Victoria’s Acting Premier has made a big claim in the Novak Djokovic border fiasco, casting doubt on the tennis star’s vaccine exemption.
Acting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan claims no one in the state government saw bombshell correspondence between the commonwealth and Tennis Australia, as the blame game continues in the Novak Djokovic debacle.
The world No. 1 spent the night in immigration detention after his visa was denied upon arrival to Melbourne Airport to play in the Australian Open, due to his not having a valid medical exemption for being unvaccinated.
It has been reported the Serbian tennis star was relying on previously having had Covid for this “permission”, which was announced in a post to his Instagram on Tuesday.
As the fiasco intensified on Thursday, two letters emerged that had been sent in November from Health Minister Greg Hunt and the commonwealth Department of Health to the Tennis Australia chief executive.
The letters stated people who had tested positive to Covid-19 within the past six months did not meet exemption requirements to enter the country, casting doubt on why Djokovic had been granted an exemption to play in the tournament.
Ms Allan on Friday said she had been advised Victorian government officials hadn’t seen that correspondence.
“We wouldn’t necessarily see it, but it reinforces that point that it is the commonwealth government … that’s responsible for issuing visas and how they engage in that dialogue with Tennis Australia,” she told reporters.
“The role of the Victorian government here as the city and the state that hosts the Australian Open is to run a safe event. That has been the primary focus – having all the arrangements in place for the event to be run successfully and safely.”
Health panels set up by Tennis Australia and the Victorian government granted Djokovic an exemption to play in the tournament, sparking widespread public backlash.
Ms Allan said the role of the Victorian government panel was “very much separate from the visa process” and could only assess the eligibility of a medical exemption for unvaccinated players and support staff to take part in the tournament.
“How people who participate in that event get into the country is a matter for the commonwealth government, who are responsible for issuing visas,” she said.
Djokovic arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday to defend his Australian Open crown, but he was held by the Australian Border Force shortly after for failing to meet entry requirements.
Supporters have rallied outside the hotel where Djokovic is being detained as he mounts a court challenge to his deportation.
About 50 people swarmed outside the Carlton hotel on Friday, some bearing Serbian flags and chanting the world No.1’s name.
“Free Novak now,” shouted one woman into a megaphone. “Let him go.”
“The number one tennis player in the world should not be locked up,” another man yelled.
Protesters included Djokovic fans as well as members of the anti-vaccine mandate crowd.
Choruses of “free Djokovic” jarred with “free the refugees” from a small band of refugee advocates who’ve been pushing for the release of about 33 asylum seekers detained in immigration detention at the same hotel.
The tennis champion’s supporters unfurled a large banner bearing Djokovic’s face in a park opposite the hotel before moving to the hotel facade on Swanston St, loudly chanting and singing in Serbian as a dozen police kept watch.
Australian Serbian man Sinisa was at the rally on Thursday night and Friday after years of supporting the star’s career.
“I didn’t come here for Djokovic, I’m here with Djokovic, for my one year old son, for all sons and people around the world that want to be free, ” he said.
“It’s very disappointing.
“For the best tennis player of all time to be treated like that, to be put in the hotel where there are people with positive cases as well, he should have been given better treatment. He deserves it.”
People inside the hotel peered outside the windows and gestured at the noisy commotion, but there was no sign of the tennis titan.
Fellow immigration detainees knew he was in there, though, the Tamil Refugee Council’s John Sugunananthan said.
“They’re aware Novak is there. They’re using, like us, any opportunity to have their voices heard,” Mr Sugunananthan said.
“There’s no real end in sight for them, so they’re not sure when they’re going to be released.
“Today Novak is also locked up in there, so it’s an opportunity for us to tell the world about this cruelty that’s been happening here.”
Amnesty International campaigner Shankar Kasynathan said the tennis star’s plight helped shine a global light on their predicament, with some refugees having been detained for nine years awaiting their case.
“All of a sudden we have the world’s most celebrated athlete, Novak Djokovic, holed up under the same roof as some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” he said.
“We are calling on Novak Djokovic to join the call to action, to reflect on his arbitrary detention here by the Australian government and to recognise the plight of people he’s holed up with next to.
“He has a lot of influence, he’s a celebrated athlete. We’re asking him to use his platform, to use his voice, to call for an immediate end to the detention of these men.”
Border Force officials on Thursday released a statement about the saga and confirmed the tennis star had failed to provide appropriate evidence.
“The ABF can confirm that Mr Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia and his visa has been subsequently cancelled,” the Australian Border Force said on Thursday.
“Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia.”
Djokovic is in immigration detention at the hotel awaiting the outcome of a high stakes legal battle with Australian authorities to avoid his deportation, days out from the tennis tournament.
Djokovic’s family have launched an extraordinary attack on Scott Morrison as they protest his treatment in Australia, with his father likening his son’s predicament to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Even Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic weighed in, claiming the star is the victim of a “political witch-hunt”.
The challenge in the Federal Circuit and Family Court to the federal government’s decision to deport Djokovic from Australia has been adjourned until Monday.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Friday morning refuted claims from Djokovic’s family that he was being kept in captivity.
“Well, can I say, firstly, that Mr Djokovic is not being held captive in Australia. He is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so and Border Force will actually facilitate that,” she told the ABC.
She also confirmed that a visa had been issued to Djokovic, but he failed to meet entry requirements.
“Yes, there was a visa issued – that is actually not the issue. It is the second part of that process, which is the specific entry requirements to be able to cross Australia’s border and to enter Australia lawfully,” she said.
Ms Andrews said investigations were underway for two other individuals associated with tennis.
“I’m aware of investigations in relation to two individuals by the Australian Border Force,” she said.
“They’re going through their processes of investigation.
“And at some time, they will brief me, but all I can absolutely assure you and the rest of Australia of is that the Australian Border Force will take absolutely the appropriate action.
“So, they’re conducting their investigations and they will take the appropriate action.”
— Additional reporting by Olivia Jenkins
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2022-01-07 07:21:01Z
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