As we mentioned earlier, Novak Djokovic commented about the refugees who have also held in immigration detention at the Park Hotel in Melbourne.
There were 20 refugees in the hotel when Djokovic was briefly held there in January. All were released before the federal election, although their visa status remains unclear. Some have been in immigration detention for nine years. They will not be allowed to stay in Australia.
At the French Open, Djokovic said he was “very happy” to hear of their release.
I stayed there for a week, and I can’t imagine how they felt for nine years.
They haven’t done anything wrong, asylum seekers and have stayed for nine years.
That’s something I did not understand why — but if I brought some light to that situation positively for them, for this to happen, then, of course, I’m very happy because they got another chance in a different country.
He then added:
We underestimate freedom. Until you live something like that and see the circumstances, you don’t have an idea of what it feels like when somebody strips away your freedom from you.
Ben Smee
The Greens are increasingly confident of winning the electorate of Brisbane – and a fourth lower house seat – as counting continues and preferences from minor party voters flow in their favor.
By the end of counting on Friday, official results on the Australian Electoral Commission website showed Labor’s Madonna Jarrett in second place, 701 primary votes ahead of the Greens candidate, Stephen Bates.
After preferences are fully distributed, whichever candidate finishes second will ultimately beat the LNP’s Trevor Evans, the former MP.
The final order of the candidates will depend on some pre-poll and postal votes, which have yet to be counted, and preference allocations for about 6,500 voters who favored the Animal Justice Party, United Australia Party, One Nation, or the Liberal Democrats.
According to scrutineers, those micro-party votes are breaking comfortably in favor of the Greens.
About 66% of Animal Justice Party preferences flow to the Greens, 19% to Labor, and 14% to the LNP.
Compared to Labor, the Greens are also getting about twice the rate of preferences from One Nation and UAP voters.
Based on the preference flows, the Greens expect to wipe out the current Labor lead comfortably. Sources in the Labor camp said they were still hopeful and that the count was “definitely not over”, though optimism earlier this week appears to have faded.
Labor’s hopes rest on whether it can build a bigger first-preference lead via about 4,000 uncounted postal votes, 6,400 absentee ballots, and 7,400 pre-poll votes.
If the Greens win Brisbane, it will add to victories in the neighboring seats of Griffith and Ryan, credited to under-the-radar grassroots campaigns.
The party already has won three lower house seats and will likely have 12 senators in the new parliament, its largest-ever representation in both houses.
Good morning and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live blog. I’m Calla Wahlquist, and I’ll be with you until this afternoon.
The Greens are increasingly confident of winning the electorate of Brisbane, which would bring the minor party’s lower house seat count to four.
The Australian Electoral Commission currently has Labor’s Madonna Jarrett in second place, 701 primary votes ahead of the Greens’ Stephen Bates. Our Queensland state correspondent Ben Smee has more details on how the preferences could work in the Greens’ favor, which I’ll bring you shortly.
In other news, tennis star Novak Djokovic says he holds no grudges against Australia for being held in immigration detention in January and then deported after refusing to reveal whether he had been vaccinated for Covid-19. The vaccination was a requirement for being able to enter the country and play in the Australian Open.
At a press conference at the French Open on Friday, the world number one said he wasn’t sure whether the change of government in Australia would mean his visa would be reinstated.
I would like to. I want to go there and play Australian Open. I don’t hold any grudges.
Look, you know, it was what it was. If I can go back to Australia and play a place where I made the biggest success in my career in grand slams, I would love to come back. Let’s see how it goes.
He also said he was “very happy” to hear that 20 refugees detained at the immigration detention center had been temporarily released.
Meanwhile, police and accident investigators in Western Australia are trying to figure out how a tour boat going through the famous Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley got into trouble and briefly capsized, throwing some of its 26 passengers into crocodile-infested waters. More than 20 people were injured, 12 so seriously that they had to be flown to Perth, but none of the injuries were life-threatening. Let’s crack on. You can contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter @callapilla
