MUMBAI: Singer Chris Brown might have to cancel his upcoming concerts in Australia because of his past conviction for domestic violence. In 2009, he had assaulted his then-girlfriend singer Rihanna.
During the launch of a federal initiative to prevent domestic violence on Thursday, Australia’s minister for women Michaelia Cash said that she would recommend that immigration minister Peter Dutton refuses the 26-year-old singer a visa, reports aceshowbiz.com.
“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 we expect in Australia.’ This is a government that is not afraid to say: ‘No’,” said Cash.
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Brown is scheduled to bring his ‘One Hell of a Nite Tour’ to Australia in December.
He is expected to visit Perth on 9 December before making stops in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane on 12, 14 and 16 December.
After announcing the Australian tour last week, advocacy group GetUp! launched an online petition urging Australia’s minister of immigration to keep Brown, the father of one, out of the country.
“We are speaking out against Chris Brown because his casual visit to our country would have enormous symbolic significance, which will only be amplified by our silence,” read a message on their website.
“By turning a blind eye to his tour, we send a message to survivors of family violence that it is not that important and that you should just get over it,” it continued. The petition has so far received more than 11,000 signatures.
