Wife-beaters like rapper Chris Brown are not welcome to New Zealand, similar to Australia, says Judy Collins, former justice minister of New Zealand. With the suggested ban, more doors are closing on the rapper with English-speaking nations outside the U.S. slamming the door on his face.
"The law is clear, he is technically barred from New Zealand ... that is the law. Why do we bother having a law like that if we make exceptions for people just because they are rich and famous," NZHerald quotes Collins. She adds that Brown could be famous in the U.S., but "He is just another wife-beater, and there are so many wife-beaters who are rich or famous or in positions of power. There is no need for us to encourage it."
Collins, says that Brown is not somebody New Zealand needs because one of the country's biggest criminal issues is domestic violence.
On Friday, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied Brown's visa application to hold his five-city concert tour of Australian in December on the grounds that he was convicted of strangling and assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Dutton, however, gave Brown 28 hours to appeal the decision.
There is also an online petition by GetUp! To ban Brown from Australia. Collective Shout, another grassroots campaign movement, has also included Brown and two other rappers, Tyler The Creator and Snoop Dogg, in its campaign.
However, DailyLife finds Dutton's move and campaigns as setting a double standard of morality because of Australia's alleged cruel immigration policies. It said the campaigns suggest "it is okay to turn a blind eye against Dutton and the Government's hand in the abuses of women in detention so long as it means a few thousand concertgoers won't be subjected to Chris Brown's misogynist lyrics."