Christophe Mallet, Franco-Australian journalist: “For public peace, it is better not to come to Djokovic”

Christophe Mallet, editor-in-chief of SBS’s French language program, one of two Australian government-funded radio and television groups, has lived in Melbourne for eighteen years. Franco-Australian, who played many games, lived paralyzed in the most controlled city in the world (262 days, approximately nine months) and explains the very negative feelings of his comrades about the arrival of Novak Djokovic.

“How do you feel about the Djokovic affair?
To me, if he is not vaccinated, he is in the public interest and should not step foot in everything we have experienced. Melbourne is the most controlled city in the world. We ended up with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 imprisonment. Today, we can all live a little more normally, and he gets there without being vaccinated. It was not going well. In micro sidewalks, people told me it was unacceptable and disgusting. I will give you a personal example. During those two years I could not go home because my mother died. There are a lot of stories like mine. For public peace, it is better that he does not come.

How did the people of Melbourne live during these two years?
Ordered to control at the last minute. For example, during the last imprisonment (Completed in October), I was playing basketball with my daughter and I got a text message to go home, from 6pm, we could not go out. It should only be five days and it lasted two and a half months. You can go out five kilometers. In a city like Melbourne, you don’t have to go far. To get to work, you need to be exempt from having to renew every week. Vaccination is not mandatory but there is a vaccine pass from the beginning. It says “Your vaccine is there, you come back; you have no vaccine, you do not come back”. Australians are strict. Here is the rule of thumb. Even today, I have to test daily at work. It is mandatory.

Can you leave the country?
There were exception systems like Djokovic. Except that it is very complicated. The mother of a great lover in Switzerland had a stroke. His request was rejected as he was told he had a sister to take care of the mother. He appealed, another denial no further appeal.

We have the impression that politics is also interfering in this Djokovic affair. What is the context?
Australia and the State of Victoria. Victoria on the left and Australia on the right (In the political spectrum). All controls were administered by the state of Victoria. Two things the government has to do during these epidemics are distribute vaccines and arrange for isolation when people arrive. Both have been mismanaged. Today, we are 95.3% vaccinated, but we got the vaccine too late. Federal elections are taking place there. We do not have a date yet, the prime minister has a deadline, but elections should take place in April-May. “