What we learned today, Saturday 15 January
We’re going to wrap things up for another day. Here are the main events:
- Novak Djokovic returned to detention at the Park Hotel in Carlton ahead of a federal court hearing on Sunday morning that will determine whether the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, acted unreasonably in rescinding his visa.
- In a submission in the case, Hawke said Djokovic’s ongoing presence in Australia could lead to an increase in anti-vaccination sentiment and an “increase in civil unrest”.
- The health minister, Greg Hunt, said Australia’s first-dose vaccination rate for in people over the age of 16 has reached 95%.
- The chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said the Omicron outbreaks in NSW, Victoria and the ACT could be approaching their peak.
- Victoria recorded 23 Covid deaths and 25,526 new cases on Saturday and NSW reported 20 deaths and another 48,768 new infections.
- The Northern Territory recorded its second death of the pandemic, a fully-vaccinated woman in her 40s with underlying health conditions from the Bagot Aboriginal community in Darwin.
- The search for a missing nine-year-old girl in the NSW Blue Mountains entered its second day.
Take care and we will see you back here tomorrow with all of the developments from the Djokovic court hearing.
Updated
Western Australia has recorded two new local Covid-19 cases and seven travel-related cases.
Both of the local cases are linked to previously reported cases. One is believed to have been infectious in the community and exposure sites are being identified.
In case you missed it earlier today, this is an interesting read by my colleague Calla Wahlquist who interviewed people who have rethought their approach to work as a result of the pandemic:
Christmas Island residents are using leaf blowers to help keep millions of baby red crabs safe from road traffic during the annual migration. AAP reports:
Millions of baby red crabs have scurried ashore on Christmas Island, with locals using leaf blowers to save the heaving mass from the traffic.
The bumper breeding season is more good news for the island’s most famous residents and will further swell a population that has exploded in recent years.
Of late, scientist Tanya Detto has spent about five hours a day with a blower strapped to her back, airbrushing baby crabs off the road as people head to work or the shops.
Some locals even break out their own blowers and give her a hand with the hot, exhausting task.
It’s a bit like trying to part the Red Sea, Detto says.
“They are very light and they just fly for a bit. They aren’t injured and when they land they just keep walking.
“But they move so fast that by the time you’ve blown one little section, the ones coming along behind have already filled the gap, so you have to stay just in front of the cars.”
In addition to her traffic management duties, Detto is in charge of trying to work out how many red crabs now call Christmas Island home.
It is no easy task given millions are added to the mix in good years – and there have been plenty of those recently.
She estimates the population has exploded from about 40 to 50 million in 2015 to about 190 million, based on surveys she carried out late last year.
Updated
Indigenous vaccination rates are falling behind because of poor government planning, researchers say. AAP reports:
Indigenous Covid-19 vaccination rates lag behind those for other Australians due to poor federal and state government planning, researchers say.
Coupled with a revolving-door approach to vaccine advice, it has led to a shortage of trained workers to put jabs in arms and vaccine hesitancy in vulnerable communities, according to the University of NSW team.
“This substantial policy oversight reflects a failure of moral human rights responsibility for Australian First Nations people,” say the authors of the paper published in Jama Health Forum.
It has also undermined planning, strategy and prevention work undertaken by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.
The researchers say existing inequalities including poor healthcare access, overcrowded living conditions and chronic health issues should have led to a more targeted and prioritised response.
Instead, it has increased the risk of the virus spreading, chronic illness and death in hundreds of communities across the country where Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander double dose rates languish about 20 per cent lower than the national average.
“It is evident governments have not been listening or properly consulting with First Nation peoples,” says the Indigenous health expert Prof Mick Adams.
Updated
Two men are dead following separate stabbings in NSW, AAP reports:
A 24-year-old man died at the scene after being stabbed at a house in Lismore in the state’s north shortly after 11pm on Friday.
Two other people were injured during the incident.
Officers were called to a house on McKenzie Street in the northern rivers city, where they found all three people suffering stab wounds.
