Australia bans Milo Yiannopoulos after comments on New Zealand mosque attacks

Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been banned from entering the country of Australia over his comments on social media about the New Zealand mosque shootings, ABC Australia reported.

Australian Immigration Minister David Coleman said in a statement that Yiannopoulos’s comments regarding the massacre are “appalling and foment hatred and division.”

“The terrorist attack in Christchurch was carried out on Muslims peacefully practicing their religion,” Coleman said, according to the outlet. “Australia stands with New Zealand and with Muslim communities the world over in condemning this inhuman act.”

{mosads}The ban comes after 49 people were killed and dozens more injured in attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by an alleged white supremacist.

Shortly after the shooting, Yiannopoulos took to Facebook to describe Islam as a “barbaric, alien” religious culture.

“I’m banned from Australia, again, after a statement in which I said I abhor political violence,” Yiannopoulos said on social media.

Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor, was barred from entering Australia earlier this month after his visa application was rejected on character grounds.  

The conservative commentator had been planning a speaking tour of the country, ABC Australia noted. His previous stop in December 2017 cost the Victoria Police $50,000 to cover security at a Melbourne event during which 500 left-wing protesters clashed with 50 right-wing activists.

Yiannopoulos had planned to “come roaring back in 2019,” the outlet noted.

The controversial figure resigned from Breitbart in 2017 following uproar over comments he made in which he appeared to endorse having sex with young boys.

PayPal suspended Yiannopoulos last year after he sent $14.88 to a Jewish journalist. The number has been used by white supremacists because “14” represents the mantra of securing a future for white children and “88” represents “Heil Hitler.”

“I am one of the most censored and most lied-about people in the world,” Yiannopoulos has said.

Australian Labor MP Tony Burke praised the decision to ban Yiannopoulos on Twitter.

“Milo banned. Good. His overnight comments weren’t that different from how he has always behaved,” the politician wrote. “There was already enough evidence to ban him which is why the department had already recommended he be banned. The Australian tours for the world’s hate speakers must stop.”

Milo banned. Good. His overnight comments weren’t that different from how he has always behaved. There was already enough evidence to ban him which is why the department had already recommended he be banned. The Australian tours for the world’s hate speakers must stop. https://t.co/gh5ZrQRiU7

— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) March 16, 2019