Friday, January 07, 2022

Grandstanding With Aussie PM Minister Scott Morrison

Everybody knows Novak Djokovic is an anti-vax nightmare. But this is why people -- who are often completely against everything he stands for -- are "defending" him: The Australian government can't pawn off deciding who gets vaccine exemptions then try to be in control when they don't like how the state government went about it. (Now Prime Minister Scott Morrison is taking it out on Renata Voracova and some random official???!!) 



I have no idea how Australia's courts will decide on Djokovic's appeal. But the country is clearly responsible for the mess it created -- why didn't they just say NO VACCINE, NO TOURNAMENT? -- and its leader has been exposed as someone who has no problem abusing his power to score votes. Remind you of anyone?








9 comments:

John said...

Novak deserves no sympathy. It’s outrageous that, during a pandemic and playing a game that requires playerd to travel the globe and parachute into communities, a player cares so little for those communities that he doesn’t take the actions necessary to help secure their wellbeing.

I was a big Novak fan but his behavior has been appalling.

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@John: But it's not about Djokovic anymore. You can't approve someone, allow him to travel around world -- coming into contact with god knows how many people -- and then renege on an agreement just to cover up for your policies that pissed a lot of Australians off.

Blobby said...

uhhh......get's Georgette.

John said...

I come at this as a long-time Novak fan but it’s clear he was trying to cheat.

In late November he indicated he would be applying for an exemption. According to the BBC, the positive test that is the basis for his claim was on December 16. So he knew in November that he’d be infected?

Further, on the 16th and days that immediately followed, he was out and about at various events, unmasked, looking healthy and not socially distanced.

So it seems pretty clear that a lie is at the heart of this mess, and it’s his lie.

Unknown said...

Yes it is still about Djokovic. The government response failures do not in any way lessen the fundamental failure of Djokovic to behave responsibly. His choice and the repercussions are on him. His legacy will be permanently marred by his own hubris. I have no sympathy whatsoever for him.

Brent said...

Yep, @John, agree with you. Except about being a Djokovid fan -- the guy is a spoiled brat.

Also think it's safe to say Australian authorities weren't paying very close attention to this because of the global pandemic currently raging through their country. So maybe the gov't reneged once it started to play out and Aussies became enraged (and rightly so).

If he did test positive for Covid on December 16, why didn't he announce it, the way so many other players did? It doesn't add up because at the heart of this is Novax Djokovid's insolence and "me" vs "we" mentality.

Jim66 said...

No sympathy for Novak. He's known the rules and he's disregarded / flaunted his disregard of them. This doesn't mean the politicians haven't also been hypocritical here, but ultimately Novak didn't have to be in this position. The fault is his.

Scott said...

The exemption was from the Craig Tiley, head of the Aussie Open. However it was NOT from the government. That is like the US Open saying the SAME thing. But the US Government requires a VAX to enter. So neither the Aussie Government OR the US Governments would allow the entry. Tennis officials do not decide country VAX requirement. Furthermore, the OZ government sent the Aussie Open the rules in November.
So, yes, the tournament screwed up, but that does not require the Oz government to bend over and take it from Novak.

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@Scott: That's not my understanding, but we shall see.

As the hearing got underway Monday, Djokovic’s attorney, Nick Wood, argued that the tennis star had provided the Australian government with all required documentation and then received a response from the Department of Home Affairs — the very office he is now battling in court — saying his responses indicated he met the requirement of quarantine-free travel.

“What is someone in Mr. Djokovic’s position supposed to understand?” Wood asked. “Any reasonable person would understand, and he did understand, that he had ticked absolutely every box.”

Judge Kelly appeared to agree, noting that there been a “back and forth” of information from various levels of government, and that Djokovic’s medical exemption had been approved by two independent panels of specialists.

“The point that I’m somewhat agitated about is, what more could this man have done,” Kelly asked.