Transcript of AE 1097 - The Goss: The 'Novax' Djokovic Saga

G'day, you mob. Pete here, and this is another episode of Aussie English. The number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. So, today I have a Goss' episode for you where I sit down with my old man, my father, Ian Smissen, and we talk about the week's news whether locally down under here in Australia or non-locally overseas in other parts of the world.

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Okay, so if you really, really want to improve your listening skills fast, get the transcript, listen and read at the same time, keep practising, and that is the quickest way to level up your English. Anyway, I've been rabbiting on a bit, I've been talking a bit. Let's just get into this episode, guys. Smack the bird, and let's get into it.

Dad, what's going on?

Pete, how you going?

Good. We have a sort of slightly new set up here now, huh?

Yeah, I'm not sure how I'm going to behave myself without the cameras.

I know, so we've ditched the cameras, guys, because very few people were actually watching the videos. So, my sort of resolution this year has been to subtract.

It sounds like a good idea, yeah.

Try and make things simpler and easier.

Yeah.

So, 'Novax' Djokovic. Let's talk... (both talking)

Fucking idiot. That's the end of that conversation.

That's it. It's a short Goss' episode. Yeah, so this has become pretty- What would you say? Controversial, inflammatory.

Yeah. Well, it's been the lead story on the news in radio, newspapers, television for a week, every night...

Yeah.

...Every day.

Still waiting on the results. Waiting on the results. Waiting on the results. So, I guess a bit of background on this, I've got the sort of COVID timeline. I guess, first of all, so he has fought tooth and nail to come into Australia to be able to- I was about to say fight, but play...

To play in the Australian Tennis Open. Yes.

...At the Australian Tennis Open Novak is currently number one. And Federer and Nadal both can't come, so...

No. Nadal's here.

Is he?

Yeah.

But he's been sick with COVID.

He has, but he's playing, so.

Oh, okay. All right. But either way, he's really, really, really wanting to play to be able to defend his title, right...

Retain the number one title, but also win the 21st title. So, he'll go past Federer and Nadal...

And that'll be the 10th Australian Open, right, for him, too.

I think it will, yes, which will be a record, too.

So, they're obviously, you know, career motivations first and foremost, I think. And then so he applied for his visa, for months now it's been in the news that, you know, he doesn't want to get vaccinated, he's an anti-vaxxer, he's...

Well, he's declined to let people know what his vaccination status is.

Yeah, which pretty much...

Means he's not vaccinated. I can't imagine you'd get vaccinated and go, oh, I'm not going to tell you if I am.

That's it. Yeah, I'm not telling you if I'm married or not.

Yeah, exactly. But here's my wife.

Yeah, exactly. So, anyway, yeah, he fought tooth and nail to get into Australia. He came, he applied for his visa and then he got to, I think, migration here, and they were like, no.

They blocked him at the border. Yeah.

What was the reason for that, again?

Because he is not double vaccinated...

Yeah.

...And he's claiming- My understanding is, and this is- It's so convoluted now. But he was claiming that he has an exemption from vaccination because he's had COVID twice. And the most recent one was in December last year.

I feel like that would be an easy thing to test where you'd be like blood sample, antibodies.

Yeah, yeah. And whether he has or not, though, it doesn't matter. He can be lying, he could be telling the truth, but that is not a legitimate alternative to being vaccinated...

Yeah.

...You have to have a medical exemption, and the medical exemption is related to the fact that you are, for whatever reason, can't have a vaccine, whether you're immunocompromised or whether you've got severe allergies to particular agents that go into vaccines and so on. So, he hasn't applied for any of that. He's just said, I don't need to be vaccinated, and he's made up his own reason.

Yeah, so he got to Australia, and he got, I guess, detained and put into a hotel...

Quarantine hotel.

...Yeah, quarantine hotel. But also, with other refugees there, right? Which have been potentially waiting for a very long time to come into Australia and haven't been able to.

And so, that's led to even more controversies and sort of vitriol from the Australian people who are like, oh, okay, so you know, Novak, who's, you know, this multimillionaire tennis player, world famous, can use all the money and power that he has to be able to fight this in court almost instantaneously and get out...

Yeah.

...So, and that's, you know, fast forward, he did win the case against the government's decision.

He did, but he actually didn't win the case against the government's decision. What he won was a stay effectively on that because the judge decided that the process that the Border Patrol or Border Force went through in order to detain him was excessive and therefore, he should not be kept in hotel quarantine. The legal system did not say that he should be allowed to enter Australia.

Yeah.

