Far-right political commentator Candace Owens has described the decision to ban her from Australia ‘a petty act of vandalism’.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke cancelled the outspoken conservative’s visa this weekend, preventing her from doing her planned five live speaking events next month.
Having found fame during the Trump presidency, Owens has drawn outrage for her controversial comments on Israel, the Holocaust and LGBTQI issues.
In his decision to reject her visa, Mr Burke cited Owens’ ‘capacity to incite discord in almost every direction’.
‘Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else,’ Mr Burke added.
But Owens, 35, has hit back, describing the move as a ‘petty act of vandalism’.
‘What you are seeing really take shape is that people don’t want me to get in front of an audience,’ Owens said on her podcast.
‘We all know what has happened in Australia, which is the story of this year: I am not comfortable with the death taking place in Palestine.’
‘The determined punishment for me for not turning a blind eye to this has been harassment.
‘I’ve accepted that. That’s a way easier punishment than what these children are accepting on a daily basis.’
Owens became a prominent figure on the American right as one of few African-American commentators to challenge the Black Lives Matter movement, and earned herself a lucrative deal with the Daily Wire conservative platform.
She has 5.8 million followers on Twitter and some 5million on Instagram.
However she was dismissed by Daily Wire’s co-founder Ben Shapiro earlier this year for her criticism of Israel‘s actions in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and America’s support for those actions.
Since that dismissal she has been accused of a variety of anti-Semitic views and positions, leading to a variety of Jewish groups opposing her visit to Australia and successfully lobbying the Albanese government to block her entry to the country.
The government had bipartisan backing as Liberal shadow immigration spokesman Dan Tehan also supported a ban.
The Candace Owens Live tour had been set to begin in Melbourne on November 17, with tickets selling at $95 for reserved seating and up to $1500 for a pre-show VIP dinner with Owens herself.
‘Join us for an electrifying evening with Candace Owens, the outspoken and fearless American conservative social commentator, author, activist, and YouTube sensation,’ the promoters state on the tour website.
‘Known for her controversial takes and unwavering stance, Candace is set to light up stages across Australia and New Zealand with her bold and unfiltered perspectives.’
Mr Burke flagged concerns about her arrival on Australian shores for weeks.
‘Tickets to these events are selling for $100. I hope she has a good refunds policy,’ Mr Burke said in August.
‘There hasn’t been an application for a visa but if there is the brief will come to me personally.
‘My opposition to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia has always been on the record.
‘I have clear legal powers to knock back a visa to anyone who would incite discord.’
Owens’ tour promoter described the decision as ‘dumb’ and branded it ‘censorship’.
‘Minister Burke’s reasoning is that he doesn’t want Australians exposed to Ms Owens’ message,’ a spokesperson added.
‘However, whether she is in the country or not, Australians have access to her message via social media along with millions of viewers every day.
‘This is clearly nothing more than political bias disguised as a public safety measure.’
Owens previously told Daily Mail Australia that she was ‘completely shocked’ by Mr Burke’s stance and said it highlighted a massive gap between Australia and the US.
‘It just could not happen in America, that any politician would be proud to come out and to speak about using their powers to shut down a visa for a person that isn’t a criminal,’ she said.
She said it would be a ‘stain on Australia – and not one that you’re easily going to wipe away’.
‘I should be able to travel to a country because I’m not a criminal.
‘I’ve never hurt anyone. I’ve never assigned anyone to violence. I’ve never been even mildly accused of an incitement to violence.’
While organisations have tried to have her events cancelled in the past, Owens said she hasn’t seen ‘the government embracing that’.
‘I’m okay to be invited to college and high school campuses to speak in front of children, but I’m too much of a threat in terms of Australian politics?’ she said.
The issue isn’t the first stoush with Australia after she critiqued government lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During an 2021 episode of her late night show, Owens blasted 5km travel limits, household gathering bans and nighttime curfews, as ‘imprisoning citizens against their will’.
Throughout her political career, she said it was the ‘first time when Australian politics became the most relevant’.
‘And I think that Americans and myself included were quite shocked at how harsh the Australian Government was treating its people,’ she said.
The visa issue has similarly surprised her because of the starkly different approach to freedom of speech and debate between Australia and the US.
‘In America, we care deeply about free speech – we care deeply about freedom in general… and so this completely shocked me,’ she said.
The commentator also touched on hot-button issues in Australia, including immigration and the transition to renewable energy.
Owens supported Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton’s calls to block immigration from Gaza out of fears of welcoming Hamas supporters into the country.
‘Why should we have to accept refugees?’ she asked, adding that countries shouldn’t be made to ‘feel bad’ about denying immigrants.
‘For some reason the West, it has become a dumping ground,’ she said.
‘We have an identity, and it’s good to have an identity, and it’s so wrong to routinely try to make people feel bad about wanting to recognise their own countries.’
She also described green energy as a ‘push to further enslave humanity’, claiming those pushing for the transition aren’t committing to the same goals.
‘They can see how our lives are increasingly just becoming more difficult, as they’re telling us that we need to aspire to the sorts of things that they’re not aspiring to,’ Ms Owens said.
‘I believe in people knowing how to live off of the land, how to grow their own food. I believe that’s your only guard against a totalitarian state is being able to take care of yourself and being resourceful with your own neighbours.’
Owens said she would be keen to meet him and discuss their differences.
‘I would love to meet any person that wanted to speak to me and thought that I had said something wrong,’ she said.
‘When people actually meet me and hear the truth, they’re going to register it as such.’
