34 Asia The Economist January 22nd 2022
cused on one another, their modest policy
plans have faded into the background. Mr
Lee made his name by advocating a univer
sal basic income, but his most memorable
current policy is a promise to include hair
loss treatment in health insurance. A video
of Mr Lee claiming he was “the best candi
date for your hair” in the style of a hair
product ad went viral earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the closest Mr Yoon has come
to a policy announcement in recent weeks
was a remark in favour of a potential first
strike against North Korea. Neither candi
date has proposed compelling plans to dis
pel voters’ concerns about the pandemic
and spiralling housing costs (The average
price of a flat in Seoul has risen by nearly
50% since Mr Moon took office in 2017).
None of this has been lost on the elec
torate. Mr Yoon led polls for two months,
probably thanks to his political novelty.
Since December, however, neither candi
date has managed to take a decisive lead.
Both continue to be outshone by Mr Moon,
whose approval rating remains above 40%
in all polls, a share that neither of the two
men who hope to succeed him has man
aged to sustain for any length of time. A
majority of voters say they want to see a
new party in power, but that is hardly out
of enthusiasm for Mr Yoon. In one recent
poll by Realmeter, a pollster on the right,
conservatives said they would prefer an al
liance between the pppand the small Peo
ple Party, with Ahn Cheolsoo, a colourless
conservative, as president.
This suggests that Mr Yoon will have a
hard time convincing even his own camp
to vote for him, let alone sway moderates.
Messrs Lee and Yoon still have a little time
to get serious. But if they don’t, whoever
manages to fill the headlines with theoth
er side’s scandals just before electionday
probably has the best chance of success.nMud-wrestlers in disguiseAustraliaBecause I say so
I
t drew a bigger crowd than can sit in the
centre court at the Australian Open. On
January 16th more than 80,000 people
tuned in to a live feed from the federal
court to see whether, after a lengthy scuffle
with Australia’s government, Novak Djo
kovic would be allowed to stay in the coun
try. It was not the result that the world’s
best tennis player wanted: the court’s three
judges agreed unanimously to dismiss his
challenge against the federal government.
Most Australians cheered as the unvac
cinated Serb was sent to the airport. Ac
cording to one poll, 71% of them agreed
that he should be deported. But even those
who were glad to see him go might have
cause for concern about the way in which
the case unfolded.
First, he was granted a visa. Then, on
January 6th, the conservative coalition
government cancelled it, saying that he did
not have an exemption to bypass Austra
lia’s travel rules. A court overturned that
decision on January 10th, so the govern
ment changed tack. Mr Djokovic had not
broken any rules by flying to Australia, it
conceded, but his presence in the country
might “foster sentiment against vaccina
tion”. Alex Hawke (pictured), the immigra
tion minister, then revoked his visa on
“health and good order grounds”.
An Australian immigration minister
has vast powers of discretion. So vast, in
fact, that the incumbent in 2008 declared
that he had “too much power”. Those powers have grown since then. Immigration
ministers can personally grant or cancel
visas if they think it is “in the public inter
est”, as Mr Hawke did in Mr Djokovic’s case.
They can also deport foreigners on “char
acter grounds”, overturn a person’s refugee
status, or put asylum seekers into deten
tion indefinitely—and they often do.
The Melbourne hotel in which the ten
nis star was detained holds 25 refugees and
seven asylumseekers. Because they tried
to reach Australia by boat, they are not al
lowed to resettle there. One of the refugees,
Mehdi Ali, an Iranian, has been locked up
by Australia for nine years, since he was a
boy of 15.
The strict regime is popular with many
voters. But views on legal immigration are
not onesided. Polling conducted in 2019
by the Lowy Institute, a thinktank, found
that 67% of Australians believe that immi
gration has a positive impact on the econ
omy—down from 73% in 2016. Even so,
47% feel that immigrants are a burden on
the welfare system.
Politicians “like to use their personal
powers in cases where they get political
mileage”, says Greg Barns, an Australian
barrister. The government’s decisions can
be extremely difficult to appeal against. “It
is dangerous”, Mr Barns believes, “because
it is designed to try to sidestep the courts.”
Take Mr Djokovic’s case. The federal court
could rule only on whether Mr Hawke was
within his rights to cancel the Serb’s visa,S YDNEY
Novak Djokovic’s deportation sets a troubling precedent