A man aged 60 and a woman in her 30s were taken to Lismore base hospital, he with a laceration to his neck and she with a cut to her arm. Both were in a stable condition on Saturday morning.
The trio were known to each other.
Meanwhile, an investigation is under way after a man in his 40s was fatally stabbed in the neck at Blackett in Sydney’s west about 6am on Saturday.
Paramedics treated him at the scene after finding him in the middle of the road.
The man was taken to Westmead hospital but died soon after.
He is still to be formally identified.
Updated
Refugee protesters are still picketing the Park Hotel in Carlton, drawing the comparison with Novak Djokovic’s handful of days in immigration with the plight of refugees held there, some of whom have been held by Australia, in offshore and onshore detention, for nine years.
BREAKING NEWS: Mr. Dojokovic just Arrived now in our park prison.
— Joy (@mohammedJoy73) January 15, 2022
Welcome to back.#GameOver pic.twitter.com/5BgQ8nbN4Y
Updated
The world number one appeared calm and was dressed in a matching green tracksuit. This was his welcoming party: a media scrum and a group of passionate refugee activists. He is sharing the immigration detention facility with 33 asylum seekers. pic.twitter.com/YrkhZn6Lig
— Lana Murphy (@LanaMurphy) January 15, 2022
Novak Djokovic back in Melbourne hotel detention
Novak Djokovic is reportedly back in detention at Carlton’s Park Hotel.
Nine newspapers reported a silver four-wheel drive and a white van departed the Melbourne CBD offices of Djokovic’s lawyers under police watch.
Victoria police officers closed off a section of Flinders Lane about 2.45pm before the two vehicles exited the building in front of a pack of photographers and journalists.
A man speaking on his mobile and covering his face with a cap could be spotted in the back seat of the four-wheel-drive which drove off towards William Street.
And just like that - Novak Djokovic is back in detention. He arrived at the Carlton hotel minutes ago and will spend at least one night here ahead of his Federal Court hearing tomorrow at 9.30am @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/fMi0c0wU8Y
— Lana Murphy (@LanaMurphy) January 15, 2022
Updated
Terribly sad news from one of the most prominent expert voices throughout the pandemic.
Mary-Louise McLaws is a professor of epidemiology at the University of NSW and a World Health Organization Covid-19 adviser.
After a severe headache Thursday, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I will now be on a month's sick leave from UNSW and WHO. Thank you media for helping me spread knowledge. Now it is time with my family.
— Mary-Louise McLaws (@MarylouiseMcla1) January 15, 2022
Best wishes to you all.
Updated
More than 1,000 people have taken to the streets of Sydney’s CBD as part of an anti-vaccination rally.
The ABC reported the peaceful demonstration caused traffic disruption as protesters made their way through the city to Hyde Park, some carrying Serbian flags, in a reference to the treatment of the world No 1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic. Others chanted slogans against children receiving Covid-19 vaccinations.
Updated
A large-scale search is continuing for a nine-year-old girl who has been missing in the New South Wales Blue Mountains since Thursday, AAP reports.
Police were alerted to Charlise Mutten’s absence on Friday morning.
They say she was last seen by her parents at a property at Mount Wilson, 60km north-west of Richmond.
More than a hundred police and emergency personnel are involved in the search.
Updated
My colleague Ben Doherty’s story about this morning’s developments in the Novak Djokovic case is now live.
Djokovic faces a federal court hearing Sunday morning, Australia time, which will determine whether the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, minister acted unreasonably in rescinding his visa.
Documents filed in the court reveal the minister’s reasons sent to Djokovic as justification for cancelling his visa.
Hawke said he accepted Djokovic’s recent Covid-19 infection meant he was a “negligible risk to those around him”, but that he was “perceived by some as a talisman of a community of anti-vaccine sentiment”.
You can read the full story here:
Northern Territory records second death of the pandemic
The Northern Territory has recorded its second death of the pandemic, a 40-year-old woman from the Bagot Aboriginal community in Darwin.
The NT’s deputy chief minister, Nicole Manison, said the woman was fully vaccinated and had underlying health issues.
The territory recorded 412 new cases and there are 32 people in hospital, none in intensive care.
