By LewisJackson
SYDNEY (Portal) – American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, may not qualify for an Australian visa because of his past anti-Semitic remarks, a government minister said on Wednesday, as pressure mounted to refuse the award-winning rapper’s entry.
Education Secretary Jason Clare condemned Yes’s “horrific” anti-Semitic remarks about Hitler and the Holocaust and said others who made similar remarks had been denied visas.
“People like that who have applied for visas to enter Australia in the past have been refused,” Clare said in an interview on Channel Nine. “I assume that if he applies, he’ll have to go through the same process and answer the same questions as them.”
A spokesman for Ye did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local media reported that Ye was visiting Australia to meet the family of his Melbourne-raised partner Bianca Censori.
Ye was dropped by major corporate partners, including Adidas, and banned from Twitter for anti-Semitic remarks and outbursts on social media against other celebrities.
Australia has previously refused or revoked visas to far-right figures for failing the “good character” test. The British conspiracy theorist David Icke had his visa revoked in 2019 shortly before the start of a lecture tour.
Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, an all-male group who identify as “Western chauvinists,” was denied a visa in 2018 after a public campaign that included a petition with 81,000 signers, according to local media.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, immigration secretary under a previous government, said on Tuesday that he would be inclined to ban Ye but that it was a government decision.
“His anti-Semitic remarks are shameful, his behavior [and] His behavior is appalling,” he told 3AW radio. “He is not a person of good character and the minister has the ability to prevent someone of bad character from coming to our country.”
The story goes on
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with officials on Tuesday to argue for a travel ban.
“We had a compassionate ear,” Wertheim said on Sky News. “We have argued that this particular individual fails the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa, and we have set out our reasons at length in this letter.”
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Gerry Doyle)