Djokovic

Given Serbia's recent history, that's quite disgusting. She also equated the hotel to a prison.

We pay far too much for the health system we have. Ireland has amongst the highest expenditures on health to GDP ratioa in the OECD, and amongst the worst outcomes for the amount of money spent.

i lived in Australia years ago and the average aussie i met was very slavaphobe, and Asian and Turks and of course brits (who isn't) but it might have changed since then

Completely agree with this. While I fully support Djokovic, I can't help but be a bit peeved that he didn't see this stunt coming! You could smell it from a mile off and he should have pulled out of the tournament and not associate himself with a nation of pushovers.

Not really surprising when you read what they did to aboriginals previously, like the stolen generation for example.

I guess this is where we proceed to the "disproprotionate representation of antivaxxers in ICU" debate. The debate the government want us all to have despite them vehemently opposed to giving us the data on.

Yeah bit ridiculous. Heard her chattin about prison also. People getting shanked and murdered 30 people to a cell in the worst prisons in the world and poor Novak has to spend a few days in a hotel. I think he'll survive.

The Australian citizens couldn't enter Australia because of the rules that were set, but you seem to think Djokovic should be allowed an exemption from the rules that were set and be treated better than Australian citizens like me? That's what Djokovic has to do with that - trying to get around the rules because he's an antivaxer and feels he's entitled to 'special' treatment. Quite frankly, I don't believe his 'positive test' should be accepted at face value either, given his prior nose thumbing at the pandemic and stunts that got people infected. Given the partisan attitudes displayed by the Serbian government, they would have given him a positive test result for smallpox if he'd asked for it.

Some of those others are alread home by now:

"Czech tennis player Renata Voráčová deported from Australia after visa cancellation" so just stop with this 'it's only Djokovik' nonsense.

He wasn't fully endorsed by the Federal government, quite the opposite:

"Federal health authorities told Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley on two occasions in writing that people who were not vaccinated and had contracted COVID-19 in the past six months would not be granted quarantine-free travel to Australia.

The emergence of two letters from the Department of Health and Health Minister Greg Hunt in November casts doubt over why tennis star Novak Djokovic was granted an exemption to play in the Australian Open by health panels set up by Tennis Australia and the Victorian government." https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/letters-from-federal-government-cast-doubt-on-djokovic-exemption-20220106-p59mbd.html

The Federal government doesn't have to bend or suspend it's rules, just because a sporting body bent/ignored the rules out of convenience for their sport and tournament. They need dealing with as much as Djokovic does.

The question now is will the government that has stood up to threats and bullying by China, cave to the prima donna antics of of piddling little tennis brat?

@cnocbui 'The Australian citizens couldn't enter Australia because of the rules that were set, but you seem to think Djokovic should be allowed an exemption from the rules that were set and be treated better than Australian citizens like me?'

You receive poor treatment from your Government because Dan Andrews and Scott Morrison are low quality pols. Zero covid was a total failure, the wrong policy, so all that's left is the fake toughness that Australians pride themselves on.

Yes they should give an exemption to Djokovic and other players. Why are they holding a tennis tournament in the middle of an 'emergency' anyway? If you're going to hold a tennis tournament, make it easy for the recognised seeded players to get in.

What has you paying 5% more income tax to fund the HSE got to do with Djokovic?

It is f'n easy for the tennis players to get in, just get vaccinated! If Djokovic had just spent a few minutes getting vaccinated this thread wouldn't exist.

As for Australias fake toughness: them standing up to China wasn't fake. The thousands of live Australian crayfish that slowly died and suffocated from the heat on Chinese docks as retaliation wouldn't have thought it was fake, if they could think, of course.

Them not putting up with the French BS of dragging their feet on the submarine contract, not performing and dumping all the technical documentation for the project in their lap - written in French - and telling them to learn french or pay to get it translated, wasn't fake to the French.

If Australians were as hardy as they make themselves out to be they would not be hiding under the blankie from covid which is little different to similar events from the past like the 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemic.

Watching the frozen-eyed Dan Andrews continually bully the entire state of Victoria has been pathetic. He shouldn't be separating families and barring people from their parent's funerals and ordinary Aussies shouldn't be letting him get away with it

As someone on another thread said, the ordinary person's anger has dissociated and transferred from a scary source (the Oz government and militarised police) to a not-scary target (Djokovic).

I tell ya one thing, whether you're pro vaccine or anti vaccine or pro Nole or anti Nole or pro Serbia or anti Serbia or pro Australia or anti Australia....you cannot but admire the man's resiliency and fortitude and unwavering belief...

Go and win number 21, Nole!!!!!!