Australia’s Immigration Department Issues A ‘Notice Of Intention To Consider Refusal’ To Chris Brown; New Minister For Women Says The R&B Singer May Not Be Given A Visa For His Concert
In 2009, R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty for allegedly assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. According to Los Angeles County District spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, the terms of the deal indicate that "Brown will serve five years of probation and must serve 180 days in jail or the equivalent -- about 1,400 hours -- in labor-oriented service," as noted by CNN on June 23, 2009.
Just this year, the singer's probation was ended by Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin after Brown completed the terms of his sentence. However, the incident may have effects on his career as he might not be allowed to enter Australia for his concert tour in the country due to domestic violence records.
Tickets for his New Zealand concert went on sale on Monday. Meanwhile, Brown only has a few more days to appeal why he should be given a visa after Australia's immigration department issued him a "notice of intention to consider refusal," as reported by BBC on Sunday.
"I can assure you that the minister for immigration and border protection will be looking at this very, very seriously," says new minister for women Michaelia Cash. "I am clearly not going to pre-empt a decision by the minister, however, I can assure you what my strong recommendation would be."
She adds, "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,' and certainly, without pre-empting the decision of the minister, I can assure you it is something that the minister is looking at."
On the other hand, an online petition asks immigration minister Peter Dutton to deny the 26-year-old singer a visa. Some 9,700 people signed the petition as of Thursday morning. The online petition was created by an advocacy group called GetUp.
"If we stand by and do nothing while he performs around the country ... we are implicitly sending the message that if you brutally beat a woman, in a short amount of time you will be forgiven, or even celebrated," the petition states.
