Posted Friday, October 23, 1998

Australian Government Lets in Punk Weirdo (but still Bans Irving)

October 21, 1998 08:48 GMT Christians want US goth punk Marilyn Manson banned from Australia SYDNEY, Oct 21--Christian lobbyists called Wednesday for "satanic high priest" Marilyn Manson to be denied an Australian visa for a concert tour next year. A spokesman for the lobbyists said the macabre gender-bending male musician posed a greater threat to Australians than British right-wing historian David Irving. Irving, who controversially disputes the occurrence of the Jewish holocaust during World War II, has been barred from Australia on the grounds of character. "The whole thing is absolutely sick and evil and is far more dangerous to Australians than that Irving bloke," said Christian Democratic Party national president Reverend Fred Nile. Nile said he would write to Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock requesting Manson's Florida-based goth-punk group, each of them named after a serial killer, be denied visas for their Big Day Out Concert tour early next year. The chart-topping act is scheduled to play in the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from January 15-31. Nile said Manson posed more of a threat to young Australians than past notorious pop stars with reputations for on-stage misbehaviour. "Certainly others have used evil as a gimmick but this person really believes in evil," he said. "He's recognised as a high priest by the Satanic church, which is now registered as a political party in Victoria, and they welcome these concerts as a way of converting young people to their beliefs." Both items: copyright 1998 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd. AAP NEWSFEED

October 22, 1998, Thursday MANSON'S VISA TO BE DECIDED ON MERIT By Debra Way CANBERRA, Oct 22 AAP - Satanic rock star Marilyn Manson's application for an Australian entry visa would be considered on merit, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said today. Christian groups have called for Manson's Florida-based goth-punk group, each of them named after a serial killer, to be denied visas for the Big Day Out Concert tour early next year. A spokesman for Mr Ruddock said Manson's visa application would be considered on its merits. "All non-citizens wishing to enter Australia have to make an application," he said. "Each application is considered strictly on its merits against the legal requirements of the migration legislation." But he said laws giving the government more powers to stop undesirable people entering Australia would be in place now had the so-called character bill, which clarifies the character test applied to visa applicants, not been delayed in the Senate. Mr Ruddock first flagged the Migration Legislation Amendment (strengthening provisions relating to the character and conduct) Bill 1997 after the Lorenzo Ervin affair. Ervin, a black activist convicted of hijacking a plane in the late 1960s, was thrown in jail when he arrived in Brisbane in July last year for a speaking tour. He was released three days later after the commonwealth backed down in a High Court appeal against the decision, acknowledging Mr Ervin had been denied natural justice. The bill aims to tighten existing laws including giving the minister the power in special cases to refuse or cancel visas. Mr Ruddock has in the past refused visas to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and British rightwing historian David Irving, who disputes the occurrence of the Jewish holocaust. Christian lobbyists said today that Manson posed a greater threat to Australians than Irving. Manson's chart-topping act is to play concerts in Auckland, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from January 15-31.

Our opinion SEEMS to us as though Philip Ruddock has weaved a tangled web, with the special Lex Irving which his party introduced in the Australian Parliament after the historian won a court ruling that an earlier ban on his (third) visit to the country had been issued illegally by the minister.

The above news items are reproduced without editing other than typographical

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