5.6.13 Tyler, The Creator

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell) (09:38): 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.