SYDNEY — Far-right US influencer Candace Owens has lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court on Wednesday backed the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she could “incite discord” in the community.
Owens, who has built a large online following for her controversial conservative views, applied for a visa to undertake 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 non-citizens entry based on character requirements under the Migration Act.
Owens appealed to the High Court on the grounds that the power burdened the freedom of political communication, an implied right. Unlike the US, Australia does not have an express constitutional right to free speech.
The High Court on Wednesday unanimously sided with Burke and ordered Owens to pay the government’s legal costs.
The court said the Migration Act provisions imposed a burden on political communication but served a legitimate and justifiable purpose in protecting the Australian community from visitors who would “stir up or encourage dissension or strife on political matters.”
“The implied freedom is not a ‘personal right.’ It is not unlimited and is not absolute,” said High Court judges Stephen Gageler, Michelle Gordon and Robert Beech-Jones in a joint judgment.
Burke said the decision was a “win for social cohesion.”
“Inciting discord might be the way some people make money but it’s not welcome in Australia. Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else,” he said in a statement.
The judges noted Burke denied Owens a visa after examining her views and comments on areas including “Holocaust denial, Islamophobia,” anti-racism, Black Lives Matter and antisemitism, women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights, and COVID-19 and anti-vaccination.”
Burke found her views to be “extremist and inflammatory comments towards Muslim, Black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities which generate controversy and hatred,” concluding that meant she failed the “character test” required for a visa because of the risk she would “incite discord” in the community.
He also concluded that allowing her into the country would not be in the national interest.
“Ms. Owens Farmer’s submissions should be emphatically rejected,” said High Court Judge James Edelman in a separate judgment.
Owens’ lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the course of the year, Australia has used the same law several times to bar Israeli officials and pro-Israel activists from entry, most notably far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, who had his visa revoked in August for inciting “hate and division,” according to Burke.
The ban sparked a diplomatic row between Canberra and Jerusalem, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being a “weak” politician who “betrayed Israel” and “abandoned” his country’s Jewish community.
In June, Australia barred pro-Israel activist and influencer Hillel Fuld because his presence would constitute a risk to “health, safety or good order,” Burke’s office said at the time.
Last year, it blocked former justice minister Ayelet Shaked for similar reasons.
In July, Australia also canceled the visa of US rapper Kanye West, over concerns he promoted Nazi ideologies in his song “Heil Hitler” released in May.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report