Australia Says Djokovic Can Be Detained Again If He Wins Case | Hacker News Reader

Australia Says Djokovic Can Be Detained Again If He Wins Case

bloomberg.com

18 pointsxqcgrek216 comments

What's the point of courts when the government will punish you even if the court finds in your favor? Australia is really heading down the wrong path.

> Australia is really heading down the wrong path.

It's already a long way down that path.

This is another example of our vindictive govt that goes after anyone who causes bad press for them.

Australia certainly hasn't been distinguishing itself on the world stage these days, and personally its gone from a place I wanted to visit to a place I will never go.

But there is still a question of equal application of the rules. It seems like this is a problem of miscommunication (he obviously had the impression he could enter) and then subsequent politicization. At the same time, we have a celebrity that doesnt think rules apply to him. There are lots of countries with rules I don't agree with, but generally I either don't go to them or suck it up and do something I don't agree with. I wouldn't expect them to put me ahead of anyone else, and I don't see why Djokovic feels differently.

He could also have said "I'm not going to Australia, I don't agree with their politics, and I won't support them". I understand this is an opportunity for him to break a record, and so maybe that plays in to why he wants to go so badly. But it's not clear to me that Australia should just let him in because they screwed up, it is a complex case.

> it's not clear to me that Australia should just let him in because they screwed up

Why not? In general, the side that does something wrong is the side that shouldn't get what they want.

I might have missed something, but it seems like it was the tournament organizers who made the mistake. They were the ones who told Djokovic that he had a valid medical exemption, whereas the government's position is that he does not have a valid exemption. If that's the case, then Djokovic could potentially take the issue up with the tournament organizers, but I don't see why that would mean that he should simply be let into Australia.

I don't know that that's a legal principle. In any case, I don't think a country's sovereignty over their borders is automatically undermined because of a mistake they made.

He’s breaking the law

Australia has all the right to try to protect their citizens. The time for buffoonery has passed.

This is what happens when the governments choose to downplay the problem:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/india-e2-80-99s-true-co...

Given the WSJ article from yesterday (https://archive.fo/4pSSU), that says vaccines make no difference when it comes to spreading omicron, it seems indeed the time for buffoonery has passed.

> Australia has all the right to try to protect their citizens

Authoritarians measures are always passed with the alleged consent of the people to protect the people

This is not how authoritarism is defined. It needs some more requisites. People electing democratically a government to take this kind of measures for them is not totalitarism. Not at all.

Democracies can be authoritarian: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarian_democracy. I'm not saying this has happened in Australia but there can be authoritarian democratic measures.

USA attacked seven different countries during the eight years of the Obama administration. He intervened in Syria without the consent of the Senate or of the United Nations. I think we can agree that was an authoritarian measure.

What I'm curious about is: how had he been planning to get into Australia before he happened to get infected with Covid on December 16?

I can think of a few possible answers, but none that are both a) legit and b) make a lot of sense.

wonder how long it will take for australia to realize how much they're being influenced by china on their governing methods.

In this instance are you referring to the equal application of laws regardless of social status? Or is your issue with the laws themselves? If the latter, be assured they enjoy a majority of public support and have objectively reduced the covid death rate per capita by 30x compared to, say, the US.

This is funny, because this is like a confirmation of a comment I did a short time ago, that strangely, political leaders in Australia were looking like driving full speed the dumbness (or corruption) road:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29469665#29469963

> Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.

Donald Horne, 1964. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country

Today, especially with the current PM and NSW premier this quote has never been more true.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com