Immigration Minister Alex Hawke cancels Novak Djokovic's visa ahead of Australian Open

[canetoad]

Source: ABC Au.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has used his ministerial powers to personally cancel Novak Djokovic's visa, after the world number one men's tennis player won a court case earlier this week against the cancellation of his entry visa.

Mr Hawke said he had cancelled the visa this time on "health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so".

"In making this decision I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic," he said.

"The Morrison Government is firmly committed to protecting Australia's borders, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-14/novak-djokovic-visa-cancellation-decision-immigration-minister/100748386

---

snip
It was untenable to allow the unvaccinated tennis player to gain easy entry to Australia when he had misled border officials about his travel to Spain and been caught in public in Serbia while infectious with the coronavirus. The penalty is that he may be denied entry to Australia for three years.

But political factors were fundamental to the decision by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, one of Morrison’s closest allies.

The government can see that Australians are in no mood to give Djokovic a waiver when so many people have put up with tough rules for so long – even when that has meant closing the border to the country’s own citizens.

That means the decision is the right call. Australians are anxious about the Omicron wave and searching for rapid antigen tests at a time when food and grocery supplies are running low at some supermarkets. Morrison is under pressure to get the nation through a grim summer. It is no time to offer special exemptions to a tennis player.

While some fear for the status of the Australian Open, the decisive factor has been the experience of ordinary Australians, especially those who have aired their frustrations to government MPs.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-political-cost-of-letting-djokovic-stay-was-too-high-for-morrison-20220114-p59oc4.html

[Moebym]

1. Good.

He, his parents, and all of his knuckleheaded supporters in Serbia and beyond can eat dirt.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. His arrogance and

selfishness have certainly eclipsed his athletic talent.

[Hiawatha Pete]

25. +1

[trusty elf]

2. Serves him right!

[Ftrump]

19. Novaxx Djkovid? n/t

[trusty elf]

20. I like it.

[MerryHolidays]

31. Excellent!

Could we further modify to call him "Novax Joke-covid"?

Either way, the "Novaxx" is absolutely brilliant!

I hope folks that know how to use social media can broadcast a meme to nail this fool. It doesn't look like he's getting out of this, which is great. He lied on his visa application, and that's a big no-no. But heaven forbid that Novax becomes a hero to the anti-vaxxers.

He is an egotistical baby who puts himself above anyone else. He clearly cares only for himself.

[Demguy81]

4. This is such a heel program.

I actually side with Djokovic, but not by much, and he should have never been granted any exemption or visa in the first place.

But, once he got an exemption and visa, to turn him around at the border after the federal government already said that it was a Victoria state issue is suspect. Trying to deport him again after the court ruling is not the best example of following the rule of law.

Another forgotten point, Australian elections are as soon as this Spring, and the RIGHT-WING government is trailing badly. I want all of you to try to imagine what the reaction here would have been if Trump tried the same thing in August 2020.

And, have to mention that Djokovic is a liar who couldn't tell the truth even if he got his tongue notorized.

So, between a liar person and a liar right-wing government, I've got to go with Djokovic.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Does 'heel' equal 'shit'?

If so, I'd agree, but as an Australian citizen I'd never, ever side with Novaxx, not even by a slight smidgen of a micromillimetre.

It would have been solved so easily if the govt had told him he wasn't welcome and wouldn't be allowed in. But ScoMo didn't read the temperature of the room until Novaxx was on a plane and on his way over. I wouldn't like to be pulled up by any Border Force and grilled and have my phone taken away at Way Too Early O'Clock in the morning. I read the transcipts of his interview and thought he was way more polite than I would have been and his request to give him more time to get documentation from Tennis Australia and stuff was quite reasonable. But he's not vaccinated. None of it would have happened if he were vaccinated. He has parents who are weirdos and brought him up to think he's so special he can spread all sorts of diseases and as long as he sits in some egg thing he's all good.

I hate agreeing with the govt on this, but this is one time the Immigration Minister has used his nuclear button for the greater good. I've seen the pain the govt has insisted on piling on the Biloela family and I hate it that the international media focuses on an entitled multimillionaire rather than a family with two small children who are suffering and who would be welcomed back with open arms by their community (btw, the family are now in Perth in community detention).

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56768529#:~:text=The%20Murugappans%20are%20a%20family%20of%20four%3A%20mother,small%20town%20where%20they%20lived%20for%20four%20years.

[YP_Yooper]

22. But as I understand it...

"the Immigration Minister has used his nuclear button for the greater good"

this was FAR more an example of the Minister using his nuclear button for politics and public image than the rule of law - seeing they decided to overrule the Court - especially if this guy is now immune after recovery and doesn't pose a risk of transmission. If this was truly about public health, the gov't wouldn't simply allow double-vacc'd in either with Omicron.

[Demguy81]

26. Yes, heel is piece of shit

It's a professional wrestling term (babyface = good guy, heel = bad guy)

All shit here, but a piece of shit government is more dangerous than a piece of shit individual.

