Australian politicians could ban R. Kelly after tour announcement

R. Kelly announced a new tour Tuesday that would have stops in Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but he may be barred from entering one of the countries.

No dates were announced for the tour. The posts have been deleted from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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In January, Lifetime premiered the docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” which delved into the singer’s decadeslong history of alleged physical and emotional abuse of women.

In 2017, Kelly was accused of holding “women against their will in a cult” at his homes in Chicago and metro Atlanta.

Credit: Michael Loccisano

Credit: Michael Loccisano

After his tour announcement Tuesday, Australia's opposition Labor Party released a statement saying the singer should not be permitted to enter the country, BBC News reported.

“Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds,” the party said in a statement.

Sam Dastyari, a former Australian Labor Party senator, tweeted disapproval of the announcement.

"Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds," Shayne Neumann the Australian shadow minister for immigration and border protection, said in a statement to The Guardian. "Labor would be seriously concerned if immigration minister David Coleman would allow an individual such as R. Kelly into Australia.

“If the immigration minister suspects that a non-citizen does not pass the character test, or there is a risk to the community while they are in Australia, he should use the powers he has under the Migration Act to deny or cancel their visa.”

The country’s department of home affairs told BBC News it “does not comment on individual cases,” but Australia has barred entry to others who have a history of violence.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Floyd Mayweather was denied a visa in 2015 over his history of violence toward women. That same year, Chris Brown's tours in Australia were canceled because of his history of domestic violence. However, according to The Herald, Mike Tyson had previously been granted a visa despite being convicted of rape, and Snoop Dogg had a visa granted in 2014 after he was banned in 2007 for his criminal record.

Kelcie Willis with the Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

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