So, that is still pending. Now, it comes down to the Minister for Immigration, who has ministerial discretion just based on anything he chooses to, to deny somebodies entrance to Australia.

Well, and I think the reason that so many Australians are pissed is because we've suffered so much through so many lockdowns and there's been such a push for everyone to be vaccinated. We've also been unable to see people overseas and even interstate...

Exactly.

...Due to these lockdowns and vaccination statuses and everything like that. And it's kind of like he's just waving that in everyone's face being like, I'm too important for these rules to apply to me.

And so, the thing that, yeah, that shits me the most is how many other migrants are trying to come into the country who are or aren't vaccinated but are having a difficult time for whatever reason. And because this guy is rich and famous, he just waltz through.

...To be fair about it, he's not applying for immigration into Australia permanently. He just wants to be here for two weeks to play in a tennis tournament, so.

Which makes it worse in my mind...

...Exactly... (both talking) ...He's actually just coming here to work.

Yeah.

He's effectively applying for a short-term work visa.

Yeah.

And there are plenty of people, you know, hundreds of thousands of people around Australia at the moment who are unable to work because they are actually having to isolate because they're at close contact or because for whatever reason, they are choosing not to be vaccinated...

Yeah.

...So, you know, it's that, you know, if you're not vaccinated, you don't work. And there are many workplaces that now have that.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, Tennis Australia, in their infinite stupidity, decided that his claim of being, you know, having had COVID twice has meant that, you know, they would say, alright, fine, you can enter the country. They actually have no right to do that. They- if- they should have, at the end of their responsibility, should have been, yes, we will accept your entry into the tournament...

Under the assumption that it meets the standard...

You don't even have to do that. We accept your entry into the tournament. In order to get into the country, you're going to have to meet immigration requirements. Here is your letter of acceptance to attach to your visa. But now it's up to you to meet the immigration requirements. Instead, they decided that they would tell him that he- And others, that he could enter the country.

And I would imagine that's all monetary. They want him here because they think they're going to earn money from eyes on the courts or people buying tickets.

And now they're never going to say that. They're- Now, they're just bluffing and saying, well, we were told that, you know, and there's no evidence that they were ever told anything because nobody in authority would ever have told them that they had the right to say that, so.

Anyway, it's all become stupid. And the reason it's become even more stupid now is because if he's telling the truth that he actually did get COVID in December, and it's a big "if" there. But if he is telling the truth, then he was out at a photo opportunity...

Well, that- To pause you there, so yeah, I've got the COVID timeline that he is, apparently, you know, I don't know if it's his timeline or if it's what's been reported. But this was in the news where December 10, cut-off date for players to apply for Tennis Australia for vaccine exemption.

December 14th, Djokovic attends Red Star based basketball game in Belgrade, at which numerous people later test positive. 16th, rapid antigen test returns negative result, also takes PCR test, attends ceremony unveiling stamp in his honour. And then December 17th, attends children's awards, blah blah blah... And then, yeah, it's second- The weird thing is that apparently, he said he was positive, right, for COVID on the 16th.

And he never- He didn't have a test back.

Yeah. And so- And if he were, you would imagine that he wouldn't be going to all these public events.

And that's the point is that he's gone to two public events in two countries, one in Spain and one in Serbia...

Yeah.

...The Serbian people appear to be understandably behind him, saying, you know, he should be allowed to play. The Serbian president has basically come out and just said, he's being a dick.

Good. Yeah.

And Spain are now after him as well for breaching COVID quarantine...

Well, this is that thing, that flying in the face of all these other countries, all these other populations and people who are under restrictions and suffering at the moment, and you kind of waltz around doing whatever you want because you're Novak Djokovic.

Yeah.

Right? And it's kind of like, well- And the- One of the biggest things that frustrated me was his father and just how offensive his father is, like his entire family seem to be just totally behind him with whatever he says, and they'll say anything to just crap on Australia, on our government.

I mean, some of the things here that I think it's Srdjan Djokovic was saying, you know, he said, this autocracy has shown its true face today. Contrary to the decision of the independent Court of Australia, dictator Scott ordered the arrest of my son, your world champion Novak and deportation, banning him from entering the country for three long years. Blah blah blah. And he's like...

None of that was actually true.

...I call on the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, the leader of the Commonwealth, to intervene and protect the human rights of my son and to stop the political prosecution that has been carried out against him since he came to Australia. Like, yeah, so he's calling on the Queen, did all these things.

