Milo Yiannopoulos banned from entering Australia following Christchurch shooting comments

Authored by abc.net.au and submitted by DoremusJessup
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Milo Yiannopoulos banned from entering Australia following Christchurch shooting comments

Milo Yiannopoulos has been banned from entering Australia for a tour following his comments regarding the Christchurch terror attack.

Key points: Yiannopoulos described Islam as a "barbaric, alien" religion after the terror attack

The Immigration Minister said the comments fomented "hatred and division"

The Government had previously given the speaking tour a green light

Immigration Minister David Coleman has described the attack, in which 50 people were killed and dozens injured, as an "act of pure evil" as he confirmed Yiannopoulos would not be allowed to enter the country.

"Yiannopoulos's comments on social media regarding the Christchurch terror attack are appalling and foment hatred and division," Mr Coleman said.

"The terrorist attack in Christchurch was carried out on Muslims peacefully practising their religion.

"Australia stands with New Zealand and with Muslim communities the world over in condemning this inhuman act."

Yiannopoulos described Islam as a "barbaric, alien" religious culture on social media after the terror incident, prompting the Government's change of heart.

"I'm banned from Australia, again, after a statement in which I said I abhor political violence," Yiannopoulos said on social media after the announcement.

On Twitter, Labor MP Tony Burke praised the decision to ban Yiannopoulos.

"Milo banned. Good. His overnight comments weren't that different from how he has always behaved," he said.

"There was already enough evidence to ban him which is why the department had already recommended he be banned.

"The Australian tours for the world's hate speakers must stop."

The speaking tour had previously been given the green light despite Yiannopoulos owing Victoria Police $50,000 to cover policing at a Melbourne event in December, 2017, during which up to 500 left-wing protesters clashed with about 50 right-wing activists.

Yiannopoulos had been planning to "come roaring back in 2019" after what he said were a miserable past few years in which he had been de-platformed, censored and announced he was broke.

"I am one of the most censored and most lied-about people in the world," he said.

"Even my fans sometimes believe things about me that aren't true, because journalists lie more about me than perhaps anyone else in America."

The controversial far-right activist has also been banned from Twitter, resigned from his role as a senior editor at Breitbart and lost his $250,000 book deal.

As reports emerged that he was at least $2 million in debt, Yiannopoulos seemingly remained unfazed and took to social media to clarify the state of his finances.

"They say I owe $2m. I don't! It's at least $4m. Do you know how successful you have to be to owe that kind of money?"

ScottishKingMac on March 16th, 2019 at 20:53 UTC »

This man has always seemed like a GTA character to me

Thefireisrishing on March 16th, 2019 at 18:09 UTC »

It’s just really astonishing to me as to how far and fast he’s fallen. I remember over two years ago he was riding high as a martyr for free speech after the Berkeley riots and then his comments about pedophilia surfaced. He then lost his job and book deal within days and became ostracized by many of his allies. Last I heard he’s over two million dollars in debt and has been forced to sell some of his paintings and clothes.

Edit: As someone below me pointed out, he claims to actually owe over 4 million.

Cayowin on March 16th, 2019 at 17:49 UTC »

He was already on the "about to have visa declined" list weeks ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/07/milo-yiannopoulos-could-be-denied-australian-visa-over-unpaid-police-bill

Looks like they gave the decision now while he said something totally outrageous so to miss any backlash.