Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized the previous Coalition government's handling of Novak Djokovic's immigration detention during the 2022 Australian Open.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized the Coalition for its handling of tennis star Novak Djokovic's immigration detention during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, after Djokovic spoke of the “trauma” he feels when returning to Australia for the Australian Open. Djokovic was detained at the Park Hotel in Carlton, Melbourne for five days while he challenged the decision and then sent home.
As Djokovic prepares his campaign for an 11th Australian Open title, Albanese criticized the Morrison government's decision to refuse him access to religious ministration while in detention. “I found it astonishing that in the lead-up to Christmas, Novak Djokovic was denied by the then-federal government the opportunity to see his Orthodox … priest,” Albanese said on Monday in Queensland. “That was something that I think was hard to justify.” Albanese’s remarks re-open a debate about Australia’s tough COVID laws that in effect closed the country’s borders during the pandemic and required thousands of people to go through quarantine. Djokovic had been denied entry due to his lack of vaccination status, despite having a medical exemption because he had recently had COVID-19. He was unvaccinated but denied being against vaccines, saying instead he supported personal choice. The dean of the Melbourne Orthodox Serbian Church, Father Milorad Locard, said the government’s decision to cut Djokovic off from religious services at Christmas would have added to the tennis star’s trauma.“I was the priest who was supposed to ask the authorities to visit him to pay him a pastoral visit and I was denied,” he told this masthead. “At the time, I obviously could not quite comprehend why a pastoral visit would be denied to a man who is not criminal, he’s famous tennis player. “That was actually the first time I was denied a pastoral visit to anybody, and I’ve been in Australia since 1976.” Speaking about the 2022 controversy, Djokovic said on Monday he felt trauma every time he went through Australian customs
NOVAK DJOKOVIC IMMIGRATION AUSTRALIA COVID-19 POLITICS
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