The US R&B singer Chris Brown could be barred from touring Australia because of his domestic violence record, the Australian government warned on Thursday. Brown (pictured) was sentenced to five years probation in 2009 for brutally punching and strangling musician Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time. Tickets for four shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in   December are due to go on sale on Monday. Activist group GetUp! wants Brown denied a visa to enter Australia. Minister for Women Michaelia Cash said she agreed and had, in her former role as assistant immigration minister, previously blocked boxer Floyd   Mayweather entry to Australia because of his history of family violence. The Migration Act states that anyone with a "substantial criminal record" involving a prison sentence of 12 months or more - including a suspended sentence - can be refused a visa. Senator Cash suggested Immigration Minister Peter Dutton could take the same approach with Brown as she took with   Mayweather.