Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here, back on the blog for 2022. Let’s dive straight in.
Novak Djokovic’s visa cancellation battle continues. The tennis star is detained in an immigration hotel in Melbourne while he waits to appeal his visa cancellation at a high-stakes federal circuit court hearing on Monday.
In a court submission, Djokovic’s lawyers claimed that he had been advised by home affairs his travel declaration met the requirements for “quarantine-free arrivalâ€. They claimed that Tennis Australia granted him a medical exemption to play at the Australian Open despite not being vaccinated against Covid-19, on the grounds that he tested positive for the virus in mid-December.
The federal government is expected to file its response to Djokovic’s submission today.
But the tennis star is now facing fresh criticism after pictures on social media showed he appeared at public events after his positive Covid test.
Meanwhile, Pparts of Queensland’s south-east are experiencing major flooding following heavy rain. A 14-year-old girl is missing near Gympie and a 22-year-old Sunshine Coast man was found dead yesterday.
Covid-19 cases are also continuing to rise across the country.
NSW recorded 45,098 cases yesterday from PCR tests, acknowledging that the real number was likely much larger. Victoria reported 51,356 cases, which included results from rapid antigen tests logged online over the past six days.
Queensland reported 11,174 cases and announced the suspension of non-urgent elective surgery for eight weeks.