And I'll reiterate, I would have been 100% behind the government if they had said from the outset "fuck you, don't come", but they had to do this long and drawn out circus because right-wing is gonna right-wing.

Fuck everyone in this story.

[onetexan]

27. +1 -K&R

[IronLionZion]

23. Can't do something because some hypothetical future RW government will use it against us?

Means you don't know RWers. RWers will do bad stuff regardless of justification. It's what they do.

Trump did quite the opposite. He consistently encouraged the spread of COVID through misinformation.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Good Hopefully this vids cancellation will stick.

Given the length of time it took for it to happen I'm guessing the govt has got all its bases covered.

[IzzaNuDay]

6. Australians are justified in wanting ND gone

ND proved he couldn’t be trusted. His handlers didn’t do much better. What’s Aussie for “Goodbye”?

[Beakybird]

7. Toodle loo kangaroo!

[Violet_Crumble]

8. It's not just the lack of trust

It's that he was unvaccinated and came here even though Australian citizens haven't been able to come home. Also, he's a dumbfuck.

[brer cat]

9. I think this was a good decision.

There was no good reason to give him a visa in the first place.

[Picaro]

10. The right decision

[tishaLA]

11. remember hoe angry the tennis world was at Naomi Osaka....

just because she didn't want to do a couple press conferences?

And how is it that the same people who believe Australia should allow Djoker into the country are opposed to their countries allowing refugees to enter?

[robbob]

24. Yeah, let's not forget Aaron Rogers Covid scandal...

They gave out slap on the wrist fines, and he didn’t even get suspended for one game. Sports guys are “special”…

[Eugene]

12. "health and good order grounds" - an obvious case

[hlthe2b]

13. He's an ass in every way so my reflex is to celebrate. Australian citizens who could not return

are the primary reason this has to happen but his lies on his visa app and wanton exposure to others while infected more than justify it IMO.

It is messy as hell. And for the one person who defended Djokovik upstream, it is ludicrous to think Trump would ever have done the same and thus we should "check our bias." Show me one time when Trump did the "right" thing against the wishes of a rich celebrity flaunting public health regulations during COVID? Sure, like all those WWE events held in Fl during COVID and elsewhere and that Trump himself attended? Trump's superspreader OK event that killed his own, including Herman Cain? Give me a break. What a stretch to defend a lying liar like Djokovic.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. Hello, old friend! I hadn't noticed the Novaxx defender!

I've read it now and have lots and lots of thoughts about it that I'm not sure I should share with DU.

[hlthe2b]

16. ...

Good to see you and... yeah.

[Lasher]

14. Good. It's his own fault.

He's been coy about his vaccination status, which means he hasn't gotten his COVID shots. He tried to game Australia's system to get an exemption and almost got by with it. Too bad for him though, he's been called on it. All he had to do was get vaccinated like everybody else. He won't, so buh bye.

[ToxMarz]

21. Or he can stay unvaccinated, not lie and flaunt the measures

in place to protect the public and ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES! These arrogant celebrities don't believe there are any negative consequences for themselves no matter how negative their behavior is

[johnthewoodworker]

18. Guess it's time for old Djokovic to do the Republican thing and become a victim.

[Hiawatha Pete]

28. .

[Aussie105]

29. Novak is your classic elite athlete.

His sport matters, nothing else. The virus? He's ignoring it all the way!

He wants to get into Australia, to play tennis, defend his status, and to make money.

So he tells a few lies, distorts the truth a bit. Nothing harmful, surely, he says.

Those who said 'Yeah, fine!' initially were too lazy to look into his vaccination status and visa application more closely, so it had to come to this.

Those in Australia and back home protesting in the streets have fully bought into the 'head in the sand' approach to the virus that Novak will be tainted with for the rest of his career.

[Eugene]

30. Djokovic's appeal of canceled visa moves to higher court

Source: Associated Press

Djokovic’s appeal of canceled visa moves to higher court

By JOHN PYE and ROD McGUIRK
January 14, 2022

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic’s effort to play in the Australian Open despite being unvaccinated for COVID-19 moved to a higher court Saturday as the No. 1-ranked tennis player appealed the second cancellation of his visa.

Djokovic was not seen on the online feed available to the public for the 15-minute procedural hearing, which began just two days before he is scheduled to play his first match of 2022 at Melbourne Park.

Judge David O’Callaghan ruled that lawyers representing Djokovic and the government would need to submit written arguments later Saturday and scheduled a further hearing for Sunday morning.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke blocked the 34-year-old Serb’s visa, which was originally revoked when he landed at a Melbourne airport last week. But it was restored Monday by a judge on procedural grounds, because Djokovic was not allowed to have a lawyer with him at the airport.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/novak-djokovic-australia-open-live-updates-075f3818cb1d14bd14854faf5a3e189d