Conservative commentator Candace Owens remains unable to enter Australia and must pay the government’s legal costs after losing her appeal against her travel visa refusal.
The far-right podcast host had originally intended to enter the country in October 2024, but Mr Owens’ visa application was rejected by Home Secretary Tony Burke, who declared that Mr Owens had failed the “character test” required to enter the country. He cited her “extreme and inflammatory statements against Muslims, Black people, Jews, and the LGBTQIA+ community as controversial and inciting hatred.”
Ms. Owens appealed the decision, arguing that the denial violated her right to free speech. Unlike the United States, Australia does not have a constitution or statute that protects speech, except that political speech is protected from criminal prosecution.
The country’s High Court on Wednesday rejected Ms Owens’ appeal, agreeing with Mr Burke’s assessment that she could incite “increased hostility and violent or extremist action”. Justices Stephen Gaylor, Michelle Gordon, and Robert Beach-Jones wrote: unanimous opinion It’s “implicit freedom” [of speech] are not “individual rights,” nor are they unlimited or absolute. ”
“If the person is permitted to enter or remain in Australia, there is a risk that the person will cause or encourage discord or conflict in the Australian community or part of that community of a type or degree that is harmful to that community or part,” they continued.
Owens has made several inflammatory statements in recent years, from falsely claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is a “gay actor” to calling the LGBTQ+ community a “sexual epidemic” in the wake of the Perry, Iowa, school shooting. She is currently being sued for defamation by Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, for falsely claiming that Brigitte secretly identifies as transgender and is actually the same person as her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
