The announcement of Brown’s upcoming tour has caused outrage amongst many Australians, with News Corp’s Tyson Wray asking how we can “allow a convicted domestic violence abuser, a homophobe and a misogynist who promotes rape culture to visit our shores”.
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According to Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Australia is one of the few countries to extend work and holiday visas to young Chinese nationals, giving the country leverage in the competitive Chinese tourism market.
The new petition urging Brown to be turned away from Australia surrounds his violent past, specifically the 2010 incident where the 26-year-old was charged for physically attacking his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
“We said, “No, we are not providing you with a visa, you are not the type of person we want in Australia”, Senator Cash said.
“I am clearly not going to pre-empt a decision by the minister, however, I can assure you what my strong recommendation would be”. By Thursday morning, about 9,700 people had signed it. “We are implicitly sending the message that if you brutally beat a woman, in a short amount of time you will be forgiven, or even celebrated”. The R&B star was sentenced to five years’ probation, a year-long domestic violence program and 180 days of community labour after assaulting Rihanna in 2009.
New Zealand have already indicated they are unlikely to allow Chris Brown into the country, following the lead of the UK. Activist group Collective Shout attempted to ban rapper Tyler, The Creator on similar grounds earlier this year.
When asked for his view, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Senator Cash had “very brilliantly expressed the thoughts of the government”.
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The 37-year-old American has a criminal record, which includes serving two months in jail in 2012, after pleading guilty to an assault on his former partner in front of their children.
