Singer Chris Brown banned from touring Australia

American R&B singer Chris Brown is set to be blocked from touring Australia, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said yesterday as the government sets up its efforts to tackle domestic violence.

Mr Brown, who was convicted of assaulting his then-partner, pop star Rihanna, in 2009, was issued with a "notice of intention to consider refusal", just a day before tickets to his "One Hell of a Nite" tour were due to go on sale.

The decision to ban the Grammy award-winning performer was mooted by new Minister of Women Michaelia Cash last Friday as new Prime

Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a A$100 million (S$100 million) package to address violence in families.

Ms Cash, the former assistant immigration minister, said she had previously revoked the visa of a "very, very, very wealthy" boxing star, understood to be US boxer Floyd Mayweather, who has multiple convictions for assaulting women.

She said: "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'."

Brown was due to perform in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from Dec 9 to 16. He had toured Australia in 2011 and 2012. New Zealand has already ruled that he is unsuitable for entry into the country, BBC reported.

This article was first published on September 28, 2015.
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