The letter cites a violent protest at Mr Yiannopoulos's last major speaking tour in Melbourne in 2017, where five police officers were injured. Mr Yiannopoulos has not paid the $50,000 bill handed to him for the cost of policing the event. The department also listed a series of "controversial statements" Mr Yiannopoulos has made about Muslims, Indigenous Australians, African Americans and the LGBTIQ community, and included copies of 19 news articles or screenshots where he was accused of offensive behaviour, including anti-Semitism. Milo Yiannopoulos will now be allowed to tour Australia. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Under the law, the department could rely on those articles to help determine whether Mr Yiannopoulos passes the character test and if not, whether his application should be rejected. Senior members of the government were earlier this week satisfied with the decision to block Mr Yiannopoulos from returning to Australia for a speaking tour in 2019, but Immigration Minister David Coleman will now personally approve the visa.

A government source said Mr Coleman strongly disagreed with many of Mr Yiannopoulos' views and statements but had reached the view that someone should not be banned because people disagree with them and may protest in response. The initial push to reject the visa was met with a furious response from pro-free speech Coalition MPs, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, and some media commentators including Sky News host Andrew Bolt. "Of course this is a backdown," Bolt said Saturday. "There is a young generation of Liberals in Parliament who seem to have more ideological clarity than the older generation - people like Amanda Stoker, Tim Wilson, James Paterson and Andrew Hastie. "These are people that have made their bones making speeches about free speech and with this process David Coleman had made hypocrites of them all.

"It was so stupid and vindictive and the younger generation could not abide by it." Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said Mr Yiannopoulos has "no place" in Australia. "Given the significant risk he poses to the Australian community, Labor believes he should not be allowed into the country," Mr Neumann said in a statement. Violent clashes outside a Milo Yiannopoulos event in Melbourne in 2017. Credit:Jason South "Why on earth do the Liberals want to allow someone into Australia who has a proven track record of promoting protests, inciting hate speech, and vilifying parts of the community?"