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Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says there is nothing the federal government can do to silence anti-vaxxers in its ranks after deporting No. 1 Novak Djokovic for fear he would encourage people to shun the COVID-19 vaccine.
Senior ministers on Monday faced accusations of hypocrisy for their hard line against Mr Djokovic while government MPs such as George Christensen and Senator Alex Antic continue to spread anti-vaccination messages.
“We have got anti-vaxxers, certainly, but they’re not from overseas”: Barnaby Joyce.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“We’ve got anti-vaxxers, certainly, but they’re not from overseas,” Mr Joyce told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. “What can [we] do? As much as [Immigration Minister Alex] Hawke would like, he can’t send any of our politicians to Serbia.”
Mr Joyce, the Nationals leader, said he had counselled Mr Christensen about his remarks “knowing full well that he’s entitled to make them”. He also said comments by anti-vaxxer MPs mattered less because “they don’t have the profile of Djokovic. I think he takes it up about 15 storeys”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had earlier told 2GB radio citizens had a right to express their views but “if you’re someone coming from overseas and there are conditions for you to enter this country, well, you have to comply with them, and it’s as simple as that”.
Health Minister Greg Hunt told the ABC the government had made it clear “we disagree with anybody, anywhere with an anti-vaccination sentiment”.
Mr Hawke used his ministerial powers to cancel Mr Djokovic’s visa on the basis the Serbian star might be a threat to the health, safety or good order of Australia, with his lawyers later citing in court the world No. 1’s published comments on vaccination and his significant public profile.
Doing the rounds on breakfast television on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said it was possible an automatic three-year ban on Mr Djokovic entering Australia could be lifted if he were vaccinated ahead of next year’s Australian Open.
“It may be something that could be taken into account at any time that he may choose to apply for a visa to come back to Australia – that would be assessed,” she told Sky News.
Asked if the deportation of Mr Djokovic following 11 days of limbo including time in immigration detention could turn the nine time Australian Open winner into an anti-vaccination martyr, Ms Andrews said the court had heard that argument and her main concern was border protection.
The opposition used the debacle to call into question the federal government’s competence, with Labor’s spokeswoman for home affairs, Kristina Keneally, asking why Border Force officers stationed at overseas airports, including in Dubai where Mr Djokovic transited, could not have intervened before he boarded.
She said it was an “embarrassing bungle” and it would not be feasible, once the international border fully reopened, for people to get a visa to come to Australia only to be thrown out of the country upon their arrival.
Senator Keneally also accused Mr Morrison of acting “tough” on Mr Djokovic but being “a lamb, weak and timid” when it came to dealing with his own MPs undermining confidence in vaccines.
In December, Mr Morrison said he was disappointed Senator Antic had misled him about his vaccination status after the South Australian was taken into a quarantine hotel upon arrival at Adelaide airport.
Senator Antic refused to publicly disclose his vaccination status, blaming his detention on “the bureaucratic overlords” at SA Health.
At the weekend, following Mr Hawke’s decision but prior to the court challenge, Senator Antic appeared on Serbian television to defend Mr Djokovic and condemn his own government’s “regrettable” decision to deport him.
“I understand that this has been done on the grounds of the public interest. I don’t know what that means,” he said. “But it is curious in the sense that I don’t believe Mr Djokovic poses any threat to the Australian people [or] to the other players in the tournament.”
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