"We've got enough wife-beaters": rapper Chris Brown may be barred from Australia and New Zealand for Rihanna assault

The Australian government has unveiled a A$100 million (HK$540 million) package to end the “national disgrace” of domestic violence

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Chris Brown was given five years’ probation, community service and domestic violence counselling. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:15pm, 24 Sep 2015Updated: 4:33pm, 24 Sep 2015

Australia on Thursday warned US rapper Chris Brown could be denied a visa for an upcoming tour because of his criminal record, as it unveiled a A$100 million (HK$540 million) package to end the “national disgrace” of domestic violence.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first policy initiative since coming to power last week underscores the national debate that has erupted over family violence, which is claiming lives at the rate of nearly two women per week.

“Violence against women is one of the great shames of Australia. It is a national disgrace,” Turnbull said, adding that a “big cultural shift” was needed to defeat it.

Michaelia Cash – appointed Minister of Women on Sunday – said the government was “very seriously” considering refusing R&B star Brown entry to Australia over his conviction for a 2009 assault on pop diva Rihanna.

Brown, who won a 2012 Grammy for best R&B album with “F.A.M.E.”, is scheduled to hold a series of concerts in December, but the activist group GetUp is campaigning against letting in the singer, who has been barred from other countries including Britain and Canada.

Pop diva Rihanna was assaulted by Chris Brown in 2009. Photo: AFP

“I can assure you it is something that the minister (for immigration) is looking at,” Cash said, saying she would recommend a ban.

“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 that we expect in Australia’.”