Djokovic Visa

Cancelled on the grounds that having Covid for an unvaccinated person wasn't a valid reason for a medical exemption. That was never addressed in the earlier court case and I was always puzzled when the medical panels of Tennis Australia and the State of Victoria gave that exemption on these grounds, when there wasn't such an exemption in the Federal Government's Border regulations.
Rumours that he will get a special court sitting on Sunday to consider another appeal.
 
Cancelled on the grounds that having Covid for an unvaccinated person wasn't a valid reason for a medical exemption. That was never addressed in the earlier court case and I was always puzzled when the medical panels of Tennis Australia and the State of Victoria gave that exemption on these grounds, when there wasn't such an exemption in the Federal Government's Border regulations.
Rumours that he will get a special court sitting on Sunday to consider another appeal.
Strange that it’s taken so long for them to realise that it wasn’t a valid exemption.
 
Cancelled on the grounds that having Covid for an unvaccinated person wasn't a valid reason for a medical exemption. That was never addressed in the earlier court case and I was always puzzled when the medical panels of Tennis Australia and the State of Victoria gave that exemption on these grounds, when there wasn't such an exemption in the Federal Government's Border regulations.
Rumours that he will get a special court sitting on Sunday to consider another appeal.
He should do the sport that he’s now damaged a favour and leave the country, but l doubt he will.
 
Couldn’t have happened to a nastier ,I mean nicer( sic), man.
No doubt about his tennis ability but he is not beyond cheating to get his way on and off the tennis court.
 
Cowardly way of doing it all really. Could have just refused him a visa from the outset if they didn't want him in.
 
Just hope this sets a precedent for going forward, problem was always Australia messed it up by granting hm a way in to start with. If you have rules that say you need to be vaccinated then stick with them and don’t bottle it just because someone who is rich and famous doesn’t like it😠
 
Irrespective of this particular case, it does seem worrying that having some degree of natural immunity via infection is not recognised. Other countries seem quite happy to accept it.
 
But they did want him in, he’s the World No.1 tennis player and holder of the Australian Open but he falsified entry paperwork hence why his visa has been cancelled and quite rightly so.
Come off it, they've gone through his application with a fine tooth comb. If you went into the country "on business", you'd receive less scrutiny. Other tennis players were allowed in with the same exemption. They created a problem that wasn't there. There is/was no risk to public health by letting him in, it was purely political.
 
Irrespective of this particular case, it does seem worrying that having some degree of natural immunity via infection is not recognised. Other countries seem quite happy to accept it.
Why is it worrying - it's their borders and their country?

They have the right to refuse any non Australian they like 👍
 
Come off it, they've gone through his application with a fine tooth comb. If you went into the country "on business", you'd receive less scrutiny. Other tennis players were allowed in with the same exemption. They created a problem that wasn't there. There is/was no risk to public health by letting him in, it was purely political.
So who put the cross in the wrong box confirming he had not visited any other country within 14 days of his arrival in Australia, oh yeh his agent who he threw under the bus! This is not about being exempted on medical grounds its about him falsifying paperwork in accordance with Australias strict immigration laws.
 
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Emergency court hearing being held now. Djokovic's lawyers are seeking a holding visa, with work rights, until a more substantive court hearing. What a mess, how can he be allowed to start the Tennis Open if he potentially got thrown out during the tournament.
Allowing him a work visa would also prejudge the outcome of any subsequent court hearing
 
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It feels to me like he's committed a crime by knowingly falsifying paperwork. Can't believe the usually no nonsense Aussies have botched this so badly.
 
So who put the cross in the wrong box confirming he had not visited any other country within 14 days of his arrival in Australia, oh yeh his agent who he through under the bus! This is not about being exempted on medical grounds its about him falsifying paperwork in accordance with Australias strict immigration laws.
If he wasn't Novak and they weren't a biomedical police state, he'd have waltzed into the country. You must surely agree with that?
 
If he wasn't Novak and they weren't a biomedical police state, he'd have waltzed into the country. You must surely agree with that?
He waltzed into Spain apparantly but Australia do have very strict immigration laws with or without coronavirus, anyway it looks like we haven’t heard the end of this! Tennis is my favourite sport after football and Djokovic is an outstanding player who l admire for his ability but unfortunately he has tarnished himself and the game itself by thinking he can waltz into Australia with dodgy paperwork.
 
He waltzed into Spain apparantly but Australia do have very strict immigration laws with or without coronavirus, anyway it looks like we haven’t heard the end of this! Tennis is my favourite sport after football and Djokovic is an outstanding player who l admire for his ability but unfortunately he has tarnished himself and the game itself by thinking he can waltz into Australia with dodgy paperwork.
He's probably done it hundreds of times through his career, as have other players I reckon. It's normally a rubber stamp job, a formality. Completely unimportant. I myself have been away in the last two years "on business" or "for educational purposes". No issue at all and nobody died, but if the entire machinery of government decided to go through the paperwork, I'd have been screwed. There will be people being trafficked into Aus as we speak with nothing more than a glance at a passport. It's just a shame that so many people still feel that these rules and unnecessary bureaucracy provide any sort of protection at all. Or is it all just a lot more basic than that - jealousy, bitterness maybe? Annoyance that he's an anti-vaxxer that isn't dead yet? People do hold these views.
 
