Chris Brown Can’t Get A Visa For Australia, But Do The Reasons Seem A Bit Racist?


The Australian government has warned Chris Brown that that they might reject his visa application.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that they have formally informed Chris Brown that they are thinking of denying him a visa over his record of domestic violence.

Brown, who is scheduled to perform in four concerts in Australia this December, has 28 days to present additional material in order to convince the issuing authority to grant his request.

Michaela Cash, Minister for Women, has issued a statement about Chris Brown’s case.

“People need to understand – if you are going to commit domestic violence and then you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you, ‘You cannot come in because you are not of the character that we expect in Australia.'”

Cash also added that when she was assistant minister for immigration, she rejected the Australian visa application of a sportsman because he has been convicted of domestic violence. The sportsman has been identified as Floyd Mayweather, Jr..

If the Australian government denies his visa application, it will be the third time that a country has denied entry to Chris Brown.

In 2010, Brown was prevented from entering United Kingdom, and early this year, his shows in Canada were canceled because he was refused entry at the Canadian border.

It is also likely that Brown’s concerts in New Zealand in December will also be canceled because NZ immigration laws prevent visa issuance to anyone who was barred from entering another country unless he obtains a special direction.

Even before the Australian government officially told Brown that he might be prevented from entering Australia, activist group GetUp! had already launched an online campaign asking the Immigration Minister to reject the singer’s visa application.

In its online petition that gathered signatures from 14,000 supporters, the group says the campaign against Brown has everything to do with his domestic violence record. “Speaking out against Chris Brown has nothing to do with pop music, and everything to do with men’s violence against women,” the petition claims.

The GetUp! petition, entitled “No Chris Brown. You’re Not Welcome in Australia,” further states: “If we stand by and do nothing while he performs around the country (even if we don’t have the faintest interest in Brown’s career or pop music in general), 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.” Under Australian migration laws, anyone with a prison sentence of 12 months or more, including a probationary sentence, can be denied entry into Australia. In 2009, Brown was sentenced to five years probation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna.

However, Clem Bastow of Daily Life has noted that Get!Up isn’t consistent in their campaigns against individuals or groups with a history of domestic violence.

In her correspondence with GetUp! Campaigns director Chelsey Cooke, Bastow found out that the activist group won’t be running a similar campaign against Black Sabbath, which will be touring in Australia this year.

Just like Chris Brown, Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne was convicted of assaulting a woman and was even jailed for attempting to strangle his wife. Ozzy Osbourne even admitted to “trying to kill his wife.”

“Unfortunately there are plenty of terrible, violent men in the entertainment industry, but none with greater access and influence to our youth. Consider this against any and all perpetrators of violence – with the hope that Chris Brown’s example will enforce precedent of sticking to character test guidelines in future,” Cooke said.

Meanwhile, Chris Brown’s concert tickets have gone on sale despite the Australian visa ban. The singer’s management issued a statement saying they have requested the office of the Immigration Minister to consider Brown’s visa application.

Brown’s management also stated that there’s no truth to media reports that his request to enter Australia has been denied.

[Image by Jason Merritt, Getty Images]

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