Djokovic saga exposes the government’s border farce

Not one person in the government thought it might be a good idea to put Novak Djokovic’s name on the Movement Alert List.

In his book Serve to Win, Novak Djokovic describes how he was ­diagnosed with gluten intolerance.

A nutritionist asked him to hold a piece of white bread in his left hand while pressure was applied to his right arm. Djokovic writes that he could feel himself getting weaker while he was holding the bread.

The world’s No.1 men’s tennis champ thinks that “scientists have proven that molecules in water react to our emotions”.

Surprise, surprise – he’s not convinced about the science behind vaccines either.

The thing is, when Djokovic ­applied for a visa to compete at the Australian Open, apparently no one in the Morrison government thought that his visit might be ­controversial. In tennis parlance, Djokovic aced it.

Not one person in the government thought it might be a good idea to put Djokovic’s name on the Movement Alert List.

It’s the standard process that’s been used for decades to bring controversial visa applicants to the attention of senior officials in Canberra – and it would have taken about 10 seconds.

Instead, on November 18, 2021, Djokovic’s visa application sailed right on through; Scott Morrison and his ministers seemingly asleep at the wheel.

Australian Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews.

It wasn’t until 49 days later, on January 6, when one of the world’s biggest sports stars arrived at Melbourne Airport, that Australian Border Force officers finally swung into action. With the federal election encroaching as quickly as the Omicron virus, Morrison sniffed the wind, realised Australian voters wouldn’t buy his “tough on borders” rhetoric if an unvaccinated Djokovic was allowed in, and set about grand-slamming the tennis champ.

And so, possibly under ministerial pressure from above, a junior Border Force officer dutifully cancelled Djokovic’s visa.

Somewhere in the middle of all the mayhem that followed, Rafael Nadal said that the Australian Open was bigger than one tennis player. So, too, is the impending crisis at our airports.

The Djokovic case, ironically heralded by the Prime Minister as an example of his policy of being tough on borders, actually demonstrates just how vulnerable, porous and weak our borders have become under Morrison.

If someone of Djokovic’s notoriety was able to obtain a visa, just imagine how many unvaccinated others, flying under the radar, have already entered Australia or will soon touch down here.

Visitor traffic through our airports is currently at an all-time low, a mere 1 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels.

International travellers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) arrive at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. Picture: AFP

Before Covid hit, Australia received between 1½ and two million visitors a month. But last month, just 197,000 people came to ­Australia.

But it won’t stay like that for long. Within a few months, those people movements could ramp up dramatically.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows movement already picking up to its highest level since March 2020. Soon we’ll see exponential growth in visitor numbers as the borders open up further.

What happens then?

Are Australian Border Force officers seriously going to check everyone’s vaccination status, medical exemptions and vaccination predilections at the airport?

When it comes to checking paperwork at our borders, Border Force says it allocates about 30 to 40 seconds per traveller.

If that blows out to a minute (or more) as officers try to decipher vaccination documentation that has been uploaded at the last ­minute, there’s instant gridlock.

Is the Prime Minister seriously suggesting this is how we’re going to manage our borders once we start to open up?

Novak Djokovic captured as he arrived into Australia and had his visa denied. Picture: 9NEWS

That approach would up-end 30 years of visa management in Australia. Travellers’ paperwork has always been given a final check at the border, but the vast majority of paperwork has been submitted and checked as part of the visa ­application process.

If Morrison’s approach is the new normal, friends and family of Australian citizens, tourists and skilled workers with government-issued visas could arrive in the country, then go through being turned away because the Morrison government didn’t bother to check their vaccination status before they were issued a visa or got on a plane.

What’s that going to do to businesses that are trying to get skilled labour into Australia?

What about Australians who are trying to have their family and friends, whom they haven’t seen now for years, come to the country?

What’s it going to do to our tourism industry?

Making such extensive checks at the airport primary line is an ­entirely unworkable proposition, and one that has now been ad­vertised to the world by the Djokovic saga.

Djokovic has set off an alarm bell. The government needs to act now to prevent a chaotic mess at our airports which could damage our economy even further.

Chronic myopia has already seen this Coalition government struggle over vaccine rollouts, booster rollouts and rapid antigen test distribution.

We cannot afford for this to ­become yet another case of too ­little too late.

Senator Kristina Keneally is opposition spokeswoman for home affairs.