Did Novak LIE? Huge twist as Border Force investigate bombshell claims the star made a 'false declaration'

Daily Mail (Australia/UK) ^ | 11th January 2022

[Captain Walker]

You've made some fine points about border security and they're well-taken, but I would point out that if Novak has an official document from one part of Australia that says he's allowed in to play tennis and then someone swoops in from another part of Australia and says that the first document is inadequate, you can't blame that on the visitor, particularly if he's already landed in your country. (He's visiting what he believed to be a friendly country, and until recently, we've all recognized Australia as such.)

He's flying around the world to play in a tennis tournament and he ran into a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors that he neither expected nor wanted.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Oh good grief ! Fire Australia !!

[naturalman1975]

You've made some fine points about border security and they're well-taken, but I would point out that if Novak has an official document from one part of Australia that says he's allowed in to play tennis and then someone swoops in from another part of Australia and says that the first document is inadequate, you can't blame that on the visitor, particularly if he's already landed in your country. (He's visiting what he believed to be a friendly country, and until recently, we've all recognized Australia as such.)

To a great extent I agree with you - I originally thought Djokovic had been either disingenuous or very careless in accepting the documentation from Tennis Australia (in concert with the Victorian government) as valid, but I now accept he had genuine reason for making that assumption.

But I would like to point out, it's not quite as you describe - this is not a matter of someone from a different part of Australia swooping in. This is a matter of the Commonwealth government of Australia which clearly and unambiguously has constitutional authority over entry to Australia, stepping in over a state government (that of Victoria) that has no constitutional authority whatsoever in this area.

It is extremely problematic constitutionally speaking that a Judge has allowed a decision by a state government to determine who can enter Australia, over the objections of the Commonwealth government and that is basically what has happened here. Djokovic isn't any threat to Australia - but the Victorian government has a history of cozying up to China, and of being soft on illegal immigration (they can afford to be - hardly any illegal immigrants try to enter via Victoria). If they can now issue permission for entry, we have real security issues.

[kiryandil]

Australia voluntarily hosts the Australian Open and Novak is the number 1 tennis player on the world and Australia needs him more than he needs them.

We've discovered a way for 67-year-old Greg Norman to win The Masters, at long last!

Trick the Masters Committee into relocating Augusta National to Victoria, then hold all the entrants over piddly-ant twaddle!

Slam-dunk for The Shark!!

[bramps]

I don’t expect Americans to understand how Australia’s constitution works

***************************************

I may not know much about Australia’s Constitution but I know a lot more than you do about freedom.

[Paladin2]

Stupid Question.

The operative question is: “Are you currently shedding particles?”

[naturalman1975]

I don’t know how much you know about freedom.

I do know you have absolutely no idea how much it means to me.

[Aussiebabe]

Heh, they are not bears and the are very soft...just very smelly.

[naturalman1975]

Hey, you’re the ones who call a local Baseball tournament the World Series...

[MAGAthon]

11 Jan: Daily Mail: Australia’s humiliated Deputy Prime Minister admits ‘I got it WRONG’ about Novak Djokovic court case in sign tennis star may NOT be deported as minister mulls kicking him out despite legal victory
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said he was ‘wrong’ on Novak Djokovic
This suggests Immigration Minister Alex Hawke may not have him deported
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now spoken to Serbian PM Ana Brnabić
By STEPHEN JOHNSON and BRITTANY CHAIN IN MELBOURNE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce admitted he was wrong about tennis star Novak Djokovic following his court victory - strongly hinting he may not be deported.

The country’s second-in-command conceded he had made the wrong call in advocating for the 20-time Serbian Grand Slam champion to be kicked out of Australia because of his unvaccinated status.

Mr Joyce’s admission suggests Immigration Minister Alex Hawke may be inclined to accept the outcome of the Federal Circuit Court and not move to cancel Djokovic’s visa and have him deported...

‘I got it wrong. I thought that it would be game, set, match that he hadn’t been double vaxxed,’ Mr Joyce said. ‘I got it wrong, okay. I’m not going to pretend to be a solicitor again...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10388939/Australias-Deputy-Prime-Minister-Barnaby-Joyce-admits-got-wrong-Novak-Djokovic.html

[Cecily]

Of course the USA has its share of government overreach and injustices, but you are the one cheering on your government as it makes you and other citizens less free. Most of us here are not cheering on our American federal government nor this current sorry administration.

I hope we, the Aussies and everyone else who can vote removes these cursed tyrants from power in our next elections.

[Aussiebabe]

Hilarious, have you looked into the mirror and seen what is going on in the USA? We used to visit almost every year, now we are afraid to travel to the USA. Beside the crime, the FBI might put us in one of your political prisons without due process.

[Aussiebabe]

At least you have got that second part right!

[Alberta's Child]

There's a difference between protecting a nation's borders against mutants and invaders, and harassing a highly recognized international athlete who is coming to play a tennis tournament in your country and has probably already paid millions of dollars in taxes from prior events.

I don't think a scenario exists where Djokovic would plant his @ss in Australia as an illegal alien and then never leave.

[Captain Walker]

But I would like to point out, it's not quite as you describe - this is not a matter of someone from a different part of Australia swooping in. This is a matter of the Commonwealth government of Australia which clearly and unambiguously has constitutional authority over entry to Australia, stepping in over a state government (that of Victoria) that has no constitutional authority whatsoever in this area.

