Now the path to the finals has cleared right up for Michael Ymer. Go Sweden!
Who is going to respect such a vicory when the current champion has been blocked from participating?
Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
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Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#52Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Angering those Australians would have been a huge danger for Morrison when he is only a few months away from an election. This has been the entire strategy for the government's handling of the pandemic - national interests be damned, as long as it favours the party being re-elected.
I don't think that national interests really mattered anytime in any country. That is just a tool to keep power. Maybe it's important for some politician, but focusing on power grab is way more beneficial at the top.
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#54David Crowe writes in The Age https://archive.ph/Ohx6d The political cost of letting Djokovic stay was too high for Morrison Australians have been barred from visiting a dying parent in hospital, blocked from seeing a new grandchild and forbidden from having a wedding. Should they accept that a tennis star gets the leeway they were denied? Angering those Australians would have been a huge danger for Morrison when he…
> The political cost of letting Djokovic stay was too high for Morrison > Australians have been barred from visiting a dying parent in hospital, blocked from seeing a new grandchild and forbidden from having a wedding. Should they accept that a tennis star gets the leeway they were denied? This is bizarre logic. "I got screwed, so someone else should get screwed too!" He got the exemption. It was challenged in court.…
That has been the entire logic behind extending covid restrictions to apply beyond vulnerable groups.
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#55Completely absurd behavior from the Australian authorities. They knew he wasn’t vaccinated from the get go, yet gave him an exemption which they later withdrew after he entered the country. No way to treat anyone, international tennis star or not.
Edit: Just found out from another reply to one of my comments that he likely also falsified his PCR report :\
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#56David Crowe writes in The Age https://archive.ph/Ohx6d The political cost of letting Djokovic stay was too high for Morrison Australians have been barred from visiting a dying parent in hospital, blocked from seeing a new grandchild and forbidden from having a wedding. Should they accept that a tennis star gets the leeway they were denied? Angering those Australians would have been a huge danger for Morrison when he…
> The political cost of letting Djokovic stay was too high for Morrison > Australians have been barred from visiting a dying parent in hospital, blocked from seeing a new grandchild and forbidden from having a wedding. Should they accept that a tennis star gets the leeway they were denied? This is bizarre logic. "I got screwed, so someone else should get screwed too!" He got the exemption. It was challenged in court.…
By lying on his application and entry forms.
> It was challenged in court. He won that case.
The first visa cancellation was overruled purely on the grounds that it was issued too quickly and did not give him enough time to respond. It has nothing to do with whether his exemption was valid (which it clearly isn’t).
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#57I wish judges like that would have shown their spine like this when it came to the awful treatment of refugees. But it seems that immigration follows lawful processes is only important if a tennis millionaire is entering the country.
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#58If vaccinated people are spreading covid (and maybe more so since their symptoms are probably so minor), what good does banning an athlete in great health do?
All it proves is this is about politics and power, not health.
At this point all those who go along with this charade, insisting the emperor does indeed have clothes, are complicit in their crimes, the same way those who in the past defended the governments making the “dirty” ones sit at the back of the bus.
What’s the big deal they just have to sit at the back of the bus? What’s the big deal about having to get vaccinated?
Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#59Completely absurd behavior from the Australian authorities. They knew he wasn’t vaccinated from the get go, yet gave him an exemption which they later withdrew after he entered the country. No way to treat anyone, international tennis star or not.
He wasn't given an exemption at all though? He was denied entry and then appealed. Are you thinking of the exemption he was given by the tennis tournament, to play? It would be understandable if that one doesn't work to pass the border.
Medical panels established by Tennis Australia and the Victoria government granted Djokovic exemption from vaccination to play at the Australian Open on that basis. Djokovic’s lawyers argued that he had every reason to believe the same standard applied at the border.
However, the federal government did not and now there's a lot of finger pointing – the Victorian government then also backtracked on it by refusing to file another exemption for Djokovic: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/novak-djokovics-vaccine-exem... The Serbian arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday evening local time, but faced trouble at the border, with Acting Sports Minister Jaala Pulford confirming that the state government was not supporting his visa application to compete in the Australian Open.
She tweeted: “The Federal Government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic’s visa application to enter Australia.
“We will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam.
“We’ve always been clear on two points: visa approvals are a matter for the Federal Government, and medical exemptions are a matter for doctors.”
This is a particularly mind-boggling piece of grandstanding, given that the Victoria government had literally approved an exemption for him before. To make my position clear, I'm not at all a fan of what Djokovic is trying to pull and I think the guy should go and get vaccinated already, but this is a hot mess of the Australian governments trying to attempt some kind of face-saving measure.Re: Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration
#60Completely absurd behavior from the Australian authorities. They knew he wasn’t vaccinated from the get go, yet gave him an exemption which they later withdrew after he entered the country. No way to treat anyone, international tennis star or not.
He wasn't given an exemption at all though? He was denied entry and then appealed. Are you thinking of the exemption he was given by the tennis tournament, to play? It would be understandable if that one doesn't work to pass the border.