Kanye West will be refused entry to Australia because of his history of anti-Semitic remarks, according to a government minister.
It is understood the rapper – who now goes by the name Ye – was planning to visit the country to meet the family of his partner, Bianca Censori, who grew up in Melbourne.
Education Minister Jason Clare condemned Ye’s “horrible” anti-Semitic comments about Hitler and the Holocaust, saying others who made similar statements were denied visas.
“People like that who applied for visas to enter Australia in the past have been rejected,” Clare said in an interview on Channel Nine. “I expect that if he applies he will have to go through the same process and answer the same questions as them.”
In recent months, Ye has made a continuation of antisemitic remarks – including praising Hitler, tweeting a picture of a swastika and denying the Holocaust.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, immigration minister under a previous government, said on Tuesday he would be inclined to ban Ye but that was a government decision.
“His anti-Semitic comments are shameful, his conduct, 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 from entering our country with bad character.”
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with officials on Tuesday to make the case for the musician’s ban.
“We had a sympathetic audience,” Wertheim said.
“We have argued that this particular individual does not meet 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 in detail in this letter.”
