A New Zealand extremist pastor faces deportation from Australia after allegedly harassing mosque worshipers.
Logan Robertson, the self-proclaimed pastor of the Pillar Baptist Church, has been charged with public nuisance, entering premises with intent and trespass after allegedly abusing Muslims attending a mosque this week.
Robertson, who founded the contentious Westcity Bible Baptist Church in Avondale in 2014, moved to Australia in 2017 to launch the Pillar Baptist Church.
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He has caused controversy in the past after saying homosexuals should be put to death and Jacinda Ardern should "get in the kitchen".
His time in Australia appears to be short-lived. His visa to Australia has been cancelled and the government is acting to remove him.
The turmoil started on Wednesday when Robertson and several others entered the Kuraby mosque and began provoking worshipers, according to ABC. A teenage boy was allegedly verbally abused and accused of being a terrorist.
This behaviour continued the next day, as activists from the Pillar Baptist Church confronted Islamic leaders.
"I hate the religion of Islam. I don't hate Muslims; I hate the religion," Robertson allegedly told a senior figure.
Police removed Robertson from the property. He has been placed in detention while the Immigration Department reviews his case.
Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Peter Dutton said he was "disturbed" by the allegations.
"I'm completely against people being vilified because of their religious belief," he told media.
"I want to make it very clear to people who come to our country that our country obviously embraces free speech but we don't tolerate hate speech and we don't tolerate people who are going to harass those people going about their business at a place of worship."
Mr Dutton said Robertson had been warned he needed to behave before he entered the country.
"He was warned before he came into the country that he needed to abide by his conditions of the visa and that if he conducted himself outside of the conditions of the visa then he would be subject to cancellation," he told media.
"It's unacceptable to anybody to act outside of the conditions of your visa, particularly where people are given warnings or counselled before they come into our country."
Robertson faces court next month, and police say more charges could be laid.
Robertson denies being part of any extremist organisation.
Newshub.
