☕️ Is Musk's election strategy legal?

IT’S INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY.

MAY WE ALL COMMUNICATE MORE ENTHUSIASTICALLY TODAY!!!

“I will participate in the elections… as a candidate. My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to make his regime fall as soon as possible.”
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, in an interview with the BBC.

95%
The percentage of NSW public school principals who support the state’s school mobile phone ban. The State Government surveyed 1,000 principals one year after the ban came into effect.

1797
The first parachute jump, in the modern world, takes place in Paris by André-Jacques Garnerin.

The Federal Court has ordered Qantas to pay three former employees a total of $170,000 in compensation.

It’s the first compensation decision in a long-running unfair dismissal case after Qantas was found guilty of unlawfully firing 1,700 baggage employees during the pandemic.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has suggested it could cost Qantas $100 million to compensate all impacted workers.

Here’s the latest.

In late 2020, Qantas fired some 1,700 baggage staff across 10 airports, before outsourcing their work to third-party contractors.

In an unfair dismissal case launched by the TWU, Qantas argued it was “bleeding cash” during COVID-19 and wanted to save money by outsourcing.

The TWU, which represented many of the staff, had successfully argued the move was a breach of workers’ legal rights. Qantas failed to appeal the courts decision twice.

In the Federal Court this week, Justice Michael Lee decided how much three employees – fired between March and April of 2021 – should be compensated.

All three were in their 50s, and two had been Qantas employees for more than 20 years.

The first employee developed “a major psychiatric illness” that affected his “life to a substantial degree.”

The second employee described “significant distress and emotional hurt“ that led to ”a decline in her physical health, an inability to eat, feelings of nausea, and trouble sleeping.”

While the third employee did not develop a mental ill-health condition, Lee found the impact on him was “appreciable”.

Qantas has apologised to impacted former employees, saying it accepts the court’s decision.

In a statement, CEO Vanessa Hudson said she recognises “the emotional and financial impact this has had on these people and their families” and that the onus of responsibility lies with the airline.

The airline said it’s working with the union to “speed up” payments and has launched a review to begin calculating future compensation payments.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has launched a lottery-style election incentive worth $US1 million ($AU1.49 million) per day.

To go in the draw to win, voters must sign an online petition by Musk’s pro-Trump political organisation.

Legal experts are concerned Musk is in breach of electoral laws that forbid cash from being used to encourage people to vote.

The Tesla CEO and X owner has also announced cash incentives for people who successfully recruit others to sign the petition. However, they must be registered voters of one of seven key U.S. states to receive the payment.

Election candidates in the U.S. rely heavily on political donations to fund their campaigns.

This can include things like ads on social media, TV, and radio, as well as staff, hiring rally venues and travel costs.

Donations above $200 are made public.

Individuals are capped at giving a maximum $3,300 donation to a presidential candidate during a general election.

Due to this cap, many U.S. donors give money to “political action committees” (PACs).

PACs are organisations that pool together donations from members and direct these funds towards political campaigns.

They are often run by businesses and unions. Some types of PACs have no limit on how much money can be raised.

There are strict rules banning individual candidates from attempting to influence a PAC.

Musk – who Forbes estimates is worth almost $US250 billion ($AU372 billion) – set up “America PAC” to support Donald Trump’s re-election efforts, after endorsing him in July.

Musk announced plans to give away $1 million per day until election day through his PAC.

In a post to X, he wrote: “Every day, from now through Nov 5, America PAC will be giving away $1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms!”

Musk has also promised signatories a $US47 ($AU70) reward, “for each registered voter you refer that signs this petition.” For registered voters in Pennsylvania, this incentive is $100.

The petition lottery is open to voters in seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where polling shows a tight race between Trump and Harris.

Two winners have already been announced on the PAC’s social media account, displaying photos of both of them receiving large cheques next to Musk.

The petition doesn’t explicitly mention Trump.

Some laws in the U.S. ban creating financial incentives for voting.

Under federal laws designed to avoid “corruption of the election process”, someone could go to jail for five years if they “pay, offer to pay, or accept payment for registering to vote or for voting”.

There are other laws that forbid taking payment to vote or abstain from voting in an election.

The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet publicly commented on the matter.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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Malaria is a disease spread by infected mosquitoes. It’s curable but can cause life-threatening symptoms. Egypt’s Government has spent nearly a century on efforts to eradicate the disease, including making it free to be diagnosed with and treated for malaria for anyone in the country, regardless of their citizenship.

WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Hanan Balkhy said: “Egypt has proven that with vision, dedication, and unity we can overcome the greatest challenges.”

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Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Both of the U.S. presidential candidates can now say they’ve worked at McDonalds.

Following Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ statements about her time working for the fast-food chain in college, rival Donald Trump threw on an apron at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

According to the Washington Post, Trump “was at the fry station for about five minutes and spent about 15 minutes at the drive-through window”. For safety reasons, the Maccas was only open for pre-screened supporters.

The Associated Press reported Trump seemed to enjoy his time at the fry station, saying: “I just saw something… a process that’s beautiful.”

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

This week, federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the peak of inflation has passed, and the worst of the recent economic turbulence is behind Australia. Yesterday, new consumer data from NAB echoed that sentiment, reporting more optimism amongst Australian consumers.

But does that match the reality for young Australians? How will we know when the cost of living crisis is over? On today's episode, we speak to Greg Jericho, the Australia Institute's Chief Economist.