Novak Djokovic’s intense battle to have his visa approved by the Australian government took a turn for the worse when Immigration Minister Alex Hawke revoked the tennis star’s visa and threatened him with deportation, even though Djokovic has done nothing wrong.
“Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr. Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” Hawke said.
So far, Djokovic’s legal team has shown that he has sufficiently met every requirement necessary for a medical exemption and even had an Australian judge say that he would be cleared to stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open (which begins Monday). So how in the world does overriding a judge’s ruling just so you can flex your power benefit anyone?
Australia’s Prime Minister – whom many rightly consider a tyrant – seems to have an answer for that puzzling riddle:
“Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic, and they rightly expect the result of those sacrifices to be protected,” Morrison asserted. “This is what the Minister is doing in taking this action today.”
There are so many problems with that statement.
The Australian people have not willingly made those sacrifices Morrison has discussed, which involved complying with absurd COVID regulations such as quarantining at home if health authorities suspect you have COVID-19. If Americans think they’ve had it bad with government overreach during the pandemic, what we have experienced is child’s play with what is going on in Australia.
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The result of those sacrifices has created a world in which policemen can fire rubber bullets into a crowd of protestors and get away with it and where police have the authority to separate a child from its mother. Australians are not free, the government is in full control over everyone and everything, and that’s how people like Morrison and Hawke want to keep it.
So when a high-profile, widely respected individual who is not bowing down and groveling to Australia’s vaccine tyranny steps onto the scene (potentially inspiring millions of others to stand up), it would only make sense that Australia’s officials would do what they can to not let Djokovic into their country.
In order to play, Djokovic is going to have to serve another winner to have his case upheld and have a chance at winning his record-extending 10th Australian Open. But at the very least, he has forced the Aussies to show just how far they are willing to go to hold onto their power, and that in and of itself is a win.