Australia Backtracks, Agrees to Open Border to Milo Yiannopolos

The Australian government has reversed course and decided to grant a visa to openly gay right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos after initially rejecting his application on the grounds of his "character," reports news.com.au.

The initial refusal to allow Yiannopoulos into the country was slammed by conservative politicians, including right-wing lawmaker Pauline Hanson, who founded her own political party and named it after herself. Another conservative who decried the ban was Tim Wilson, formerly Australia's human rights commissioner, who expressed the view that Yiannopoulos is a "self-absorbed attention-seeker of questionable character," but who nonetheless defended his "free speech" rights.

As previously reported at EDGE, Australia's immigration officials told Yiannopolous that he would not be allowed into the country after his 2017 speaking tour there sparked violent clashes and resulted in Yiannopoulos being billed by the Australian police for $50,000 – a bill he reportedly has yet to pay.

The country's Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, issued a stern warning when the ban was lifted, saying that visitors from abroad are expected to "respect Australians, our values, and our multicultural society," reported skynews.com.au.

But some denounced the reversal, news.com reported, including Labor Party Senator Penny Wong, who told the press, "I think we can decide who we want to come to Australia."

Said Wong of Yiannopopiulos: "This is the bloke who has condoned relationships between younger boys and older men. He's a bloke who has described feminism as a cancer and Islam as AIDS. Do we really want these ideas given this sort of coverage in Australia?"

The British Yiannopoulos worked for right-wing U.S. news outlet Breitbart until he was dismissed in 2017 following comments in which he suggested that boys as young as 13 might have "consensual" sexual relationships with older men.

Last summer, Yiannopolous' account with PayPal was suspended in the wake of his having sent the sum of $14.88 to a Jewish journalist. The sum is significant among white supremacists and neo-Nazis. "14" is used as a reference for the slogan "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," which contains 14 words, while white supremacists and neo-Nazis use the number "88" as a code for the salute "Heil Hitler" – "H" being the eighth letter in the alphabet.

Also last summer, Yiannopoulos texted journalists with the message, "I can't wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight." With globally rising authoritarianism paralleling an increase in violence against journalists a global problem, some saw that sentiment as a threat.

Skynews.com.au reported that "the decision is likely to spark some backlash ahead of the election, particularly in progressive electorates." Australia's next federal elections are slated to take place this coming May.

Other right-wing and alt-right figures have been barred from Australia of late, including "Proud Boys" founder Gavin McInnes, whose followers have been known to engage in street violence. Australia has also denied visas to figures on the left, including Chelsea Manning.

No defense of Ms. Manning by right-wing politicians was reported in the accounts.