Milo Yiannopoulos Banned from Entering Australia

The government has reportedly rejected alt-right star Milo Yiannopoulos’s application for a visa to enter Australia.

Mr Yiannopoulos, who has shot to fame by saying provocative and often offensive things, was rejected on character grounds, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald report.

He has a month to appeal the decision.

It comes on the heels of “men’s rights” group founder Gavin McInnes being blocked from entering the country in December.

And it isn’t entirely unexpected.

Last week, Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt published an excerpt from a letter the Immigration Department had sent to Mr Yiannopoulos describing its reasoning.

It said there was a risk Mr Yiannopoulos would “incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community”, pointing to the large protests that happened during his last visit to Australia in 2017.

“Despite the locations of your previous appearances being withheld by the organisers until 24 hours prior to the events, there were significant protests at both the Sydney and Melbourne events,” the department wrote.

“The protest at the Melbourne event involved violence between those protesting and your supporters. You were issued with a bill of $50,000 by Victoria Police for the cost of policing your event.”

Mr Yiannopoulos was hit with the massive bill after a riot broke out at the entrance to his show. Two people were arrested and five police officers were injured.

Mr Yiannopoulos responded to his rejection by posting on his official Facebook page this afternoon.

“I can’t improve on Pauline Hanson’s assessment,” he said, going on to quote the One Nation leader.

“I’m sad to say the government is now acting as an arm of Antifa. Milo and Tommy have not called for violence. They have been the victims of violence. By refusing them entry into Australia this gutless government is validating the left’s use of violence to silence people,” Ms Hanson said.

The Tommy to whom she refers is the right-wing British activist Tommy Robinson.

Ms Hanson lobbied Immigration Minister David Coleman on Mr Yiannopoulos’s behalf in the lead-up to the decision. On Monday she accused Mr Coleman of delaying and “glossing over” the issue to “keep me at bay”.

“I think that is weak, I think it’s gutless. He has no reason to stop Milo from coming into the country,” she said.

“You may not agree with everything he says, as long as he doesn’t go out there to advocate violence. If you want to actually stop someone, stop the protesters with their violence. They’re the ones that should be stopped.”