Josephine Harvey
Mon, October 28, 2024
Far-right conspiracy theorist Candace Owens won’t be taking her speaking tour to Australia after her visa was denied due to her hateful rhetoric.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [Nazi physician Josef] Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,” Australian immigration minister Tony Burke, a member of the center-left Labor government, told local media over the weekend.
“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.”
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan, of the center-right Liberal Party, had also said in August that the government should block Owens’ visa on character grounds to prevent the spread of “hateful messages.”
In July, Owens suggested on her podcast that the gruesome experiments Mengele conducted on twins at Holocaust death camps never happened, saying “that just sounds like bizarre propaganda.”
The right-wing provocateur’s Australian speaking tour had been slated to kick off on Nov. 17, with shows scheduled in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
She’s also slated to speak in Auckland on Nov. 14. New Zealand officials are reportedly assessing her visa application.
Her tour website advertises the show as an “electrifying evening” with Owens. “In a world full of safe spaces, Candace cuts through the fluff, delivering raw and unfiltered commentary on politics, culture, and everyday life,” it reads.
Tickets to the event ranged from roughly $63 USD for general admission to around $990 for a private pre-show dinner and meet and greet with Owens.
Owens has not yet reacted publicly to the visa decision.
The Anti-Defamation Commission, an Australian civil rights organization that was among several Jewish groups that called for Owens to be barred, called the decision “a victory for truth.”
“Australia has no place for those who mock the suffering of genocide survivors and insult the memories of the 6 million Jews who perished,” chairman Dvir Abramovich said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
In March, The Daily Wire ended its relationship with Owens after she clashed with its co-founder, Ben Shapiro, over her antisemitic views. In the lead-up to her departure from the right-wing outlet, she had amplified a series of unhinged conspiracy theories, including one about Jews being “drunk on Christian blood.”
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