The Northern Territory has recorded its second ever Covid-19 related death - a fully vaccinated woman in her 40s died at Royal Darwin Hospital overnight. The woman was from the Bagot Aboriginal Community in Darwin, authorities say she had underlying health issues.@abcdarwin
— Melissa Mackay (@_melissamackay) January 15, 2022
Updated
#Djokovic's legal team has cut and pasted online articles but hasn't removed all the guff that comes after the publication. https://t.co/yy0vZlDbYh
— Kate McClymont (@Kate_McClymont) January 15, 2022
And with that, I’m off! Lisa Cox is going to see you through the afternoon – come what may.
Here’s a little sneak peek at the piece Ben Doherty is about to publish on the whole Novak Djokovic palaver.
Australia’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, has said that Djokovic was “perceived by some as a talisman of a community of anti-vaccine sentiment”.
Quite neatly put, really.
Oh.
Novak Djokovic’s legal team sent the immigration minister a blurry screenshot of an online poll run by the Age and the SMH that asked “Should Djokovic stay?” — where they themselves voted "Yes" pic.twitter.com/fTYbrTNObj
— Naaman Zhou (@naamanzhou) January 15, 2022
Australia has hit a 95% vaccination rate – only for first doses, and only in those over 16, Lisa Cox reports.
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, today also said a decision on the Novavax Covid vaccine – which is not yet available in Australia – was expected by the Therapeutic Goods Administration “in the coming 10 days”.
(That’s the one termed “Never-vax”, which was due last year).
Updated
Australia’s top male tennis player, Alex de Minaur, is done with Novak Djokovic. AAP reports he said:
When you’re coming in, as well as every other tennis player, if you wanted to come into the country, you had to be double vaccinated. It was up to him, his choices, his judgment.
Updated
According to Austrac, “as legitimate use of cryptocurrency increases, we’re seeing a sort of comparable increase in abuse”. Ben Butler reports:
South Australia reports four Covid deaths and 4,349 new cases
Four people have died with Covid in South Australia and 4,349 new cases were recorded in the 24 hours to midnight last night.
The South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, said 3,107 of those results were from PCR tests.
There are 236 people in hospital, and 26 in intensive care.
Updated
There’s a lot to be said for shopping local, if you can.
To another protest. The United Australia Party MP, Craig Kelly, who’s been criticised for spreading “misleading” vaccine information, is out and about in Sydney. Pictured here maskless with some fans, one of whom is wearing a chin protector.
Updated
An update from Canberra, where police are bracing for that “sovereign citizen” protest – so far, protestors have failed to show up, after they threatened to “take Old Parliament House”. AAP reports there is a video on social media of people planning to turn up at a park. One speaker said:
Did you notice how it was rainy ... and then the sun came out? It is because we are on the right side of history and doing God’s work.
Updated
Alex Hawke's submission in Novak Djokovic case says his presence in Australia could lead to 'civil unrest'
There’s an interesting line in immigration minister Alex Hawke’s reasons for cancelling Novak Djokovic’s visa:
I consider that Mr Djokovic’s ongoing presence in Australia may lead to an increase in anti-vaccination sentiment generated in the Australian community, potentially leading to an increase in civil unrest of the kind previously experienced in Australia with rallies and protests which may themselves be a source of community transmission.
Updated
Djokovic's lawyers say minister's stance 'illogical' and 'irrational'
We are seeing an outline of the arguments in the Novak Djokovic case in the originating application from Djokovic.
The argument from immigration minister Alex Hawke accepts that Djokovic’s recent Covid-19 infection is genuine (there were questions raised about its veracity in media reports) and that he presents a negligible health risk.
But, the minister said, if allowed to stay, Djokovic could excite anti-vaccination sentiment:
Despite my acceptance above that Mr Djokovic’s recent infection with Covid-19 means that he is at a negligible risk of infection and therefore presents a negligible risk to those around him, I am concerned that his presence in Australia, given his well-known stance on vaccination, creates a risk of strengthening the anti-vaccination sentiment of a minority of the Australian community.
