A controversial US anti-abortion activist can stay in Australia an extra day until a court rules on his bid to prevent deportation.

Lawyers for Troy Newman filed an application on Thursday for an urgent injunction with the high court in a bid to stop the campaigner from being deported.

Newman, also known as Troy Newman-Mariotti, had his visa cancelled by Dutton on Tuesday, after it emerged he has previously called for the killing of abortion doctors in a book released in 2000.

Despite the ban, Newman flew to Australia without a valid visa, arriving in Melbourne on Thursday morning. He was detained by Australian Border Force staff.

His wife, Mellissa, did not have her visa revoked and went to the high court to help her husband appeal the visa decision.

But shortly after counsel for Newman told the high court the visa decision was flawed, lawyers for the immigration minister said they were willing to let legal proceedings run their course.



“We propose an undertaking this man will not be removed for the next 24 hours,” David Brown said. “There will be discussions between the parties so that the matters can be resolved.”

On Thursday afternoon, Newman’s lawyers, Clothier, Anderson and Associates, filed the urgent application with the high court.

Counsel for Newman said the federal government’s decision to prevent the speaker from coming to Australia was flawed because Newman has never incited violence.

While Newman has been arrested for taking part in anti-abortion protests in the US, he has never been charged or advocated violence, the high court heard on Thursday evening.

“The basis of the [visa] finding seems to rest solely on the adverse reaction to my client’s presence in Australia,” barrister Richard Knowles said. “There was no question at all that that my client has ever advocated violence.”

Earlier in the day, they had sought an injunction from the federal court in Melbourne, but pulled out before the application was heard. That application sought for the government to be restrained in denying Newman entry to Australia.

Dutton made the decision under section 128 of the Migration Act, which gives the immigration minister the power to cancel visas before a non-citizen is in the country. The minister has grounds to cancel a visa if he or she holds fears for community safety and good order, or if they are concerned that the applicant would vilify a certain group of people.

Newman was due to embark on a 10-day, five city tour, starting in Melbourne on Friday. He had been invited to the country by the anti-abortion group Right to Life Australia.

Its national president, Margaret Tighe, told Guardian Australia on Wednesday the group was “working as hard as we can to make sure his visa is reinstated”.

Newman took an overnight United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, arriving in Australia just before 7am on Thursday.

“The airline faces a fine for carriage of a person who does not have a valid visa,” Dutton’s spokeswoman said in a statement.

United Airlines confirmed a passenger without a valid Australian visa had boarded flight UA98 from Los Angeles on 29 September.



“As this is an ongoing Australian government issue, we are unable to comment further on the status of this passenger,” the airline said in a statement.

It is unclear how Newman got on the flight, as a previous Facebook post and footage posted on YouTube showed him being stopped at Denver airport because he did not have a valid visa for his onward flight from Los Angeles.

A YouTube post from Newman showing him being stopped at Denver airport

Newman’s anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, urged supporters on Twitter to write to Dutton demanding Newman’s release.

Newman Detained in Australia Pending Deportation. Demand his release here minister@border.gov.au http://t.co/ul0S7tXYgD #FreeTroyNewman — Operation Rescue (@operationrescue) October 1, 2015

Labor’s Terri Butler, who wrote to Dutton urging him to cancel Newman’s visa in the first place, told Guardian Australia it was “disingenuous” for anti-abortion advocates to say Newman had been silenced by the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa. She pointed to their large social media presence as a “loud platform” for them to voice their views.

She said Newman’s call to kill abortion doctors was “extreme” and would not resonate in Australia.

“That type of extremism might fly in the US, but not here in Australia,” Butler said.

The decision to axe Newman’s visa comes just days after Dutton issued a notice to reject rapper Chris Brown’s visa on character grounds.

Brown was convicted of the 2009 assault of his then girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, and has toured Australia twice since. He was due to tour Australia again in December.

He has 28 days in which to show notice why he should be allowed into Australia, and his management team is confident he will be able to tour as planned.