He was saying that the Australian government and people were racist against Serbians. And you're like, we've got a huge Serbian population here. What are you smoking? We're not- We have nothing against Serbian people. It's Novak that we have a problem with.

And he's a liar. That's the thing is that, you know, regardless of whether he thinks Australia is doing his son, you know, a bad turn or not, he's a liar because he's told two things and they're conflicting...

Yeah.

...At least one of them has to be a lie.

Yeah.

And that's the thing, is that- And then it turns out that he lied on his immigration form when he entered Australia because he's...

Or whoever filled it out...

Well, it doesn't matter. He signs it. Doesn't matter who fills it in, he's signed it. And saying that he had not been in any other countries...

Yeah.

...In the last two weeks before he got to Australia.

Yeah.

And that was clearly incorrect. He'd been- Well, he lives in Spain, he'd been in Spain and Serbia. He'd travelled from Serbia to get here, and he was in Spain a few days before he left. So, he's just lied.

Yeah. So, it's an incredible fall from grace, I think as my sister was saying, Annika was saying while we've been catching up. She's just like, he used to be the darling of everyone. Everyone loved Novak, but now it's like the majority of Australia, at least the feeling is when you watch the news or you talk to other people that are all like, we hate this guy now.

Because he just- He's just- He is all the things that we disdain and dislike in celebrities and rich people, right, where they just walk over everyone else.

Self-entitlement.

And so, what he did- Like, as well to get out of- You know, he went to court with two QC's, right, Queen's Counsel lawyers, each of which was $50,000 a day. And I think they ended up presenting three hours' worth of defence of why he should be allowed to stay in.

...Australian government has to pay his court costs.

We do.

Yeah.

Our taxpayers pay him for hundreds of thousands of dollars...

Because he chooses to fight something, which you know, yeah, to- Again, to be fair, if it were anybody else and you had the wherewithal to do that, you would. But, to then claim court costs and legal fees. Court costs fine, but when we're paying his legal fees, we should be saying, yep, we'll pay you the minimum cost of what two lawyers would cost...

Yeah.

...Here's $5,000, not $100,000. It's just insane, because what if he'd hired 10?

Well, and I think, too, the fighting against what you can feel the country or the government sort of want of a country. And in spite- Even if you win, you lose, effectively.

And in spite of, it turns out, it looks like it's sort of world opinion. There was an article today written by Martina Navratilova basically saying, the only honourable thing he can do now is to just get vaccinated or leave...

Yeah.

...That's- You've got two options, get vaccinated or just leave before the Australian government throw you out. Because you've clearly stepped over the line in so many ways that you've just got to bail, and he's never going to. And she said, he won't, but that's what he should do.

Yeah, it seems like one of those things like- I'm really bad with sort of drawing analogies, but I feel like there's some kind of analogy here with, say, going to Saudi Arabia as a woman from, say, Australia and not- Deciding not to wear some modest clothing...

And headgear.

...Understanding that they are the cultural norms, and this is what is expected of you and everything. And you to say...

...Complaining when you get arrested.

Yeah, well, that sort of thing of like, look, this is what the country's expectation is, these are the current events with COVID and what the population has undergone, and I still don't care at all about any of this sort of stuff. I'm the important person here.

My- What I want to do trumps this countries, you know, what they want. And so, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Do you have a feeling that he's going to be thrown out or do you think...?

I'm still 50-50 on it. I...

I was astonished when he won the court case. It felt like he was gonna...

But the thing is, he...

...Get smashed.

...He only won- Yeah, you're right. But it turns out that he only won the court case, if you look at it that way, in the sense of saying, the judge just said, you can- You know, it wasn't granting him the right to stay. They just said, you have to release him from the hotel quarantine.

Because of- It was effectively a technicality. It turned out that if you- From what I read that because the Border Force had asked him to come up with his reasons for, you know, breaching their rules by 7.30 in the morning of the day of the court case. They said that was unreasonable, that he couldn't have got legal advice and done that by then...

Which is fair enough.

...They'd said if it was 8:30, you'd be fine. And that's clearly a technicality.

Yeah.

But I think there was also, he was detained at the airport and probably in another detention centre for seven hours being questioned. And at that time, you've got to look at it and go, seriously?

Yeah, what... (both talking)

...Know who he is. It's not like he's, you know, he's a potential drug smuggler. You know who he is, you've detained him because he's in breach of the rules for immigration into the country. You're just bullying him now.

Yeah.

And they've clearly, you know, got egg on their face from- You know, that's a nice expression to explain later. They've got egg on their face from overdoing what they should have done.

Yeah.

