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Extremist influencer Candace Owens vows to appeal against Australian visa cancellation
By Olivia Ireland
Extremist US provocateur Candace Owens has vowed to appeal against her Australian visa being cancelled, telling followers she is optimistic she would be allowed to travel to the country.
This masthead revealed on Sunday that Immigration Minister Tony Burke cancelled the Donald Trump-aligned influencer’s visa as he warned Owens’ attacks on Jewish, Muslim and transgender people could incite discord.
Candace Owens has made claims about a range of minority groups, including Jews and transgender people.Credit: Bloomberg
Owens, who has claimed Israel was founded by a “cult” and that “secret Jewish gangs” operate in Hollywood, wrote in an email to those who had requested tickets to her Australian tour that she and promoter Rocksman would file an appeal, and the case would be reviewed by a federal judge within days.
“Should the appeal be denied and cancellation become necessary, we will promptly notify all ticket holders and begin processing refunds automatically,” the email reads.
The commentator has previously criticised Australia for its policies, posting to her TikTok before her visa was cancelled, questioning when it was necessary to “invade Australia” to free its citizens.
“When do we deploy troops to Australia? When do we invade Australia and free an oppressed people who are suffering under a totalitarian regime? When do we spend trillions of dollars to spread democracy in Australia?” she said.
“Australia currently, make no mistake, is a tyrannical police state, its citizens are quite literally being imprisoned against their will so when do we deploy?”
Burke declined to comment on Owens appealing against her visa cancellation.
Owens rose to fame for her conservative activism. She was a communications director for Turning Point USA from 2017 to 2019, and in 2021 joined conservative media company The Daily Wire to host her own political talk show. However, in March this year, she was dismissed following a series of antisemitic comments.
Her YouTube channel has 18 million subscribers. Owens’ comments have included describing Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele’s experiments on prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II as “bizarre propaganda”.
Jewish groups called for Owens’ visa to be cancelled in August and Burke indicated back then he would block it, telling this masthead: “Tickets to these events are selling for $100. I hope she has a good refunds policy.”
Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan also said in August that Labor should block Owens’ visa to avoid the spread of “hateful messages”.
Owens vowed to push on with her Australian tour in defiance of the calls to reject her visa.
The event website describes Owens’ tour as a delivery of “raw and unfiltered commentary on politics, culture and everyday life” as ticket costs range from $95 to $1500.
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correction
A previous version of this story said Owens posted a TikTok criticising Australia after her visa was cancelled, when she in fact posted before her visa cancellation.