An American anti-abortion campaigner has reportedly been sent back to his country after losing a legal battle to remain in Australia.
Troy Newman left Australia Friday morning, arriving in Los Angeles, California, the next day, after the Australian High Court ruled against his plea to validate his visa, ABC Net reported.
He was detained at Melbourne Airport a day earlier after he reportedly attempted to enter the country without a valid visa, just days after permission for him to travel to Australia for a series of talks was revoked.
Newman, who is the head of the anti-abortion organisation Operation Rescue was due to speak in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart and Cairns over the next days at Right To Life Australia events. But several Australian politicians reportedly raised concerns that his presence there could cause significant harm to the community given that he questioned in his book why doctors who abort babies are not executed.
In cancelling his visa, the Australian High Court ruled that the department "was justified in revoking Mr. Newman's visa over fears the visit would pose a risk to the community," according to ABC Net.
The ruling also reportedly stated that Newman could have challenge the case of refusal but said he should not have boarded a plane to Australia knowing he has a cancelled visa.
"Acting as he did means he does not come to his court with clean hands,'' the ruling stated.
In a posting on Facebook following the decision by Australia to cancel his visa, the US campaigner said that his views had been "misrepresented."
The rejection of Newman's visa comes days after Australia said it would refuse a visa to US hip-hop star Chris Brown, because of the singer's history of domestic violence.
Australia's newly installed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly renewed efforts to fight domestic violence following a spate of high-profile deaths.
Moreover, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he had asked the department to look at how Newman was able to board a flight to Australia despite him being flagged on the Movement Alert List system, according to ABC Net.