But. So, yeah, I'm 50-50, not about my opinion. My opinion is stick him on the next plane. My opinion on whether or not that will happen is about 50-50. And clearly, it has to happen before Monday.

Well, the annoying thing is, I think from the immigration minister's point of view, he's going to be thinking, what does the average Australian want and how is this going to benefit the next election?

And also, what's the backlash going to be in the short term? Not necessarily political backlash, but what's going to happen at the tennis, in our community if we pack him on the plane versus exactly the same if we don't? And so, it's not- I mean, they're saying that, you know, they're still taking legal advice.

So, I can't imagine there's any legal advice that they're going to have to get because my understanding is that it's the- It's ministerial discretion. The minister can basically say, I don't like the look on your face. Get out. And so...

I've read that he's the most powerful man in Australia, apparently in terms of allowing people in or out of the country.

He's the only person in Austral- That position is the only person in Australia that has effectively the hand of God, you know, because it doesn't matter what Border Force say, it doesn't matter what the prime minister says, it doesn't matter what any other politician says. The Minister for Immigration has the right to say, yes, you can come in. Or no, you've got to leave...

Yeah.

...Regardless of anything else.

I should talk to him about letting Kel get a visa...

Yeah, exactly. So, I- Yeah, I think there's that side of it. The other side of it and the sort of smart-arse cynical side of me wants him to stay to see the backlash that he gets. I can't imagine what's going to happen when he walks onto court in his first match. The irony is he's been drawn to play another Serbian.

Yeah.

Can you imagine if he was playing a 17-year-old Australian qualifier? The crowd will go- The crowd will go nuts anyway...

Yeah.

...But they would go completely mental if it was...

That's a big part of Australian culture too, right? When there's someone you don't like, you just- Especially someone who's in a higher position of ability or power or whatever the crowd is pretty much just going to go for the underdog.

They will always, yeah, the tall poppy syndrome combined with supporting the underdog...

Yeah.

...And in this case, there's an interesting article that your mum and I were discussing today that was around, and was sort of triggered by this, but it wasn't specifically on it. And that's there's part of the Australian culture that is offended just by the bullshit...

Yeah.

...You're lying, so go away.

Yeah.

We don't care who you are, why you're here, whether we think you're a good tennis player, whether we want to watch you play tennis or anything else. There's just the bullshit detector has just gone off and...

(both talking) ...It doesn't. The alarm has gone off big time.

Well, this happens quite a lot with, yeah, celebrities and politicians here in Australia, right, where you're just like...

They open their mouth and you just- You know the general public are going, nah, that's BS.

Yeah.

Yeah, so.

Well, and- Yeah, I can't imagine, too, if he were to play and win. People would just be even more irked, irritated, frustrated with the fact that he's blown all the rules, just walked over everyone and still is victorious. People would be like, it's ironic- I don't think we would ever resort to violence, like he would probably never have to worry about ever being...

...He won't be worried for his personal safety...

...Like that, but the average Australian would be so, so angry and frustrated.

The booing and the hissing and the interrupting him during his tennis now.

Yeah.

And he gets ticked off in crowds, particularly in America and in Australia, where they're not even booing him, but they're supporting his opponent...

Yeah.

...And he gets ticked off because he's not the favourite...

Yeah. Well, that seems to be- Like after listening to quite a few interviews with his brother, his dad and his mother, it seems like they're all just so full of themselves. Like they just sit around sniffing each other's farts, and they're just like, we're amazing. You know, it's weird.

Like, I know I'm being kind of, you know, gross. But there is this sense of- And this is what blows my mind, I guess, with you and mum and my family. If I were to do something similar to that, I think you would be like, you're a fucking idiot. You know, and you'd get on the news...

He's my son and I love him. But send him home.

...Yeah, exactly. Whereas with Novak's family, it almost feels like mafia-esque or those crime families or, you know, the- In Australia, it would be like people involved in organised crime where they just all stick together no matter what and point the blame, throw violence, throw words, everything at everyone else.

And so, just that difference culturally blows my mind, too, where if I were to screw up or do something wrong, you wouldn't just close ranks around me and be like, we'll support him to the death. You'll be like, look, I'll be here to come...

We'll pick up the pieces later.

...You're in jail. Yeah. So, it is really funny seeing that kind of cultural difference. I wonder what the average Australian family would be like. And even, you know, you guys listening here would your family protect you to the bitter end, even if they knew you were effectively full of shit? And I guess the hard part here is that Novak is probably his family's cash cow.

Oh yeah.

