Australian Lawyers’ Alliance on Djokovic deportation:
“One of the most dangerous aspects of the Djokovic matter is the preparedness of the federal government to deem someone to be a risk to public order simply on the basis of what it perceives that person’s views might be…This is Orwellian and it is deeply troubling in a society supposedly committed to freedom of speech and freedom of thought.” [Source]
Notes Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns SC on the minister’s powers as “God-like”:
“On the basis of this sort of reasoning, a minister could say: ‘Well, I’m not going to allow you into the country because you’ve got a very high profile and you may express views and become a lightning rod for people opposed to the US-Australian alliance’.”
President of Liberty Victoria Michael Stanton agreed.
“Deportation of a person because of a purported risk as to how others might perceive them can and will be used in the future to justify the suppression of legitimate political expression because others might engage in unrest,” he said in a statement posted online. [Western Advocate]