Australian court upholds government's decision to deny entry to Candace Owens
During the last month, Owens has once again been in the eye of the storm after several controversies that have had repercussions not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world.
Candace Owens in a file image.
Australia’s High Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the Australian government's 2024 decision to deny an entry visa to political commentator Candace Owens. The full court ruled that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's refusal did not represent any breach of the implied freedom of political communication, which is set out in the Australian Constitution. Burke had in October last year rejected Owens' visa application shortly before a national speaking tour, arguing that the right-wing commentator had the capacity to "incite discord."
At the time, the Home Affairs Minister explained that Owens, who is considered one of the most important and influential conservative figures in the United States, had not passed the "character test" required to qualify for a visa to enter Australia under its Migration Act. At the time, several Australian government figures applauded the decision by arguing that Owens has promoted conspiracy theories and even anti-Semitic rhetoric.
"Australia's national interest is best served when Owens is elsewhere"
In October last year, Burke had stated, "From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [notorious Nazi doctor] Josef Mengele to claiming that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the ability to incite discord in almost every direction. Australia's national interest is best served when Candace Owens is elsewhere."
In a statement, the Australian court confirmed that "the minister concluded that there was a risk that Owens' controversial views would lead to increased hostility and violent or radical action." Before the court, the right-wing political commentator sought to have a section of the Oceanic country's Migration Act declared invalid, including a finding that Burke had misinterpreted the law in denying her a visa to enter the country. Despite this, according to the summary of the court ruling, the judges "unanimously concluded that, reading the minister's decision fairly and in its entirety, the minister did not misinterpret the law in deciding to deny the visa."
Recent controversies
The first was nothing more than the war she has unleashed within certain circles akin to Republican President Donald Trump who support the Government of Israel in the armed conflict they have had with the terrorist group Hamas and that seems to have come to an end, after numerous comments in which Owens questioned the support that throughout history the United States has given Israel, arguing that the problems of the Jewish State are not the responsibility of her country.
On the other hand, Owens has been disseminating a conspiracy theory according to which the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron, is not a biological woman, but rather a transsexual woman. Far from ignoring such comments, the couple entered into a legal dispute against the right-wing figure, and it was recently revealed that they would present photographic and scientific evidence in a U.S. court to prove that France's first lady is a biological woman.
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