Victorian Premier doubles down on stance against unvaccinated tennis players at Australian Open

Daniel Andrews says he will not make exemptions for unvaccinated tennis players.

Victoria’s Premier says his state will not seek exemptions for unvaccinated tennis players to enter the country ahead of the Australian Open.

His comments on Wednesday came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said unvaccinated players would be able to come to Australia provided they complied with hotel quarantine requirements as dictated by the states.

“The same rules apply to everyone, whether you’re a grand slam winner, a prime minister, a business traveller, a student or whoever. Same rules,” Mr Morrison told Channel Seven.

“The states will set the rules about the quarantine as they are.”

The Prime Minister’s announcement was a backflip on unequivocal comments made by federal Immigration Minister Alex Hawke last week, who said everyone who travelled to Australia would need to be fully vaccinated.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed unvaccinated players would be permitted to enter Australia and undertake quarantine, but states would have to apply for an exemption to international travel laws.

“They are subject, however, to two weeks’ quarantine and that is without fear or favour,” Mr Hunt said.

“If there’s a no jab, no play policy in Victoria, that’s a matter for them to resolve.”

However, Mr Andrews said Victoria would not apply for such an exemption.

“I’m not going to be facilitating them coming here.

“There’s an issue of consistency here again. I was perfectly supportive of Minister Hawke’s view, which I took to be the view of the federal government. It appears that’s not the case.”

Earlier this week, Victorian Sports Minister Martin Pakula did not rule out allowing unvaccinated players into the state, but said discussions around the tournament’s vaccination policy were not settled yet.

The decision has cast further confusion on whether men’s world number one Novak Djokovic will be able to defend his 2020 Australian Open title.

The Serbian star has refused to say whether he has been vaccinated or not.

The Commonwealth’s announcement came after a leaked email to WTA players suggested unvaccinated players would be able to travel to Australia.

In a statement, Tennis Australia said it was working with the Victorian and federal governments on the conditions for players at the Australian Open 2022.

“We are optimistic that we can hold the Australian Open as close to pre-pandemic conditions as possible,” Tennis Australia said.

ABC