Why Djokovic’s medical exemption was assessed at the border unexpectedly

[Ledigs]

Two important things: The federal or Victorian govt could have sponsored his exemption in the name of national interest - which they at first did for Ranata. This is an exemption that is separate from the medical exemption process.

But once it became clear that it wasn’t in the national interest for Djokovic the Victorian govt chose not sponsor him in the name of the national interest when he arrived.

ABF called Victoria and they declined to sponsor Djokovic.

Since he wasn’t sponsored the next step is to assess the medical exemption:

2) his medical exemption was assessed by ABF based on its merits (which he wasn’t expecting to happen) and they found it didn’t pass muster.

He’s supposed to get vaccinated as soon as his symptoms are gone per Australian law guidance.

Seems open and shut to me. The government knows its own laws. The fact that Djokovic didn’t understand them isn’t their problem.

 

[Novichok]

The government simply respected the sentiments of the Australian public by withdrawing their support for an antivaxxer's BASELESS medical exemption.

Not exactly the wrong thing to do for anyone in their position.

 

[ibbi]

Seems open and shut to me. The government knows its own laws. The fact that Djokovic didn’t understand them isn’t their problem.

It's not Novak's issue, it's Tennis Australia who tried to play the system to get him in under false pretenses. Either that or gross incompetence, and they're the ones who don't understand the laws.

 

[Ledigs]

I think the “medical exemptions” of TA/Victoria medical board was devised just to assess whether Victoria should sponsor players including Djokovic’s “national interest exemptions” - and indeed a Victoria sponsored national interest exemption would have sufficed for ABF to let Djokovic in.

But public outrage ensued and Victoria decided not to sponsor him upon arrival. This tracks with the statement by Morrison, the letters released, TA’s statements etc. Everyone was expecting Victoria to sponsor Djokovic.

Once Victoria didn’t sponsor him, the Feds said heck no, we aren’t sponsoring him either.

 

[sureshs]

Two important things: The federal or Victorian govt could have sponsored his exemption in the name of national interest - which they at first did for Ranata. This is an exemption that is separate from the medical exemption process.

But once it became clear that it wasn’t in the national interest for Djokovic the Victorian govt chose not sponsor him in the name of the national interest when he arrived.

ABF called Victoria and they declined to sponsor Djokovic.

Since he wasn’t sponsored the next step is to assess the medical exemption:

2) his medical exemption was assessed by ABF based on its merits (which he wasn’t expecting to happen) and they found it didn’t pass muster.

He’s supposed to get vaccinated as soon as his symptoms are gone per Australian law guidance.

Seems open and shut to me. The government knows its own laws. The fact that Djokovic didn’t understand them isn’t their problem.

Moreover, there are issues about how he could have claimed to have a medical exemption in November (when he applied for the visa), and then miraculously contracted COVID after that (and appeared at an event too).

 

[lucky13]

I have read in another forum that a Serbian football player says that it is rafa who did not respect OZI laws but came in without any problems. while nole who did everything according to law was locked up. he says that even OZI citizens who stay abroad and receive covid may not return until 14 days after. how could he come after 10 or 11 days he is wondering. and he also wonders why no one mentions it. is it true that it should take at least 2 weeks after a positive test before you can be admitted to OZI country?

 

[Ledigs]

I have read in another forum that a Serbian football player says that it is rafa who did not respect OZI laws but came in without any problems. while nole who did everything according to law was locked up. he says that even OZI citizens who stay abroad and receive covid may not return until 14 days after. how could he come after 10 or 11 days he is wondering. and he also wonders why no one mentions it. is it true that it should take at least 2 weeks after a positive test before you can be admitted to OZI country?

Not sure how this is relevant to my post

 

[lucky13]

Not sure how this is relevant to my post

did not want to open a whole new tread for such a simple question, just need answers to it. there should be people who know such things in your tread. happy?

 

[wangs78]

I can understand being upset if a government said you can enter the country then changed it's mind at the last minute. But the reality is Djokovic's grounds for exemption are QUITE OBVIOUSLY DUBIOUS. A perfectly healthy individual, refusing to vaccinate, who contracts COVID at the 11th hour to make himself eligible for a debatable exemption. I say it was debatable bc it basically relied on a Tennis Australia exemption that was then waved past the relevant provincial and federal agencies responsible for visas, etc. When in fact, there is evidence (the letter from Hunt to Tiley in November) showing that the official stance is that a covid infection is NOT grounds for exemption. And even if it was, as the government's court filing today said, that exemption is meant to address people who were too sick from a COVID infection and needed time to recover before taking the vaccine. That's clearly not the case for Novak, because he's healthy (has to be, he's ready to play the Australian Open!).

Djokovic's entire strategy relied on the expectation that the authorities would not enforce its own rules. Which is never a good strategy.