Not really, get your visa wrong in the US and you don't make it out of the airport, it's been that way for years.
I have had a green card for 20 years and they still almost turf me out everytime I leave and come back. [puzzled look] "so you visited.. england????.... why would you do that???". I also once got held in detention in Canada during a connecting flight for answering the question "are you planning to stay here in Edmonton illegally?" with "to be honest, i've never even heard of Edmonton". If I attempted to visit Australia I assume i'd be wacked about the face and arms with boomerangs and forced to wear one of those hats with wine-corks hanging from it.
 
Another twist on this. Apparently, Djokovic holds a special 'diplomatic' passport granted by the Serbian government over the 10 years for raising the profile of their tennis. Apparently, this grants him some extra privelages, such as how he is held by the authorities.
 
Another twist on this. Apparently, Djokovic holds a special 'diplomatic' passport granted by the Serbian government over the 10 years for raising the profile of their tennis. Apparently, this grants him some extra privelages, such as how he is held by the authorities.
Interesting. The way things have panned out, you wouldn't think the Aussies were hosting a major international tennis tournament and he was the number one player. The guy should've have been greeted off the plane by Kylie Minogue. Red carpet treatment all the way to his hotel. Instead he was unlawfully detained for five days. Completely mental.
 
Interesting. The way things have panned out, you wouldn't think the Aussies were hosting a major international tennis tournament and he was the number one player. The guy should've have been greeted off the plane by Kylie Minogue. Red carpet treatment all the way to his hotel. Instead he was unlawfully detained for five days. Completely mental.
I doubt Kylie would want to meet him not being vaccinated and all. 🤣
 
to my mind this should be very very straightforward. he has lied on his Visa application (the whole my agent filled it in excuse simply does not wash)
They ask questions regarding other countries visited for a good reason. He has conveniently failed to mention visiting Serbia and Spain.
In my opinion his Visa having been granted on false information should be cancelled.
Would somebody he was not famous get the luxury of a court hearing on a Sunday!? Would they heck, they would be on the next plane out
 
Cancelled on the grounds that having Covid for an unvaccinated person wasn't a valid reason for a medical exemption.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation disagrees with you.

Valid reasons for a temporary exemption include:
  • PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, where vaccination can be deferred until 6 months after the infection.
And my understanding is that it's being cancelled on the grounds that he might encourage the anti-vax movement.

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...st-news-visa-hearing-appeal-court-australian/

Court documents released after an initial hearing in the Federal Court on Saturday showed the minister had justified his decision on the grounds that Mr Djokovic's presence could whip up more anti-vaccination sentiment in Australia at a time that the country is in the midst of its worst outbreak of the virus.
 
I am really struggling to understand the Australian government‘s approach to the court case. They are justifying their decision on the basis that he poses a risk to public health because of his stated anti-VAX stance. Surely they would have been better arguing it on the basis that his initial application for a Visa has been invalidated on the basis of misleading information provided. They could surely say that a Visa would not of been issued had honest answers been given on the initial application. It would be difficult for Djokovic to argue that that was a “irrational“ decision whereas the one presented does have a hint of the irrational about it
 
Surely they would have been better arguing it on the basis that his initial application for a Visa has been invalidated on the basis of misleading information provided.

See my post above.

The point is he did not provide misleading information, the information he gave was correct, the ATAGI, which is the official Australian government body says that infection is grounds for medical exemption, by law he is entitled to a visa and to enter the country, the only way they can stop him is on the tenuous grounds that he might encourage anti-vaxers.

There's a general election in May, this is all about scoring popularity points at ND's expense.
 
See my post above.

The point is he did not provide misleading information, the information he gave was correct, the ATAGI, which is the official Australian government body says that infection is grounds for medical exemption, by law he is entitled to a visa and to enter the country, the only way they can stop him is on the tenuous grounds that he might encourage anti-vaxers.

There's a general election in May, this is all about scoring popularity points at ND's expense.
Other than the failure to mention going to Spain.
 
That was the point I was making. The court papers confirm that Djokovic has admitted now that he failed to include details of his trip to Serbia and Spain on the Visa, blaming it on his agent (snake). How can that possibly not be grounds to revoke a Visa, it has been issued on false information

Can you imagine a Syrian refugee arriving in Australia on a student Visa and then admitting that in fact he had come to work, do we think he would get a court hearing on a Sunday?
 
That was the point I was making. The court papers confirm that Djokovic has admitted now that he failed to include details of his trip to Serbia and Spain on the Visa, blaming it on his agent (snake). How can that possibly not be grounds to revoke a Visa, it has been issued on false information

Can you imagine a Syrian refugee arriving in Australia on a student Visa and then admitting that in fact he had come to work, do we think he would get a court hearing on a Sunday?

Is the visit to Spain a material omission? If it had been included would it have resulted in the visa not being issued?

If not then it's a non-issue.
 
It’s sounding like Djokovic is going to get away with this at the court hearing, his defence team were excellent on his behalf apparently and the government’s lawyers are making a right balls up of it. If he’s allowed to stay it’s going to set a really bad precedent but the government have been absolutely hopeless in dealing with it.
 
I have been watching most of it and it appears to rest largely on legal arguments and process. The government lawyers are only half way through their case and do seem to have countered many of the arguments put by ND's lawyers. The latter are more slick in their presentations but as I say it depends on legal arguments. One of the reasons the Minister appears to have taken so much time in making the decision is so he could look at all the evidence and both sides of the argument. I haven't seen the written submissions, but am surprised the government lawyers haven't also specifically referenced ND's behaviour being a dannger to health -not just his anti-vaccination stance but his behaviour in mixing and crossing borders when covid postive and ignoring covid rules. Who knows what the 3 appeal judges will base their judgement on. I am not a lawyer!
 
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