Australia has denied Chris Brown’s visa application on character grounds, indicating that the singer will not be able to tour the country later this year.
The Guardian reported that Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton confirmed the decision, which Brown now has 28 days to appeal. Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting fellow music artist Rihanna, then his girlfriend, in 2009. The immigration minister is tasked with deciding whether or not individuals with past convictions can enter the country on a visa.
"People to whom these notices are issued have 28 days to present material as to why they should be given a visa to enter Australia," Dutton said. "Decisions on whether a visa will or will not be issued are made after that timeframe and consideration of the material presented to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection."
The decision comes after Michaelia Cash, who was just recently appointed Australia’s minister of women, suggested that Brown’s application would be denied.
"I can assure you that the minister for immigration and border protection will be looking at this very, very seriously," Cash said Thursday. "I am clearly not going to pre-empt a decision by the minister, however, I can assure you what my strong recommendation would be."
An advocacy group last week created an online petition demanding Brown’s visa application be denied, and the document has garnered thousands of signatures.
"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.
Brown was planning to headline concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth in December for his "One Hell of a Nite" tour, tickets for which were to go on sale Monday. Brown’s touring company offered no comment on the news.
The singer has toured in the country two times since being convicted of assault.