The right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been barred from entering Australia following the sudden cancellation of his tour in the country scheduled for December.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wednesday that the Australian government rejected the former Breitbart editor's visa application and barred him on the basis of his character. The report said he has a month to appeal.
A letter to Yiannopoulos from Australian immigration officials before Wednesday reportedly said they had a right to bar someone who could "incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community."
Yiannopoulos' 2017 Australian tour sparked outrage and violence, particularly in Melbourne, Victoria, where his show attracted an extra 300 police officers to deal with protests. Victoria fined Yiannopoulos more than $35,000.
Last year Yiannopoulos was slammed for encouraging vigilantes to start "gunning journalists down," two days before a Maryland newspaper was targeted in a shooting that killed five people.
On Facebook on Tuesday, Yiannopoulos reposted part of a statement from Pauline Hanson, a far-right Australian politician, who claimed that Yiannopoulos and Tommy Robinson, a far-right British activist, did not promote violence but were "victims of violence."
Australia has barred several controversial figures, including Chelsea Manning and Gavin McInnes, the founder of the far-right Proud Boys group.
