American rapper Kanye West's Australian visa cancelled over new song Heil Hitler
West, who legally goes by Ye, dropped a song titled Heil Hitler on May 8, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed the cancellation, saying the song was the tipping point.
Burke said the visa wasn't for a concert but was considered a 'lower level' type.
'He's been coming to Australia for a long time. He's got family here and he's made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again,' he told the ABC.
'Once Kanye West released the song Heil Hitler, my department officers had a look at his visa and decided he was no longer eligible to come to Australia under the Migration Act.
'You're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia.
'We have enough challenges in Australia without directly importing hatred.'
The 48-year-old artist ended the song with a 1935 speech sample from Adolf Hitler, spoken in German.
The track has since been banned in Germany.
West is set to headline Slovakia's biggest rap festival, Rubicon, held in Bratislava from July 18 to 20.
More than 5000 people have signed a petition demanding his removal from the line-up, arguing he 'has repeatedly and openly espoused the symbolism and ideology associated with the darkest period of modern world history'.
'It is unacceptable that Bratislava should be the only city in Europe that provides space for his performance, not because of his musical expression, but because of his dangerous public attitudes, which are in direct contradiction with European memory and historical responsibility,' the petition states.
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