Australia has allegedly followed in the footsteps of New Zealand in banning controversial American hip-hop star Tyler, The Creator from entering the country. Taking to Twitter, the rapper claimed he is “now banned from Australia”.

The 24-year-old rapper’s tweets follow a push from activist group Collective Shout to cancel Tyler’s visa. Speaking to 3AW in June, co-founder Melinda Tankard Reist said Tyler “advocates rape and extreme violence against women through his lyrics”.

Collective Shout called on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to deny Tyler a visa, citing the precedent set by New Zealand immigration authorities, who barred Tyler and several other members of his Odd Future collective from entering the country last year.

New Zealand immigration authorities prevented Tyler and his cohorts from appearing as part of the Auckland instalment of Eminem’s Rapture festival on the grounds that they posed a “threat to public order and the public interest”.

While Coralie Alison, Director of Operations at Collective Shout, whom Tyler referenced in his tweet, has retweeted the rapper’s claim of being banned, there has been no confirmation from Frontier Touring, the promoters of Tyler’s 2015 Australian tour, or the Department of Immigration.

The rapper’s tour is still listed as active on the Frontier Touring website and none of the venues involved with the tour have issued a statement. Tone Deaf has reached out to Frontier for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

During Tankard Reist’s appearance on 3AW back in June, host Neil Mitchell agreed that Tyler’s lyrics are “vile” and describe “some awful things”, but suggested the rapper’s lack of criminal convictions would prove insufficient grounds to prevent him from touring Australia.

However, Collective Shout insisted Tyler could be refused entry as the government can bar visa applicants “whose presence in Australia may, because of their activities, reputation, known record or the cause they represent and propagate, vilify or incite discord in the Australian community”.

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“If you had a look at what he did last time it would be dangerous to ignore him,” said Tankard Reist. “He incited violence against one of our activists, in fact it was her footage of him inciting that violence that caused New Zealand to ban him from touring in 2013.”

During the rapper’s previous trip to Oceania in June 2013, Tyler issued an expletive-ridden tirade against 24-year-old Talitha Stone, a Collective Shout member who’d launched an earlier social media campaign to have his touring visa cancelled, in the middle of a Sydney performance.

Tyler has tweeted that he is listening to his song Smuckers in protest, on which he raps, “I got banned from New Zealand / Whitey called me demon / And a terrorist / God dammit I couldn’t believe it / Ban a kid from the country / I never fall, never timber“.

According to the Frontier website, Tyler is still scheduled to play gigs in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth this September. He is currently promoting Cherry Bomb, his third studio album, which was unveiled to generally positive reviews earlier this year.

UPDATE 28/07/15: Frontier Touring, the promoters of Tyler, The Creator’s upcoming Australian tour, have now released a statement:

“With respect to media reports that Tyler, The Creator’s visa has been refused, Frontier would like to advise that this is not the case. The department for immigration has raised issues with the visa application but it has not been refused and Frontier will update ticket holders as soon as more information comes to hand.”

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