Djokovic’s case argues the minister took an “illogical/irrational/unreasonable approach to … the question of public interest” and his own exercise of ministerial discretion:
The Minister cited no evidence that supported his finding that Mr Djokovic’s presence in Australia may ‘foster anti-vaccination sentiment’, and it was not open to the Minister to make that finding.
For enthusiasts of tennis and federal courts – the latest documents in the Djokovic case are being placed on the public record here. Watch the serve and volley unfold.
Updated
ACT reports Covid numbers
The Australian Capital Territory recorded 1,320 new Covid cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, with almost even numbers of rapid antigen tests and PCR tests.
There are 30 people in hospital, including three in intensive care.
Updated
Get your kids vaccinated, Covid commander Jeroen Weimar says. It’s not always that easy, as Rafqa Touma reports:
Queensland reports six Covid deaths and 649 in hospital
Let’s go to Queensland now, where chief health officer John Gerrard is giving an update. There have been six deaths there, and 19,709 new cases recorded.
Gerrard said that if you have any symptoms you should assume you have Covid and isolate:
We now have a total of 649 people in hospital requiring treatment for Covid-19, that includes a 46 patients in hospital and in intensive care, of whom 14 were ventilated. You may know that this is an increase of 10% across the board in the last 24 hours leading up to 7pm last night.
He said it was likely the numbers would keep increasing:
This is what we have been projecting and it is likely to that there is a good chance this is the beginning of the final surge before we reach a peak sometime over the next few weeks ... this is predicted as we head into the peak in the next two to three weeks.
What I would like to talk about is how we will approach Covid from a personal point of view, now as we are approaching the peak, if you have any of the symptoms suggestive of Covid, if you have flu-like symptoms, then it’s likely that you have Covid. It is likely that you have Covid. If you have headaches, runny nose, muscle aches, perhaps a cough, perhaps chills ... it is very likely that you have Covid-19.
Updated
Covid commander Jeroen Weimar has been speaking in Melbourne, urging people to get their children vaccinated. He said:
In terms of vaccination, it is good to see of the 25,000 people vaccinated in state clinics yesterday, actually under 24,000, over 5,000 were aged five to 11. We continue to see healthy numbers of children coming in to get their vaccinations done. 28,000 kids booked in for the next seven days and (that) includes the children being done right here, right now. Some wonderful images at the Ford factory in Geelong with a busy vaccination clinic.
We encourage parents to book ahead. We had 28,000 booked but we have 32,000 apartments available over the next couple of weeks and we are keen to see parents and children take up the opportunity to get vaccinated before the start of the school year. Our GPs and pharmacies are also very busy so if you want to go to one of the of those, please make your booking and get our children vaccinated as quickly as we can instantly before school starts.
Updated
UPDATE: Novak Djokovic v Minister for Immigration. A further hearing is listed before Justice O’Callaghan at 9:30am AEDT tomorrow, Sunday 16 January 2022. The online file is now available https://t.co/IEhxLCEubY. The hearing will be live streamed - https://t.co/7r473YrQRS pic.twitter.com/W1qqjg0dw7
— Federal Court of Australia (@fedcourtau) January 15, 2022
As it stands, Novak Djokovic does not have a visa to stay in Australia. He is, in the language of the Migration Act, “unlawful” and must be detained.
The court has ordered he be allowed to stay in his lawyers’ offices between 10am and 2pm today under the supervision of two Australian Border Force officers. After that, he is to be returned to detention.
And we are done. The hearing for today is finished. We are waiting to see the application and submissions from Novak Djokovic’s legal team – due by midday, and the government’s submissions – by 10pm tonight.
There, we will see the arguments that are going to be put forward for Djokovic staying in the country (why the minister’s decision to cancel his visa was unreasonable), and the government’s case for removing him.
We know some of what the government will argue – that Djokovic’s continued presence in the country has the potential to “excite anti-vaccination sentiment” in Australia. It was argued in court on Friday that kicking him out of the country would do much the same.
The judge is going to consider ordering the matter before the full bench of the federal court (three judges) and will advise today on that.
