British conspiracy writer and Holocaust denier David Icke was banned from entering Australia ahead of his March speaking tour, Australia Broadcasting Corporation [ABC] reported on Wednesday.
Icke was meant to speak in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney, yet his visa was cancelled on character grounds.
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dvir Abramovich praised the Government for "declaring in a loud voice that antisemites and Holocaust deniers will never find a home in Australia."
Icke released a letter on Twitter saying he is "a victim of a smear campaign by politicians" and stated that he is "not antisemitic, not a Holocaust denier" and that he does not "wish to have Holocaust denial be taught in schools.""I was not even going to mention the Jewish community," he said.
David Icke's Statement regarding the last minute cancellation of his Australian Speaking Visa. Ticket Holders will be contacted tomorrow. #davidicke pic.twitter.com/5jEEHCavP1
— David Icke (@davidicke) February 20, 2019
"This goes further than me today," he said, warning that this is a "dangerous precedent" for those who hold differing views and wish to voice them.
He further said he visited Australia ten times since 1997 and his talks did not cause any incidents.
Icke was a successful sports reporter for BBC until the 1990's, during which he released a series of books in which he explained his views, including conspiracies surrounding The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and that planet Earth is controlled by shape-shifting lizards he calls the "Babylonian Brotherhood."
Icke is well known in the UK for his outlandish ideas.British comic book writer Warren Ellis wrote about him in his 2003 book Bad Signal, saying that he is a man who "constantly braves humiliation and deportation to communicate his message of horror – that we are ruled by things that eat and rape us."
The idea had proven so popular it even inspired an Israeli rock band called Nibiru Lizards. The band released a 2016 album called The giant lizards from Nibiru in which they perform such songs as Bad alien and Time of the lizard.