Far-right US influencer Candace Owens loses legal battle to enter Australia
Far-right American commentator Candace Owens has lost her legal fight to enter Australia after the country’s High Court upheld the government’s decision to deny her visa, citing the risk that her presence could “incite discord in the Australian community.”
In a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, the court said the government’s 2024 decision to block Owens’s visitor visa “was not invalid” and ordered her to cover the government’s legal costs, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
Owens, a prominent right-wing podcast host and political commentator known for her controversial statements and conspiracy theories, had applied for an Australian visa to embark on a speaking tour in late 2024.
However, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected her application under the country’s “character test,” arguing that her past remarks could provoke hostility and division.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,” Burke said at the time, according to the Herald Sun.
Owens challenged the decision, claiming it infringed on her right to political communication. But the High Court ruled that Australia’s implied freedom of political communication is not an individual right and is not absolute.
Judges noted that the minister had reviewed Owens’s views on sensitive issues — including race, religion, and vaccines — and found them to be “extremist and inflammatory.”
Australia has previously taken similar actions — in July 2025, authorities revoked the visa of US rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) amid concerns his song “Heil Hitler” could promote Nazi ideology.
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