Updated
Tasmania reveals Covid numbers
Tasmania has recorded 1,139 new Covid cases. Twenty-two people are in hospital and one person is in intensive care.
Most of those positives came from rapid antigen tests, and just 255 from PCR tests.
Updated
Australia's first-dose vaccination rate for over-16s passes 95%
Chief health officer Paul Kelly has been talking about the potential for a fourth booster shot at a press conference:
At the moment the only country that I’m aware of that has an actual program of this is Israel. I spoke to the Israeli ministry of health on Monday. We have had regular meetings throughout the pandemic, it’s been very useful to swap things.
We teach them some things, they teach us some things and [it’s] been very valuable. I asked about the fourth dose. They are keeping that ... to people with a higher risk of severity. So older people, I believe it’s over 60, there are people with chronic diseases particularly those that lead to [compromised immunity]. And healthcare workers. They have started with that, they are still evaluating that program and they have promised in the coming weeks to share that evaluation with us. It will be very helpful.
Health minister Greg Hunt was also there. He said:
I particularly want to acknowledge the work of our pathologists and our healthcare workers. Our pathologists have been working for two years literally around the clock, our general healthcare sector, GPs, our pharmacists, and all of those nurses, doctors, carers, cleaners right across the system. Everybody involved, they kept Australia safe and there are real signs of hope today. We have cross the 95% threshold for 16 plus vaccinations.
We have had over 1 million doses delivered in a three day period. The highest not just through the pandemic but on record in Australian history. And as Prof Kelly has said, there are very clear signs of stabilisation and operating within the system capacity in our hospitals. And so it’s challenging times but what we know is that it’s challenging times for the whole world with over 4 million cases a day and Australians are rising to the occasion and I want to thank everybody, take care, we will continue to encourage people to be vaccinated but they are doing an incredible job. Thanks very much. We will get through this. We have done it before. We will do it again.
Updated
Labor leader says Djokovic case a 'debacle'
The Novak Djokovic “debacle” is an embarrassment that could have been avoided, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said this morning. He said it was “characteristic” of the Morrison government:
First they said somehow it wasn’t their responsibility the fact that the Australian government issued a visa. And this could have all been avoided. This government says it takes borders seriously and the issue of visas seriously.
There are people in this community who know that they have tried to get a visa for their mum or dad or aunty or uncle or child ... to come to Australia. There are Australian citizens who are threatened with jail terms, you might recall, if they returned to Australia from India at one stage. But somehow the issuing of the visa for Novak Djokovic that occurred by the Australian government, that’s a surprise to the Morrison government that this was controversial.
This has been the lead sporting story ... in the world for months. For months. On every back page of every newspaper in the world. Novak Djokovic is the No 1 male tennis player in the world. A great Queenslander, Ash Barty, is the No 1 female tennis player. And Novak Djokovic has been shooting for his 10th Australian Open trying to be the greatest grand slam champion of all time by winning his 21st title.
And the idea, the idea that it was unknown that this was coming, and the idea that only late on a Friday afternoon on the weekend before the tournament begins, after the draw has taken place we finally have a decision from the federal government says it all. There has been a great embarrassment for Australia, (and) it’s one that could have been avoided. The rules are clear, you need to be double vaccinated in order to enter Australia. And we still don’t have an explanation for how it is that the Australian government under Scott Morrison issued the visa in the first place. The right decision was to stop the visa being issued in the first place and the rules are very clear. What’s [happened] here is a debacle which has been dragged out for day after day after day.
Updated
We’re underway. Justice David O’Callaghan has raised the possibility of Djokovic’s hearing tomorrow coming before a full court of three judges in the federal court, rather than being heard by a single judge.
“A full court can be convened commencing tomorrow morning,” the judge said.
Djokovic’s legal team is happy for the matter to come before a full court, three judges. The immigration minister opposes a full court hearing.
Updated
Djokovic court hearing begins
We are about to get underway in the federal court. Novak Djokovic’s attempt to stay in the country has been brought before a new judge, Justice David O’Callaghan, this morning.
