Key Points
- Kanye West reportedly planning to travel to Australia.
- Immigration Minister facing calls to ban disgraced rapper.
- Expert says rising global antisemitism could be key to decision.
Protecting minority communities as anti-Semitism rises across the globe will likely be a factor in any decision to ban Kanye West from entering Australia, a leading immigration expert says.
The rapper, also known as Ye, is reportedly planning to travel to Australia, in recent months.
Appearing alongside a prominent Holocaust denier, West has praised Adolf Hitler in interviews, and has questioned the number of Jews exterminated by the Nazi regime.
Andrew Giles is facing calls to ban Kanye West from entering Australia. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"The AJA fears that a visit by Kanye West is likely to inflame the tense situation and even risks causing violence ... [at a time that] antisemitism is at elevated levels in Australia, part of a worldwide trend," it said in a letter to Mr Giles this week.
'Mini United Nations'
David Irving, one of the world's most prominent Holocaust deniers, was barred from entry multiple times on character grounds during the 1990s, with the government arguing he was likely to be involved in violent activity.
something it attributed to a growing trend of extremist movements using social media to fuel hate.
Global and national immigration leader at BDO Migration Services Maria Jockel said the current context, including a global "revival of fascism" and Holocaust denial becoming a "more vocal issue", may factor into Mr Giles' thinking.
"We are a mini United Nations and we're extraordinarily peaceable," she said.
"Our government, I think, is really aiming to maintain the cohesiveness of our society, recognising that we are an eclectic nation. The overarching aim is to promote the greatest good of the community at large."
West has repeatedly appeared alongside Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. Credit: Nicole Hester/AP
"Is it imperative that he'd be able to come here to visit his wife's family, at the end of the day?" she said.
"He's not going to be living here, he just wants to come and say hello to them. They are equally able to go and visit him."
Ms Jockel said simply appearing alongside extremists, even without making public racist comments, would be "very troubling" for a minister and could be grounds for refusal on its own.
Peter Dutton says he would be inclined to prevent the rapper from entering. Source: AAP
'Disgraceful'
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, a former immigration minister, this week .
"His antisemitic comments are disgraceful, his conduct [and] his behaviour are appalling. He's not a person of good character," he said.
While the current immigration minister would not comment on individual matters, his frontbench colleague Jason Clare seemed to suggest West's travel would be blocked.
"Google it and you'll see that he seems like he's a pretty big fan of a person who killed six million Jewish people last century," Mr Clare told Channel Nine on Wednesday.
"People like that who've applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected. I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did."
West was ordered to attend anger management and perform community service over a 2014 altercation with a paparazzo, but later had the incident expunged from his criminal record.
