The judge hearing Novak Djokovic’s case has queried “what more” he could have done to prove his medical exemption and criticised the Australian government for reneging on a deal to give him more time to defend his visa from cancellation.
Judge Anthony Kelly said he was “preoccupied” and “somewhat agitated” by the issue of why Australian officials did not accept an exemption document provided by the world No 1 male tennis player from a qualified physician, backed up by an independent Victorian government panel. [...]
Djokovic arrived in Australia late on Wednesday evening before his visa was cancelled at 7.29am on Thursday morning on the basis he may be a threat to health and safety because he was unvaccinated.
Djokovic’s counsel, Nicholas Wood, told the court the Serbian tennis star had done his “level best” to provide everything to substantiate his exemption that he recently had Covid-19, including uploading a medical exemption from the chief medical officer of Tennis Australia before travelling.
Kelly interrupted to comment that the status of Djokovic’s medical exemption “preoccupied” him, describing it as a “relatively significant fact” that Djokovic had obtained an exemption from “a professor and eminently qualified physician”, which was further approved by an independent expert panel established by the Victorian state government.
“That document was in the hands of the delegate [who cancelled his visa]. The point I’m somewhat agitated about is: what more could this man [Djokovic] have done?” [...]
Wood said that Djokovic had been “utterly confused” when interviewed on Thursday morning, pointing to a note he received before travelling from the home affairs department that his claim for an exemption had been assessed and accepted.
Kelly noted Djokovic was “effectively incommunicado” from 4am when he was asked to switch his phone off until 7.42am when he was told of the cancellation, as the department reneged on an agreement to give him until 8.30am to consult Tennis Australia. [...]
Kelly noted that Djokovic was urged not to get in touch with his lawyers, which Wood said occurred on the “spurious rationale” it would be in his interests to complete his interview without them.
