Thread by @shaunjlawson

This file contains comprehensive information on the Djokovic case: including Minister Hawke's reasoning, all documentation sent by Djokovic and his team, and transcripts of the airport interviews.

I've spent the last couple of hours going through it.

fedcourt.gov.au/services/acces…

The transcripts make all too plain just what a Kafka-esque nightmare Djokovic was in: he'd received clearance from the Victorian government, had followed Tennis Australia's guidance, and been granted a visa - but he was now expected to magic up further federal documentation.

But they also remind us that the federal government has all authority over Australian borders, as it should of course.

The failings and incompetence of the Morrison government - which could and should have foreseen all this months ago - are laid bare by the transcripts.

Frankly, the only decision any judge following the law could've made on Monday was to cancel the original decision.

There was nothing unusual, brave, remarkable or heroic in Judge Kelly's decision: he simply followed the law, because ABF had reneged on its promise to Djokovic.

There's a moment in the transcript when, after having been woken before he was told he would be, presented with the government's decision before he'd had a chance to contact anyone, and refused to sign the form revoking the visa, a new officer walks into the room.

"I’m an officer of the Australian Border Force. It has come to my attention that you are an unlawful non-citizen in Australia. Therefore, I am detaining you under section 189(1) of the Migration Act of 1958..."

Something about this made me chortle. The sheer absurdity of it all.

So that nonsense of a decision was, quite correctly, set aside.

But the reasoning Minister Hawke has provided now is, under Australian law, watertight and comprehensive. I see zero prospect, none at all, of Djokovic winning his second appeal tomorrow.

Yesterday, in court, Djokovic's lawyers made much of Hawke only having given public interest reasons to revoke the visa.

This triggered a bout of "they've messed up again? He's gonna win again!" nonsense on here.

But the reason for that is, in this case, the public interest OVERRIDES anything else.

Hawke has been quite clear on what that involves: that admitting such a high profile non-vaccinated individual, who filled his travel declaration out incorrectly AND failed to self-isolate after testing positive, wouldn't just inflame public passions.

It'd encourage other Australians to not get vaccinated. Thereby endangering them and others, and putting the Australian healthcare system under further pressure.

His legal team have argued this is 'irrational' - because won't deporting him cause huge anger too?

Well, to an extent. Certainly among the Australian Serb community, for example.

But this is outweighed by a huge majority of Australians wanting him gone. His lawyers including an online poll suggesting Djokovic has majority support is a sign of desperation on their part.

Because that particular online poll was about as rigorous and methodologically sound as, well, a Twitter one.

I mentioned last week that all the kerfuffle around whether he'd tested positive, him failing to self-isolate etc was essentially irrelevant.

https://twitter.com/shaunjlawson/status/1479737625036664833

Smartly, Hawke has effectively treated it as such. He's *assumed* Djokovic tested positive when he says he did, *assumed* the Serbian documentation supporting that is accurate, and *assumed* Djokovic's team made an honest mistake when filling in his travel declaration.

All that's surely because there just isn't time to find out whether that is all so - and could potentially involve embarrassing the Serbian medical authorities.

But unlike what Djokovic's legal team appeared to suggest, Hawke HAS discussed it all in his reasoning, in point 23:

"I have also given consideration to the fact that there is evidence to suggest that Mr DJOKOVIC has, in the past, shown apparent disregard for the need to isolate following the receipt of a positive COVID-19 test result.

On 18 December 2021, Mr DJOKOVIC knowingly attended an interview and photoshoot with L'Equipe. He states that he ensured that he socially distanced and wore a mask, but did not wear a mask while his photograph was being taken.

Mr DJOKOVIC has publicly acknowleged that it was an 'error of judgement' to attend this interview, and that he should have rescheduled this commitment, given that he had received a positive test result beforehand on 17 December 2021.

24. Given Mr DJOKOVIC's high profile status and position as a role model in the sporting and broader community, his ongoing presence in Australia may foster similar disregard for the precautionary requirements following receipt of a positive COVID-19 test in Australia.

His behaviour may encourage or influence others to emulate his prior conduct and fail to comply with appropriate public health measures following a positive COVID-19 test result, which [...] could lead to the transmission of the disease and serious risk to their health and others

The above, it would seem to me, is self-evident. And emphasises a rather wonderful irony.

FAO anti-vaxxing grifters and opportunists the world over - people like YOU, Nigel Farage, and YOU, Laurence Fox - your behaviour has helped Australia justify Djokovic's deportation! 🤡🤡🤡

Djokovic's medical exemption was claimed specifically on the basis of his having had COVID, and side-effects from vaccination being much likelier should he have been vaccinated before travelling to Australia.

That's actually true, to be fair to him.

But it's also rather laughable given his opposition to being vaccinated since the pandemic began. It once more begs the question: what was he planning to do had he NOT contracted COVID in December?

Finally, it's worth re-emphasising the following.

Australia's decision is NOT subject to natural justice and not challengeable on the basis of, for example, "is this fair and proportionate?"

All that can be challenged is the process/reasoning which led to the decision.

That's why Djokovic won his first appeal but his second looks impossible.

Because Hawke's reasoning is detailed and comprehensive - and he's made a particular point of NOT emphasising Djokovic's own errors. That is to say, he's actually been perfectly reasonable himself.

Not getting distracted by those errors will automatically lead the federal court to focus on the reasoning behind the public interest argument.

That reasoning is sound. And made still more sound by the ridiculous behaviour of Djokovic's family. Well played, all of you. 🤡🤡🤡

To summarise: yes, the dysfunction between the federal government, the Victorian government and Tennis Australia is absurd.

Yes, the federal government's treatment of refugees is disgusting, indefensible, abhorrent.

But the re-cancellation of Djokovic's visa is perfectly reasonable, and justified as such by the minister.

Djokovic could've avoided all this by being vaccinated. He chose not to be. He could've told his family to have themselves a nice glass of shut the eff up. He chose not to.

He could've pleaded with his family not to join the cause of Nigel f****g Farage (thereby strengthening Australia's case against him). He chose not to.

His team could and should, at some point, have told him what a disastrous prat he's made of himself and his image. They've not.

Meaning that in the end, he's brought all this upon HIMSELF.

After Hubris comes Nemesis... and tomorrow, barring something totally unforeseeable, Nemesis awaits Mr Djokovic.