Scott Morrison Accused Of Using Novak Djokovic Scandal To Distract Aussies From Covid-19 Failures

By Stewart Perrie

Australia and parts of the globe have been fixated on the Novak Djokovic scandal.

The Serbian tennis star was booted from the country once and for all after a back and forth battle about his right to stay.

Djokovic and his team believed he was allowed to come Down Under to play in the Australian Open despite not being vaccinated and the Australian government and legal system thought otherwise.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke re-cancelled his visa on Friday (January 14) and that decision was upheld in court yesterday (January 16), meaning the male world number one was told to get on a plane immediately.

The story has dominated the daily news cycle for a long week and many Aussies are divided about how they feel on the topic.

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However, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has accused Scott Morrison and his government of using the high-profile story to distract people from the other glaring news story that's taken a backseat since we rang in 2022.

Supermarket shelves are bare due to supply chain issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic and Aussies can't get their hands on rapid antigen tests (RATs) for love nor money.

Mr Rudd reckons the Morrison government is happy to have had a bigger story leading the news all week.

He wrote on Twitter: "What a surprise! Morrison's govt cancels #Djokovic's visa to win the weekend media cycle-showing us all how hairy chested he is.

"Why on earth did they issue the visa in the first place? One big political distraction from empty shelves & the national shortage of boosters & RATs."

Supermarkets as well as KFC, McDonald's and other industries have been affected by the pandemic and isolation rules.

Either people are testing positive for Covid-19 or they're a close contact of someone who has, and that means there is a huge worker shortage at the moment.

The government has also been plagued by the limited availability of RATs as well as their exorbitant cost.

Scott Morrison faced calls for them to be subsidised by the federal government and he replied saying you can't just make everything free because you don't want to pay for it.

The Prime Minister has also been slammed for letting the Djokovic scandal grow to such a large proportion.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said over the weekend: "The rules are clear that you need to be double vaccinated in order to enter Australia, and we still don't have an explanation for how it is that the Australian government under Scott Morrison issued the visa in the first place.

"The right decision was to stop the visa being issued in the first place."

Now that the tennis star has left Australia, the government could start to feel the heat on some of the issues that took a backseat during the Djokovic news cycle.

Topics: Scott Morrison, Australian Open, Kevin Rudd, Novak Djokovic, Australia, Politics, Scott Morrison, Australian Open, Kevin Rudd, Novak Djokovic, Australia, Politics