Like the amount of money he probably ends up giving to his family and his brother...

And that's fine...

Again, but I imagine that is also part of it, which would be interesting.

I feel like if I was suddenly a millionaire, you would still be like, go fuck yourself. If you did the wrong thing, Pete, I'm not sticking up for you. You know, give me money or not, but I'm not, you know, going to lie for you on TV or...

I think the other side of it too, though, is that, you know, I can imagine that if you did something like that, you couldn't look me in the face. Because you'd know, you'd know that you'd overstepped and you'd be going, yeah, I fucked up. I'm sorry.

I think I wouldn't get into that position in the first place...

No...

...Because I wouldn't be able to just keep lying and save face and try and pretend like everything's okay.

I think that's it. I think the thing is he thought he could just bluff his way in.

Yeah...

And...

...He's been caught out.

...He's been caught out in Spain, in Serbia and in Australia now of just lying or doing the wrong thing.

Yeah.

Anyway.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. And I guess, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what you guys think. So, you'll have to leave some comments in the comments section...

Let us know.

...Podcast website and let us know, do you think he should go or stay? In fact, you'll probably hear this after the fact.

Exactly. It'll be old news by then.

Yeah, exactly. Anyway, thanks for joining us, guys, and we'll see you next time.

Bye.

So, you got to do the sound effect, dad.

(the sound effect).

Breaking news, guys. Breaking news. So, the migration minister for Australia, after having- We recorded this episode, went and had dinner and the news came out that he had cancelled Novak's visa. And within what, half an hour? Novak Djokovic now has...

Is saying that he's going to appeal.

He's appealing. Yeah.

He's not very appealing, but that's... (mumbling).

The other interesting thing, so yeah, it's going to be funny to see how this ends. Again, you're just like, mate, you're digging yourself a grave, like you're digging your own grave, you're making things worse. Just like all of Australia is getting so over it. But the thing that mum pulled up and showed me whilst we were having dinner was the two Channel seven news reporters...

Yes.

...Off air, but still having their audio recorded, calling him a lying arsehole. And being like literally saying, you know, he's made up all these bullshit fucking lies. I couldn't believe how they were talking to one another. I'm saying this to you. I'm like, I can't believe how much he's swearing, and that he's tripping over his own lies now. And apparently that has gone viral. So, apparently, they said this is like a day or two ago.

Yeah, it was two days ago.

And it's since gone viral throughout the world now of all these, you know, broadcasters overseas being like, lol Australians calling it as it is.

Hey, why not?

Yeah. So, what's your two cents, dad? Before we finish up this last little update.

Yeah. Well, now it remains to be seen whether he will appeal and what happens in the federal court again. But you know, I'm not a lawyer, so disclaimer there. But...

Yeah.

...My understanding is that, you know, the ministerial privilege to deport somebody is purely a ministerial decision, there is no legal grounds to appeal on, but we'll see.

Yeah, I guess stay tuned, guys, stay tuned. It's funny, I asked all the academy members, I was like, what do you guys think of this? And they were just like, considering the amount of effort, time and money we've spent to try and get into Australia and do everything right, you know, this is just so shameful.

Yeah, exactly.

It's just like, get out. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens after this whole debacle is done, but. Yeah, I kind of want him to be able to stay, so that we can just watch these games and be like, give me the popcorn.

Yeah, exactly.

Anyway, enjoy guys. See you later.

Stay tuned.

Ciao!

All right, guys. As the Second Amendment to this episode, the Novak saga has continued. He has been deported from Australia, as you will all no doubt know by the time that this episode is released. And yeah, personally, I am happy with the situation, although I'm sort of torn on how everything took place, you know.

What on earth was the government thinking giving him a visa in the first place? Why did this have to be drawn out so long? It should have just been dealt with straight away. I mean, I don't know the sort of technical legal difficulties behind that. I'm kind of glad that he had to pay for the legal fees, as that would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars again for the government.

Yeah, it's been a very sort of controversial issue in time, but by- I don't know, asking- I was chatting to the academy members in our personal call the other day, and it seems like you guys are, for the majority of you, all on the same page in terms of thinking it was a good decision and that, you know, it seems like he lied on his application.

And you just- Yeah. It seems like it was the good decision. So, anyway, he has been deported from the country as of today, Monday, the 17th of January, and the Australian Open begins today. So, yeah, let's obviously continue the discussion, keep it civil. I'd love to hear from you guys. Was it the right decision? Was it the wrong decision? What's your two cents? What do you reckon? And until next time, see ya.