American r&b star Chris Brown might not be allowed in Australia for his concert tour in December due to his criminal past and conviction for assaulting pop star Rihanna, the Associated Press reported.
The Minister for Women in Australia, Michaelia Cash, said she would recommend that Immigration Minister Peter Dutton refuse access to the 25-year-old based on character grounds. She told reporters that the immigration minister "will be looking at this very, very seriously," according to CNN.
"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,'" Cash said.
A community advocacy group called "GetUp!" launched an online petition and urged the Australian government to refuse Brown a visa. So far, the petition has been signed more than 10,000 times.
This was not the first time Brown was banned from a country. In 2010 the United Kingdom denied him access to perform there. The U.K. said Brown could pose a danger to its citizens. In February of this year, the singer was forced to cancel shows planned in Canada when he was denied entry at the border.
Brown was placed on five years probation in 2009 after he pled guilty to one count of felony assault for hitting his girlfriend at the time, Rihanna. He went to jail for almost three months last year when he violated his probation.