A final outcome is not expected today (though nothing would surprise in this case). Today’s hearing will deal with Djokovic’s transfers between meetings with border force officials, his lawyers and detention, and any procedural matters concerning the hearing, which will take place tomorrow.
But we are expecting submissions from Djokovic’s lawyers today, which will outline his case to stay in the country. Essentially, he has to argue why the immigration minister’s decision to exclude him from the country on public health grounds is unreasonable.
For those playing along at home:
Novak Djokovic v Minister for Immigration has been transferred from the @FCFCOA to the Federal Court of Australia. The hearing listed before Justice O’Callaghan at 10:15am AEDT tomorrow, Sat 15 Jan 2022, will be live streamed on our YouTube channel - https://t.co/7r473YrQRS pic.twitter.com/ifc72Kpsjt
— Federal Court of Australia (@fedcourtau) January 14, 2022
Updated
Strap in, folks. Novak Djokovic v minister for immigration, citizenship, migrant services and multicultural affairs is about to get underway in the federal court of Australia in Melbourne. Ben Doherty is going to be keeping you updated.
Updated
Novak Djokovic court hearing expected at 10.15am
Ahead of Novak Djokovic’s last-ditch legal bid to stay in Australia to defend his Australian Open title, his homeland Serbia has swung behind him in vociferous support.
A court hearing in the Federal Court begins in less than half an hour. We are expecting to see submissions from Djokovic’s legal team on why he should be allowed to stay in the country before lunchtime.
On Instagram, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić said the world number one was being harassed by the Australian government for its own political advantage:
If you wanted to forbid Novak Djokovic to win the trophy for the 10th time, why didn’t you return him immediately, why didn’t you tell him that it was impossible to get a visa?
Why do you mistreat him, why do you harass him, as well as his family and a nation that is free and proud?
Is all this necessary to win some elections and please your public?
In nationalistic overtones, Vucic said Serbia would continue to defend Djokovic:
We will fight for Novak Djokovic and the fact that you will harass him for a day, two or five more or less will not change the sentiments of our people towards the people of Australia that we highly respect and appreciate, but also our opinion of Novak Djokovic.
You can write hundreds of thousands of the worst articles about him, he will remain the greatest tennis player of all time, and he will always be in our hearts.
Serbia’s royal family also spoke out in defence of their “brave brother”. Prince Filip and Princess Danica Karađorđević, are the son and daughter-in-law of Aleksandar Karadordjevic, the Belgrade-based Crown Prince of Yugoslavia:
When tyranny shows its ugly face then it is our duty to speak out. Many will not recognise we are heading down this dangerous path since tyranny has a cunning way of disguising itself as an act of good, therefore, those who speak out are often met with disapproval and outrage, as is the case of our brave brother Novak Djokovic.
(Yugoslavia’s royal family was deposed from power in 1945. The Karađorđević dynasty maintains a prominent role in Serbia.)
Updated
Michael McGowan has taken a look at New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet’s hectic start:
After 100 days in office and with skyrocketing Omicron cases, the NSW premier’s bullish approach has not always gone to plan.
Victoria reports 23 new Covid deaths
And here are the Victorian Covid case numbers: 23 people have died, and there are 115 people in intensive care. There were 25,526 positive cases, 12,857 of those results are from rapid antigen tests.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) January 14, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAcOZP#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/ZOipiMXm7D
Updated
“Although Angus Taylor’s interest in Jam Land is through an indirect shareholding, it puts him in the unusual position of being connected to a case challenging the decision of one of his government’s own ministers,” Lisa Cox and Anne Davies write:
Shared without comment.
Breaking News: Americans will be able to order free rapid coronavirus tests online beginning on Wednesday, U.S. officials said. The tests should ship within 7 to 12 days. https://t.co/jlnx5daMZC
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 14, 2022
NSW reports 20 new Covid deaths
Here are today’s Covid numbers from New South Wales. Twenty lives lost, those poor families. There were 48,768 cases, 21,748 of them from rapid antigen tests.
