It appears Candace Owens’s Australian talking tour isn’t going to occur — no less than not anytime quickly.
According to PolitcoAustralia’s High Court has upheld the federal government’s choice to bar Owens from visiting the nation over incitement issues. The authorized battle started in 2024, when Owens initially utilized for a visa; nonetheless, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected the applying, after figuring out Owens failed to meet the nation’s “character requirements” beneath the Migration Act, a legislation that goals to defend the neighborhood from foreigners who might “stir up or encourage dissension or strife on political matters.”
Burke mentioned his choice was primarily based on Owens’ “extremist and inflammatory comments towards Muslim, Black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities which generate controversy and hatred.”
“In the current environment where the Australian community is experiencing heightened community tensions, as per the advice of Australia’s security apparatus,” he mentioned, as reported by Politco. “I find that there is a risk that [Owens’] controversial views will amplify grievances among communities and lead to increased hostility and violent or radical action.”
Owens filed a 2024 attraction, saying Burke’s choice violated “the implied freedom of political communication.” The High Court disagreed, saying the implied freedom was not a “personal right” nor was “unlimited” or “absolute.”
Burke called the court’s decision a “win for social cohesion.”
“Inciting discord is perhaps the best way some individuals become profitable,” he mentioned in an announcement to Reuters“but it’s not welcome in Australia. Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.”
Owens’ longtime good friend Ye skilled an analogous L earlier this 12 months, when Burke’s workplace formally canceled his visa. Officials mentioned the choice was primarily based on the rapper’s string of anti-Semitic remarks and his “Heil Hitler” observe.
“We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry,” Burke mentioned about Ye’s visa cancellation.