen Smith said the first-of-its-kind award recognises “the ingenuity and artistry of Australia’s creative industries”, and renamed the Commission’s headquarters ‘Bluey House’ for a day.

Bluey is the BBC’s most popular kids show, and was the second-most streamed TV show in the U.S. across any genre in 2023.

TDA tidbit

Stop right now: the Spice Girls reunited over the weekend for Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday in London.

Her husband, David Beckham, posted a video of the group performing the original choreography for their track ‘Stop’ to Instagram, adding: “I mean come on.”

Victoria also shared a photo of the five together at her party, captioned: “The best gift to be reunited!!”

All five Spice Girls last performed together at the 2012 London Olympics.

Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!

In the hours following the tragic murder of six people in Sydney’s Bondi Junction, families of some of the victims issued statement requesting that media remove images that were being circulated online. At the time, one victim’s family said that having those unauthorised photos being republished by the media was causing their loved ones “extreme distress”.

On today’s podcast, we speak to Tarang Chawla about the media’s responsibility when it comes to reporting tragedies like we saw in Sydney recently. Tarang is an award-winning human rights activist, broadcaster, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of 'Not One More Niki', named in memory of his younger sister Nikita who was murdered in 2015.

This podcast deals with domestic violence - if you or someone you know needs help, you can reach 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

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