No Doggystyle in Oz

Did you hear about this? Snoop Dogg has not been allowed into Australia on the grounds that he is not "the sort of bloke we want in this country", the immigration minister said Thursday. I found the story on RawStory, and have posted it in it's entirety below. There was a similar row with Sylvester Stallone involving his detention at the airport for some sort of drug (presumably legal here, but not so there) he had in his baggage. Apparently Oz is tired of people getting over on it. Oi!

Snoop Dogg has been barred from Australia because he is not "the sort of bloke we want in this country", the immigration minister said Thursday.

The 35-year-old rapper and hip-hop icon -- real name Calvin Broadus -- had been due to attend the MTV Australian Video Music Awards this weekend.

But Snoop failed the character test required to enter Australia and his visa was cancelled, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said.

"He has a whole string of convictions and just two weeks ago he was convicted of a number of charges again, sentenced to three years jail, two on another, with five years probation and a suspended sentence," Andrews said.

"He has been denied entry into the United Kingdom because he was caught with others causing affray at Heathrow Airport," the minister told Australian radio.

"He doesn't seem the sort of bloke we want in this country."

Andrews said Snoop's reputed gang ties were also taken into consideration.

"This man has been a member of a Los Angeles gang -- and is still associated with it apparently -- that's been involved in murder, robberies and drug dealing in the LA area," he said.

Australia, a former penal colony which was largely populated by criminals in the early days of European settlement, has adopted tough immigration controls under conservative Prime Minister John Howard.