Every year I start a file called “Words I wish I wrote”. Like a kea I grab the shiny bits that just shout out from the page ‘pick me’. At the end of the year over the holidays I like to review the collection and choose the very best to keep in my archive. They are gathered from a very broad range of sources. Some are stories, others from speeches, judgements, or poems, but frequently just a line or two.
It’s early 2022. I think I’ve found a winner already.
Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop has revealed why judges upheld Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa.
The three judges of the Federal Court's full bench unanimously ordered the world No. 1 to leave Australia and to pay all of Hawke's legal costs.
Justice Allsop agreed with Hawke, who had cited "health" and "good order" grounds in revoking Djokovic's visa, because the tennis star had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 and there was a fear he could incite anti-vaccination sentiment.
The reasons, published online, refer to Djokovic's power to influence:
"An iconic world tennis star may influence people of all ages, young or old, but perhaps especially the young and the impressionable, to emulate him," the document reads.
"This is not fanciful; it does not need evidence. It is the recognition of human behaviour from a modest familiarity with human experience.
"Even if Mr Djokovic did not win the Australian Open, the capacity of his presence in Australia playing tennis to encourage those who would emulate or wish to be like him is a rational foundation for the view that he might foster anti-vaccination sentiment."
Each month I’ll include a line or two from my WIWIW file. If you want to send me any words that impressed you, please do: fijiwinter@yahoo.co.nz