Disgraced alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos will speak at Australia's Parliament House next month at the invitation of libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm.
Yiannopoulos, whose fraternisation with American white nationalists was exposed last month by Buzzfeed, has been disowned by large swathes of the US right following multiple scandals.
Earlier this year the 33-year-old lost his job with right-wing publisher Breitbart, and his book contract was ripped up, after he appeared to condone paedophilia in some circumstances by arguing boys as young as 13 could consent.
But Senator Leyonhjelm, who also courts publicity with deliberately controversial missives, has invited Yiannopoulos to address MPs and staff in Canberra next month while the commentator is on a national speaking tour.
The NSW senator and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party promised a "very interesting event that is unlikely to be repeated" in an email sent to colleagues and parliamentary staff on Thursday.
He described Yiannopoulos as "a thought-provoking commentator, author of the New York Times best-seller Dangerous and self-described cultural libertarian".
Part of the Buzzfeed expose involved video tape of Yiannopoulos performing karaoke in front of a group of people who raised their arms at him in a Hitler salute.
His relationship with his former boss Steve Bannon - who was until recently US President Donald Trump's strategic adviser - has also reportedly soured.
In a recent interview with Observer magazine, Yiannopoulos - who is gay and of Jewish heritage - portrayed himself as essentially an internet troll whose words and actions could not be taken seriously or at face value.
He said the paedophilia scandal had inoculated him against further defamation and made him "literally invulnerable".
"I want the whole world to be like an internet comment section," he said. "I'm a presence. I'm an idea. And I'm gently nudging the pendulum back from speech codes and feminism. My real ability is activating cells in unexpected places and producing wonderful results."
As news of the event rapidly spread around Parliament House, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young replied to all staff questioning why Yiannopoulos had even been allowed to visit Australia.
"It astounds me that a member of our Parliament would roll out the red carpet to a white supremacist and paedophilia apologist," she said.
In reply, Senator Leyonhjelm emailed all parliamentary staff telling Senator Hanson-Young to "get over it". "Milo has the same right to speak as you. It's not compulsory for you to listen or to agree," he said.
Senator Leyonhjelm was unavailable for an interview on Thursday afternoon but in response to questions from Fairfax Media said Yiannopoulos spoke about issues relevant to Australians including political correctness, gender identity and free speech.
"I am simply hosting this event. While I agree with about 90 per cent of what Mr Yiannopoulos says, I am not prepared to trawl through each and every pronouncement he has ever made and endorse or dis-endorse it," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"This is simply an opportunity to hear Mr Yiannopoulos' views first-hand and to challenge those views with questions if you so wish."