 

[jeroenn]

I have read in another forum that a Serbian football player says that it is rafa who did not respect OZI laws but came in without any problems. while nole who did everything according to law was locked up. he says that even OZI citizens who stay abroad and receive covid may not return until 14 days after. how could he come after 10 or 11 days he is wondering. and he also wonders why no one mentions it. is it true that it should take at least 2 weeks after a positive test before you can be admitted to OZI country?

If you read the actual court documents, you would find that the statement that 'Nole who did everything according to the law' to be false.

 

[Francoss]

What I’ve been thinking is why in the world Novak’s camp didn’t call or visit an Australian consulate before he jumped in a plane. Were they waiting on a lower authority for a favor that never materialized?

 

[ihitlikeagirl]

The government knows its own laws. The fact that Djokovic didn’t understand them isn’t their problem

This is exactly the crux of whole argument IMO.

 

[Azure]

What I’ve been thinking is why in the world Novak’s camp didn’t call or visit an Australian consulate before he jumped in a plane. Were they waiting on a lower authority for a favor that never materialized?

Simple- he thought he was above scrutiny. His parents and bunch of rabid fans have exalted him to godly levels (his father for instance very recently equated him to Jesus on the cross) and so he thought he could enter without problems. He got caught. Its a simple issue really. Thank goodness for the media and specifically the social media which provided proofs to his specious arguments.

 

[ihitlikeagirl]

What I’ve been thinking is why in the world Novak’s camp didn’t call or visit an Australian consulate before he jumped in a plane. Were they waiting on a lower authority for a favor that never materialized?

I kind of would guess they did or he did use/consult with an immigration law firm and they gambled that this was his best chance of getting in. let's be honest: it was/is his best chance of getting in barring getting the vaccine. Just because the gamble isn't paying off the way they hoped or expected, I doubt that this whole thing wasn't very calculated.

 

[Ledigs]

What I’ve been thinking is why in the world Novak’s camp didn’t call or visit an Australian consulate before he jumped in a plane. Were they waiting on a lower authority for a favor that never materialized?

Indeed, they were waiting on Victoria for that favor.

 

[base615]

I have read in another forum that a Serbian football player says that it is rafa who did not respect OZI laws but came in without any problems. while nole who did everything according to law was locked up. he says that even OZI citizens who stay abroad and receive covid may not return until 14 days after. how could he come after 10 or 11 days he is wondering. and he also wonders why no one mentions it. is it true that it should take at least 2 weeks after a positive test before you can be admitted to OZI country?

Australia is 7 days, not 14. Used to be 14 but not any more.

 

[lucky13]

Australia is 7 days, not 14. Used to be 14 but not any more.

ok thanks if it is true

 

[ihitlikeagirl]

So is this thing happening in 5.5 hours?

 

[Fedforever]

on this page it says 14 days after the first positive test! that means they did not implement laws on rafa!

Inbound international travel

Australia's border continues to reopen. Find out what you need to do to be able to travel to Australia.

www.health.gov.au

You didn't read it properly.

A person can enter Australia if they have passed the pre-departure test - i.e provided a negative PCR test from the previous three days.

The part about the 14 days refers to it being an "exemption" from that PCR test. So if Rafa tested negative on the PCR this exemption wouldn't come into effect.

 

[lucky13]

You didn't read it properly.

A person can enter Australia if they have passed the pre-departure test - i.e provided a negative PCR test from the previous three days.

The part about the 14 days refers to it being an "exemption" from that PCR test. So if Rafa tested negative on the PCR this exemption wouldn't come into effect.

ok, i see,
but I would like to see real legal words about this 7 or 14 and when did it change in that case

 

[Fedforever]

ok, i see,
but I would like to see real legal words about this 7 or 14 and when did it change in that case

Governments are endlessly flitting about it with the isolation periods - it's very difficult to keep up!

But in this case it doesn't really matter as a vaccinated traveller only needs a negative PCR. So there's no real incentive for Rafa to have flirted with the law here - if he hadn't tested negative on a PCR he could just have delayed his entry until the 14 days were up.

 

[Tshooter]

Two important things: The federal or Victorian govt could have sponsored his exemption in the name of national interest - which they at first did for Ranata. This is an exemption that is separate from the medical exemption process.

But once it became clear that it wasn’t in the national interest for Djokovic the Victorian govt chose not sponsor him in the name of the national interest when he arrived.

ABF called Victoria and they declined to sponsor Djokovic.

Since he wasn’t sponsored the next step is to assess the medical exemption:

2) his medical exemption was assessed by ABF based on its merits (which he wasn’t expecting to happen) and they found it didn’t pass muster.

He’s supposed to get vaccinated as soon as his symptoms are gone per Australian law guidance.

Seems open and shut to me. The government knows its own laws. The fact that Djokovic didn’t understand them isn’t their problem.

