Milo Yiannopoulos's comments about the Christchurch shootings got him barred from entering Australia


Australia has barred Milo Yiannopoulos from entering the country following the far right commentator's anti-Islam comments after Friday's mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, which were carried out by a racist, anti-immigrant gunman against Muslims worshiping in two different mosques.
Al Jazeera reported that on Friday Yiannopoulos posted on Facebook that attacks like the one in Christchurch happen because "the establishment panders to and mollycoddles extremist leftism and barbaric, alien religious cultures."
The Australian government was quick to respond on Saturday — immigration minister David Coleman called the former Breitbart editor's comments "appalling" and said they "foment hatred and division." He went to say that Yiannopoulos would not be allowed into the country and that Australia was blocking his visa — which was personally approved by Coleman just last week — on character grounds.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yiannopoulos, who has consistently made disparaging comments against Muslims, immigrants, and the media in the past, again posted on Facebook (he has been banned from Twitter) following Australia's decision.
"I criticized the establishment for pandering to Islamic fundamentalism," he wrote. "So Australia banned me again."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
How generative AI is changing the way we write and speak
In The Spotlight ChatGPT and other large language model tools are quietly influencing which words we use
-
How long can Nato keep Donald Trump happy?
Today's Big Question Military alliance pulls out all the stops to woo US president on his peacemaker victory lap
-
Easy Money: the Charles Ponzi Story – an 'enlightening' podcast
The Week Recommends Apple Original podcast explores the 'fascinating' tale of the man who gave the investment scam its name
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival