Far-right American commentator Candace Owens has launched legal action against the Australian government following the rejection of her visa last month.
Owens was booked to tour the country for a series of shows throughout November, but Immigration Minister Tony Burke blocked her visit on character grounds, arguing that her controversial views could potentially incite “discord.” “in society.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about Mengele to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the ability to incite discord in almost every direction,” Burke said in announcing her decision to reject her visa application.
“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is elsewhere.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Owens said the challenge would argue that Minister Burke’s decision was made with “clear bias and improper motivations.”
“According to Ms. Owens’ legal representatives, Mr. Burke was biased against her case from the beginning, making public comments that cast doubt on his impartiality long before a decision was made,” the spokesperson said.
“Mr. Burke also revealed private details of Ms. Owens’ request to the media, further calling his neutrality into question.”
The spokesman said the reasons for Mr Burke’s refusal were “legally unreasonable and unjustifiable”.
Far-right American commentator Candace Owens has launched legal action against the Australian government following the rejection of her visa last month.
“The minister’s conduct suggests that this decision was aimed at improving his public image rather than defending a fair process,” the spokesperson said.
‘Mr Burke has been asked to cease further involvement in this case. An impartial official should reconsider your request.’
The legal challenge follows a concerted reaction from Ms Owens across her social media channels in which she lashed out at the government for what she called a “petty act of vandalism”.
“I also want to make it clear to you that I found out about it at the same time that the press found out about it, which is why your office decided to leak this,” he said.
“This is supposed to be a private application process, so unless I talked about this, no one should have known.”
He suggested his application was blocked because of his coverage of attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.
“I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that even though I was fired, demonized and talked down to, I haven’t changed my position,” he said.
‘That’s what this really is, a small act of vandalism. Nobody’s worried about me coming to Australia because they’re angry that they’ve spread this narrative about me and my listeners haven’t accepted it.’
Acknowledging her rejected visa, which her team vowed to fight through an appeal in the Federal Court, Owens said she was disappointed she couldn’t “hug a koala” and “fight a kangaroo.”
‘I wanted to hug a koala, I’m not going to lie, I did. “I think koalas are really cute,” she said.
‘Maybe he also wanted to fight a kangaroo. I watch a lot of these videos, they’re like jack and they beat people up, and I thought, maybe that would be good content, but if I have to post that, I’ll post it.
Ms Owens was booked to tour the country for a series of shows throughout November, but Immigration Minister Tony Burke blocked her visit on character grounds.
An announcement on her Ticketek page states that she and her event organizer, Rocksman, are “optimistic about a favorable outcome.”
They have also promised that existing ticket holders, some of whom have shelled out $1,500 for VIP tickets, will be refunded.
“If the appeal is rejected and cancellation is necessary, we will immediately notify all ticket holders and begin processing refunds automatically on behalf of the organizer,” the announcement said.
A spokeswoman for Owens said live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane had sold “tens of thousands of tickets”.
The influencer, who split from American conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and his news outlet The Daily Wire in March of this year, has 5.8 million followers on Twitter and about 5 million on Instagram.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim called on Mr Burke to cancel Ms Owens’ visa, arguing she failed the character test under the Migration Act.
“At a time of unprecedented tensions on the cohesion of Australian society, which is largely the result of ignorant and malicious comments on social media, the last thing we need to import into our country is another alleged celebrity who has made racist comments and intolerant towards Jews and other vulnerable groups,” he said.
Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan also backed Owens’ blockade of Australia.
“There is no place in Australia for people who spread hate messages and undermine social cohesion,” he said.