When ABF made the call to Victoria and Victoria came back with “Eggvax who?” that was some cold stuff.

 

[lucky13]

Governments are endlessly flitting about it with the isolation periods - it's very difficult to keep up!

But in this case it doesn't really matter as a vaccinated traveller only needs a negative PCR. So there's no real incentive for Rafa to have flirted with the law here - if he hadn't tested negative on a PCR he could just have delayed his entry until the 14 days were up.

nole did nothing wrong either, but everyone was angry because there was no one-size-fits-all rule and especially since the Australians themselves were having a hard time. would still be interesting if rafa had lighter conditions than the Australians themselves but no one reacted and cared. whether he broke any law or not.

 

[Ledigs]

Nole knew the rules but tried to sneak through with a favor from Victoria

 

[lucky13]

Nole knew the rules but tried to sneak through with a favor from Victoria

no, he just followed the rule he was allowed to follow, they did not create. was approved by all distances and then subjected to a political game.

 

[Ledigs]

lol he was never approved for entry

 

[Tshooter]

Nole knew the rules but tried to sneak through with a favor from Victoria

Do you really think Egg knew of any conversations between Victoria and TA re a possible Victoria get into Oz? Or that ABF would call to check for one?

The sneaky part IMO is not the Victoria says your cool (aka “national interest”) exemption per se because that authority is, in fact, granted to the states but more if it was granted and TA continued to pretend the entrance was based instead on a non-transparent, two level super duper medical review process. With Victoria and ABF staying quiet, all of which seems unlikely.

I do wonder what conversations transpired between TA and Victoria. I doubt Egg knew anything about the Victoria backup I’ll call it. He just presents his TA paper. ABF sees its issued by TA so they call Victoria to inform them it doesn’t work do you want to vouch for this guy. Victoria doesn’t want to take the political heat so they pass it back to the Feds.

I’m not sure Egg is a villain here too.

 

[Ledigs]

Lol. I am positive TA and Djokovic knew the process and were expecting a national interest exemption from Victoria or Feds - or hoping to slip through. They 100% knew this exemption from TA/Vic board was not valid for border entry. Djokovic has high paid attorneys and could easily check.

 

[PilotPete]

Moreover, there are issues about how he could have claimed to have a medical exemption in November (when he applied for the visa), and then miraculously contracted COVID after that (and appeared at an event too).

Exactly. I've said this over and over again.

 

[onefineday]

Border force/immigration's job is to check and look for anything fishy. And Djokovic's entry stank like someone had pasted tuna down the back of the airport radiators.

 

[Tshooter]

Lol. I am positive TA and Djokovic knew the process and were expecting a national interest exemption from Victoria or Feds - or hoping to slip through. They 100% knew this exemption from TA/Vic board was not valid for border entry. Djokovic has high paid attorneys and could easily check.

So the super duper medical review process was a sham? Do you think Victoria and TA had an explicit understanding and that Victoria hung TA out to dry when the public blowback came?

 

[Ledigs]

So the super duper medical review process was a sham? Do you think Victoria and TA had an explicit understanding and that Victoria cut TA out to dry when the public blowback came?

Yes

 

[Tshooter]

Yes

What do you think the state of mind of the various members of the medical panels was?

 

[Ledigs]

What do you think the state of mind of the various members of the medical panels was?

They probably figured the exemption was sufficient enough

 

[Tshooter]

They probably figured the exemption was sufficient enough

So you think TA hid the existence of the email knocking down that prior infection is an exemption to vax?

 

[jga111]

So the super duper medical review process was a sham? Do you think Victoria and TA had an explicit understanding and that Victoria hung TA out to dry when the public blowback came?

If you read the summer AO paper, Novak should have been vaccinated after his first Covid infection in order to play. Clearly this didn’t happen. I believe TA overlooked this deliberately and exempted him for playing in the tournament. But between Victoria/TA and Novak they never followed up on the required exemption for entering the actual country. And then this was examined with a finer tooth comb after the raucous reaction on social media

 

[Ledigs]

So you think TA hid the existence of the email knocking down that prior infection is an exemption to vax?

Didn’t Victoria say they did

 

[Tshooter]

Didn’t Victoria say they did

I wanted to know what the prosecution knew.

I didn’t recall if it did or not.

 

[Bartelby]

Morrison simply chose to instruct his Minister to ensure that Djokovic did not enter the country ... and as he has the the right to behave in an arbitrary manner and he thought it advantageous ... he did.

As he keeps saying "we must protect our "sovereign borders"', and he decides and acts in the name of the sovereign. And the sovereign has absolute power over the borders.

 

[Bartelby]

Victoria "sponsoring" Djokovic has no determinate legal consequences. Moreover, the Government refuses the idea that they even asked Victoria for anything.

The Feds control the borders! One person decides.