Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes Has Australian Visa Application Blocked

Gavin McInnes

Gavin McInnes, co-founder of Vice Magazine and more recently of the right-leaning male activist group Proud Boys, has had his application to enter Australia blocked by the Department of Home Affairs, after failing to meet the character test.

McInnes established the Proud Boys in the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election; a male-only group, it espouses an “anti political correctness” and “anti white guilt” agenda, and has chapters across America, the UK and Australia.

The Proud Boys has been declared an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre and the FBI, and Gavin McInnes recently cut ties with them, although there was still significant opposition to his planned Australian visit.

Earlier this week, a petition with 81,000 signatures was delivered to the Federal Parliament in Canberra, asking for his visa application to be blocked. On Thursday, petition organiser Nyadol Nyuon condemned him for his extremist views, and said:

“More than 80,000 Australians … refuse to turn a blind eye to this clear record of violence incitement, and the violence of the Proud Boys. McInnes has called on his supporters to choke, beat and ‘blow off’ the heads of political opponents. We should not allow Australia to become the final refuge of extremist groups, some who think that this place is their last hope.”

McInnes had planned a series of speaking engagements with right-wing provocateur Tommy Robinson, which was being billed as The Deplorables tour. Speaking about the decision to block his entry, a representative of the Home Affairs department said:

“For visitors who may hold controversial views, any risk they may pose will be balanced against Australia’s well-established freedom of speech and freedom of beliefs, amongst other relevant considerations.”

The window for Gavin McInnes to appeal the decision closed yesterday. The ABC reports that a visa application has not been received from Robinson, who is from the UK.

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