NSW Health says almost 16,000 of those rapid test results are from the past week. They also say there may be some doubling up of numbers, where people have had a rapid test and a PCR test. It’s getting harder to understand the meaning of these numbers.
NSW COVID-19 update – Saturday 15 January 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 14, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:
- 95.2% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 93.8% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/uLxDFqCt0j
Updated
Hillsong church says the singing and dancing at their youth summer camp bears no resemblance to a music festival. This is Sian Cain’s piece from yesterday – somehow I’d missed seeing the video footage.
Oh yeah, totally doesn’t look anything like a music festival:
Have any of you ditched your car? I’m thinking about it. Shelley Hepworth has written about her experiences with a car-sharing app – it sounds more complicated than I thought:
Updated
Novak Djokovic being interviewed by immigration officials
Immigration officials are interviewing Novak Djokovic now in Melbourne, ahead of that 10.15am hearing.
Serbia’s foreign ministry earlier said Djokovic had been “lured to Australia to be humiliated”.
It said: “Novak Djokovic is not a criminal, terrorist or illegal migrant, but he was treated that way by the Australian authorities, which is causing understandable indignation of his fans and citizens of Serbia.”
Updated
Meanwhile, in Belgrade ... Novak Djokovic’s very enthusiastic fans have reacted to his second visa cancellation.
To some of them, Djokovic is a “symbol of the free world”, and the situation is “shameful”.
But while Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, denounced it as a “political witch-hunt”, there are signs the government is starting to distance itself from the player, Jon Henley writes:
Updated
“Double-dose vaccination rates among people with disability may be as low as 50% in some regional and remote local government areas,” Luke Henriques-Gomes writes:
While close contacts around the country have been allowed to go back to work after the federal government pushed for more relaxed isolation rules, a South Australian meatworks went further.
People who were Covid positive were allowed to go back to work. Peter Hannam writes:
Workers who tested positive to Covid were forced to wear yellow hairnets to identify themselves.
Extraordinary. Read all about it here:
Police are preparing for “intense protests” at Old Parliament House today, AAP reports.
The so-called sovereign citizens movement has been encroaching on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra and causing trouble ever since that fire was lit against the doors of Old Parliament House in December.
I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know what happens.
The legendary Malcolm Farr has cast an eagle eye over the Novak Djokovic saga, and prime minister Scott Morrison’s role in it.
The damage to Australian tourism and Australian sport caused by a single, stubborn tennis player and a hesitant federal government could require a formal inquiry to sort out.
Djokovic court hearing at 10.15am
Some more details on this morning’s court hearing for Novak Djokovic – we’ll be bringing it to you as it happens:
Djokovic v Minister for Immigration: Following tonight's hearing before Judge Kelly this matter has been transferred to Justice O’Callaghan of the Federal Court of Australia. Hearing is listed in the @fedcourtau at 10.15am AEDT tomorrow 15 January. Follow @fedcourtau for updates pic.twitter.com/g6NUXHZYy3
— Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (@FCFCOA) January 14, 2022
Updated
Novak Djokovic expected to be interviewed by immigration officials at 8am
Good morning, and welcome to your weekend. On the news front, it’s sure to be a relaxing ride. There’s not much going on, is there?
Oh, wait.
Late yesterday we heard tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa was cancelled – again.
After a week of tortuous twists and turns, the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, cancelled it “on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so”.
The world’s No 1 player is expected to be interviewed by immigration officials in Melbourne at 8am. He is then expected to be returned to immigration detention.
A hearing on the matter is listed in the federal court at 10.15am. A final result is expected on Sunday afternoon.
The Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, has accused the Australian government of “harassing” and “maltreating” Djokovic. Djokovic’s former coach and mentor, Niki Pilic, described the situation as “shameful” and said Djokovic was being treated like a “criminal.”
In the meantime, here’s Paul Karp’s take.
We’ll bring you the latest Covid figures, even if the case numbers have somewhat lost their connection to reality, and we’re keeping an eye on shortages of ... frankly, everything, including common sense on some fronts.
And as always, I’ll try to find some nuggets of joy (or weirdness) to sprinkle through the news.
Updated
