Hotel and Boots

This will be the last time I mention the subject.  As I write this three federal judges of the High Court are considering Djokovic’s appeal against the cancellation of his visa.  Interestingly, we now know in November last year Tennis Australia was pleading with the Federal Government over vaccine exemptions claiming without them the Australian Open would be in jeopardy.  The government replied advising double vaccination was the requirement for arriving non citizens if they wished to avoid 14 days quarantine.  Tennis Australia subsequently sent an information sheet to all invitees on 7 Dec advising a medical exemption might be available if the participant had tested positive to COVID within the previous six month.  Applications for participants closed on 10 Dec by which time Djokovic not submitted an application to participate.  Djokovic tested positive on 16 Dec.

The cynic in me suspect the Federal Government will not be displeased if Djokovic’s appeal were to be successful.  My reasons are:

1.  The diplomatic furore will abate.

2.  The tournament will proceed.

3.  The Federal Government will have looked determined to protect public health.

4.  The government can blame the judges for allowing Djokovic into Australia unvaccinated.

Detention Hotel

There is a considerable amount of misinformation being circulated regarding the hotel (the Park Hotel, Melbourne) where Djokovic is being detained.  Most of this is emanating from those advocating the release of the small number of asylum seekers/illegal immigrants in the hotel.  The allegations include:

• conditions in the hotel are substandard
• food is riddled with maggots
• people have been detained for up to nine years.

The facts are:

The Australian government only started using the Park Hotel to accommodate 30+ asylum seekers/illegal immigrants a year ago. 

The Park Hotel remains a working hotel accepting paying guests.

It is a 3 star budget hotel with rooms to that standard.

The hotel chef and kitchen is cooking Novak’s meals and I doubt they are full of maggots.

The Park Hotel is not the Melbourne Detention Centre.  The Detention Centre is located in the north of the city whereas the Park Hotel in in the city centre.

 

Park Hotel is the bottom right arrow

So what aren’t the 30+ asylum seekers/illegal immigrants in the Park Hotel being held in the detention centre?

When the Federal Government adopted its “Stop the Boats” policy it also announced no person illegally arriving by boat would ever be accepted into Australia.  Instead they were sent to offshore detention in Papua New Guinea (PNG) or Nauru Island in the Pacific.

Some of those detainees were subsequently assessed as having health conditions which were unable to to treated in PNG or Nauru.  The Federal government agreed to temporarily allow them into Australia for treatment.  The Park Hotel is very close to Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Boots

Something more interesting (to me)

Fifty years ago; not long after we were married; my lovely wife managed to accumulate sufficient funds (at the time we were dirt poor living on lots of love) to buy me a pair of brown leather dress boots.

I’ve treasured them all my life (see, I am sentimental).  Of course they went out of fashion but I’ve kept them.  After six years in storage, baking in a steel shipping container, they were looking very shabby, dry and brittle on our return from the UK.

   

I washed and cleaned them before using a hot iron and wet towel to remove some of the nastier creases.  Over the following week  I spent an hour a day carefully rubbing leather restoration cream into them.

The leather is starting to feel supple.