But would Djokovic know the difference between the two before he got on the plane?

If I wanted to visit an event or a company in Australia I would presumably get a piece of paper with a crown at the top saying something to the effect of, "You're good to go, mate." Nobody's going to look past that piece of paper.

If one of the state governments is issuing pieces of paper on its own, then that looks like a real problem for the federal government to hash out with that state government.

If you want to make it the responsibility of every visitor to Australia to make the long distance phone calls to the authorities or to hire an immigration lawyer to study a piece of paper to ensure that it's legit, well, you're going to watch tourism to your country collapse overnight. Any internecine conflicts between the federal and state level simply can't be the problem of someone coming to your country to spend money (or in Djokovic's case, help raise it).

[Alberta's Child]

It’s all fun and games until your country is invaded by Gambian jawas. LOL.

[naturalman1975]

Of course the USA has its share of government overreach and injustices, but you are the one cheering on your government as it makes you and other citizens less free.

No. I'm really not. Some people - including you, it seems - can't seem to grasp the difference between understanding why things are happening and supporting why those things are happening.

Just because I'm willing to honesty explain what is going on, and the thinking behind particular decisions, does not mean I support those decisions. Sometimes I might. Often I do not.

It just means I believe in being honest, even when the truth isn't what I'd like, rather than being dishonest, to try and manipulate people into doing what I'd like.

And I believe it's important that when a bad decision is taken, the actual people responsible are held to account for that - and that blame isn't diverted to people who weren't responsible. And all too often, that is what has been happening in foreign judgements of what has happened in Australia. Very often the conservative Commonwealth government is being blamed for decisions taken by socialist state governments - and how is that a good thing? It lets the socialists get away with all sorts of things, and makes people believe the conservatives are to blame for things they opposed. And do you think that just always happens by accident?

[Aussiebabe]

Once upon a time, the USA Freepers were conservative about immigration and looked down on the elite who believe they are above all the “small people”. But since the USA is overrun with illegal immigrants and it looks like many of them can't do anything about their own internal problems, and now it also looks like it, if you are famous, rich, and the best tennis player in the world, that is OK to be above the rest of us and ignore the laws. As I said before, I hope he plays, but he has been a big whinger before.

[Aussiebabe]

I know we are not supposed to make personal attacks on FR. But you have just insulted an Aussie military veteran. A military that has supported the USA in every modern war. And we had to watch the Americans run out of Afghanistan, leaving USA citizens behind. You are a very sad person to insult the military.

[MAGAthon]

can’t access more without signing up:

9 Jan: The Age, Melbourne: Leaked letters: Federal authorities advised vax exemptions were Victoria’s responsibility
by Paul Sakkal
A series of leaked letters to and from Tennis Australia in the lead up to Novak Djokovic being denied entry to Australia show doubt and confusion over whether it was a state or federal government responsibility to give exemptions from Australia’s double-vaccination immigration regime.

The letters show an adviser to Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, saying the exemption question was a matter for Victoria, and Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton implying the same thing...
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/leaked-letters-federal-authorities-advised-vax-exemptions-were-victoria-s-responsibility-20220109-p59mw9.html

from The Age’s sister newspaper - Sydney Morning Herald:

9 Jan: The World News: Leaked letters: Federal authorities advised vax exemptions were Victoria’s responsibility
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Federal government officials told Tennis Australia the Victorian government was responsible for assessing vaccine exemptions, according to leaked correspondence that shows Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton declared people with a prior infection could enter Victoria quarantine-free.

The new letters also show federal officials declined to check exemption applications in advance of travellers boarding planes, which could have avoided the need for Novak Djokovic’s paperwork to be examined for the first time only when he arrived at Melbourne Airport...

The leaked documents show Tennis Australia was in weekly discussions with the federal Home Affairs Department.

On November 10, an adviser to Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, Dr Allison Cairns, wrote to Tennis Australia, which had been asking whether players who weren’t fully vaccinated would be permitted entry.
“Medical exemptions from vaccination will be at the discretion of the state or territory so it would probably be good to touch base with the state of arrival earlier rather than later to determine if any will be an issue,” Dr Cairns wrote...

The federal advice to Tennis Australia aligns with statements made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the day Djokovic arrived.

Asked whether the world No. 1 had received an exemption, Morrison said on January 5: “Well, that is a matter for the Victorian government. They have provided him with an exemption to come to Australia, and so we then act in accordance with that decision … That’s how it works. States provide exemptions for people to enter on those bases.”...

Tennis Australia also asked federal authorities to review the exemptions of players three days before they boarded planes to avoid a Djokovic-style airport interrogation.
“In particular, it is the ability to review vaccination certificates/exemptions ahead of the 72 hour window that is most pressing for us, as we would like to give players some comfort over a process to be followed to ensure any issues can be dealt with well in advance of their journey to Australia,” Tennis Australia wrote to federal departments for Health and Home Affairs.

In response, senior federal Health Department official Andrew Godkin said on November 17: “[Australian Travel Declaration] and vaccination information is required for jurisdictions to manage travellers on arrival. Health and Home Affairs are unable to provide or review certificates. Certificates are reviewed at check in.”...
https://theworldnews.net/au-news/leaked-letters-federal-authorities-advised-vax-exemptions-were-victoria-s-responsibility