Regardless of whether or not Novak Djokovic gets to defend his Australian Open title, something up in the air despite his successful legal bid, Australia has been made to look ridiculous thanks to a double fault from the Prime Minister.
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Mr Morrison, obviously mistakenly assuming the Victorian government's decision to grant the 20-time Grand Slam winner an exemption to play was his "Tampa moment", politicised Mr Djokovic's legitimate attempt to enter Australia by complying with the rules as they had been explained to him even before the Serbian boarded his plane.
In an apparent replay of John Howard's famous assertion "we will decide who enters under this country and the circumstances under which they come" he said "rules are rules" and that nobody, no matter how famous they were, was entitled to special treatment. This was not true. On his arrival at Melbourne Airport in the early hours of Thursday the joker was indeed singled out for special treatment; just not of a favourable nature.
Unlike previous unvaccinated Australian Open arrivals, apparently passed by the ABF with a minimum fuss, Mr Djokovic was ushered into a closed room by armed guards and quizzed for hours. His phone was briefly taken away and he was unable, through no fault of his own, to contact either Tennis Australia or his lawyers.
At 6am he was woken from a short sleep and urged to agree to having his visa cancelled. By 7.42am it was official. Shortly afterwards he was driven to an immigration detention hotel, recently the site of a major fire and a serious COVID-19 outbreak, and told he would be detained there until his deportation.
Mr Djokovic's lawyers said the visa should not have been cancelled because he went over and above the entry requirements as they had been explained to him; the notice of cancellation did not set out valid grounds, the ABF had not taken ATAGI advice on COVID-19 infections into account, and Mr Djokovic had been denied procedural fairness, sufficient rest and a lawyer.
Government advocates, apparently so caught off guard by the strength of Mr Djokovic's case and the relative weakness of their own to the extent they unsuccessfully sought a two-day postponement, relied on entry conditions - such as the need to be double vaccinated - that were apparently not clearly communicated to Mr Djokovic by either the state or federal governments or Tennis Australia. They also argued the deportation of the player and official who had earlier entered Australia under the same exemption supports their case despite the ABF having no problems with those visas until the Djokovic circus.
While it is possible, regardless of the Federal Circuit Court decision, the government could deport Mr Djokovic anyway that would not be without consequence.
Not only has this case drawn attention to a mare's nest of cross jurisdictional border crossing requirements as confused and as hard to understand as in any banana republic, it has also focused attention on the shameful way Australia treats asylum seekers. Mr Djokovic has been locked up in a low rent Melbourne Hotel for a few nights; he is sharing it with people who have been there up to nine years.
If, even after the Federal Circuit Court decision, Mr Djokovic is still sent packing questions will inevitably be asked about whether or not the rule of law applies in Australia.
While the Serbian tennis great's ambivalence towards vaccination is on the nose with the vast majority of Australians - who have made this one of the most inoculated countries on earth - he should not be singled out for special treatment on the basis of that.
This case has rightly been determined on its merits.
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