SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. far-right activist Candace Owens has lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court on Wednesday upheld the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she might “sow discord” in the community.
Owens, who has gained a large online following for her controversial conservative views, has applied for a visa to do a speaking tour in November 2024.
Her application was rejected in October 2024 by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, citing her record of downplaying the Holocaust and making Islamophobic comments. Burke has powers to deny entry to noncitizens based on character requirements under immigration law.
Owens appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the power burdened freedom of political communication, an implied right. Unlike the United States, Australia does not have an express constitutional right to freedom of expression.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously sided with Burke and ordered Owens to pay the government’s legal costs.
The court said the provisions of the Immigration Act imposed a burden on political communication but served a legitimate and justifiable purpose in protecting the Australian community from visitors who “provoke or encourage division or conflict on political matters.”
“The implied liberty is neither a ‘personal right,’ nor is it unlimited, nor is it absolute,” Supreme Court Justices Stephen Jagler, Michelle Gordon, and Robert Beach Jones said in a joint ruling.
Burke said the decision was a “victory for social cohesion.”
“Inciting may be how some people make money, but it is not welcome in Australia. Australia’s national interest would be better served when Candace Owens is elsewhere,” he said in a statement.
The justices noted that Burke denied Owens a visa after examining her views and comments in areas including “Holocaust denial, Islamophobia,” anti-racism, Black Lives Matter and anti-Semitism, women’s and LGBT rights, COVID-19 and anti-vaccination.
Burke found her views to be “extremist and inflammatory comments towards the Muslim, black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities which incite controversy and hatred”, concluding that this meant she had failed the “character test” required for the visa due to the risk of “causing discord” in the community.
He also concluded that allowing it to enter the country would not be in the national interest.
“Ms. Owens-Farmer’s claims must be categorically denied,” Superior Court Judge James Edelman said in a separate ruling.
Owens’ attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
In July, Australia also revoked the visa of US rapper Yee, formerly known as Kanye West, over concerns he promoted Nazi ideologies in his song “Heil Hitler” released in May.
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
Source link
