Federal Labor is urging the Government to block a controversial right-wing figure from entering the country for a conservative conference in Sydney next week.

Key points: British activist Raheem Kassam is due to speak at a conservative conference in Australia

British activist Raheem Kassam is due to speak at a conservative conference in Australia Labor wants the Federal Government to block his entry to the country

Labor wants the Federal Government to block his entry to the country Senator Kristina Keneally, in Parliament, accused him of hate speech

British activist Raheem Kassam is due to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, alongside former prime minister Tony Abbott, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, his former boss and UK Brexit party leader Nigel Farage, and New South Wales' One Nation politician Mark Latham.

The conference attracts tens of thousands of people in the United States, and is now branching out into Australia.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Kristina Keneally told the Senate last night that Mr Kassam should not be allowed a visa to enter the country.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 35 seconds 1 m 35 s Senator Keneally is calling on the government to block right-wing figure Raheem Kassam from entering Australia

In 2016, he tweeted about Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after she had a miscarriage, asking if someone could tape her mouth shut "and her legs, so she can't reproduce".

"Mr Kassam has an extensive history of vilifying people on the grounds of their race, religion, sexuality and gender," Senator Keneally said.

"He has described the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim faith as quote 'fundamentally evil'.

"We should not allow career bigots — a person who spreads hate speech about Muslims, about women, about gay and lesbian people — to enter our country with the express intent of undermining equity and equality."

Mr Kassam hit back on social media, accusing the senator of defaming him.

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"I'll see her in court if she repeats her defamation outside the chamber, where she currently hides behind parliamentary privilege," he said.

CPAC also took to social media, saying the "politically incorrect yet impeccably dressed" Mr Kassam would still be taking the stage.

"Raheem Kassam is a Brexiteer and popular commentator and is attending and speaking alongside the head of the UK Brexit Party, Nigel Farage," CPAC said in a statement.

"CPAC is proud to bring Raheem Kassam to Australia and rejects Senator Keneally's embarrassing attempt to shut down political opponents.

"Australia is a country with a long history of free speech, something authoritarian hard-left opponents such as Senator Keneally seek to change simply because they sometimes do not like what their opponents might say."



The Federal Government has blocked the visas of other controversial figures in recent times, including conspiracy theorist David Icke and founder of the Proud Boys group Gavin McInnes.