The Australian government denies Djokovic wasn’t granted procedural fairness when the decision was made to cancel his visa.
According to the government’s written submission, the tennis player was given enough time to answer questions posed by immigration officials on his arrival at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.
“He had nothing more to say as of 6.14am…. and there was, therefore, power to proceed to cancel,” the document said.
Djokovic sought an exemption from hotel quarantine because he had recently tested positive for Covid-19. The government’s submission says the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) advice is that people are able to start their vaccination dose “as soon as they have recovered from the symptomatic infection.”
“The evidence is that the applicant has recovered,” the document said.
Furthermore, it says people can put off their vaccination for six months after acute illness “as a temporary exemption due to acute major medical illness.”
The government says there’s no suggestion Djokovic had “acute major medical illness”.
“All he has said is that he tested positive for Covid-19. That is not the same.”
It adds that Djokovic did not provide any medical reason why he could not be vaccinated.
The government says Djokovic was mistaken to think he was guaranteed entry. “There is no such thing as an assurance of entry by a non-citizen into Australia,” the submission says.
The government denies Djokovic was told his “so-called ‘medical exemption'” would be accepted.
The email from the Department stated that the applicant’s responses to his Australian Traveller Declaration indicated that he met the requirements for “quarantine free” travel into Australia.
But that says nothing about the power of the Minister (or her delegate) to interrogate those responses, the evidence upon which they were based, and conclude that a cancelation power was enlivened under the Act upon his arrival into Australia.
The Australian government’s “power and responsibility” to determine who enters the country are fundamental attributes of the country’s sovereignty,” the submission says.
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