Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on a matter of great concern regarding a rapper by the name of Tyler, The Creator who is due to perform in Australia to concerts of all age groups in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane in coming weeks. The grave concern I have is that this so-called 'art' promotes extreme violence against women, including murder, rape, genital mutilation and many other vile misogynist lyrics. Allowing this man a visa to promote this misogyny to audiences, including children, is a complete disgrace and an insult to all of us, and to women in particular. Australia must be clear that we have a zero tolerance for these extreme acts of violence, and the government and the minister have power to take action against this sort of intolerance and those encouraging the dehumanisation of women.

I want to congratulate the groups Collective Shout, news.com, the Herald Sun and the Courier Mail who have raised this issue of the granting of a visa to a man who promotes extreme violence as entertainment. My view is that Tyler, The Creator should not be provided with a platform to promote hatred against women and rape as acceptable.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Brendan O'Connor, has the authority to refuse or cancel a visa under the grounds of a failure of the character test under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958. This character test was formed to protect Australians, including our children, from people like Tyler, The Creator. It is my view that children should not be subjected to this sort of vile misogyny in lyrics or in the form of music and the vilification of women in our country. I note that in New Zealand a ban was imposed on the same artist by the Big Day Out for homophobic lyrics, forcing him to seek his own concerts. Any examination of the lyrics of this rapper clearly reveal their misogynistic character and the promotion of violence against women, yet Tyler, The Creator has managed to have a visa granted in this country.

I also want to note that on 9 October 2012 in the House of Representatives the Prime Minister said that she would call out misogyny whenever she saw it—we are were all there. Prime Minister, I urge you and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship to seriously reconsider and review the visa granted to Tyler, The Creator under section 501—the character assessment test. All of us in his House should stop the spread of this vile message against women.