Chris Brown’s Visa Denial Is Causing Tension in an Australian Government Official’s Home

Lest anyone start to believe that our moral quandaries can be solved in a vacuum, kids in Australia still like Chris Brown. According to the Daily Mail, several people who are members of or privy to the Australian government's handling of Chris Brown's visa situation joined a discussion on ABC's Q & A. (That's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not the American Broadcasting Company, though one imagines Lost could have aired on either.) For those who aren't caught up to speed: The country has denied Brown's visa for a planned four-date tour in December, in light of his 2009 felony conviction for his infamous assault on Rihanna. Brown was issued a Notice of Intention to Consider Refusal, which gives him 28 days to make his case for entry into the country. Yet the Aussie opposition to Brown is far from a consensus.

"This is an argument I have with my daughters who want him to come in," joked Barnaby Joyce, the country's Minister of Agriculture. Speaking to the rest of the Q & A panel, Joyce went on: "But he has served five years probation in the US. We have said that we have an intent not to let him in. He now has to prove he is worthy of coming in the door." The panelists roundly agreed that Brown's actions were condemnable, yet some raised doubts about the efficacy of barring a popular performer as a means of making a political statement. It remains to be seen if Brown will successfully attain a visa.