Candace Owens: Australia’s high court backs government decision to deny visa to US rightwinger | Australian politics

Australia’s high court has unanimously backed the government’s decision to deny far-right provocateur Candace Owens a visa to enter the country in 2024.

The court ruled on Wednesday that the minister’s refusal did not violate the constitutional freedom of political communication.

Home secretary Tony Burke rejected Owens’ visa application in October 2024 ahead of his planned national speaking tour, arguing he had the “capacity to incite discord”.

Burke said the US conservative influencer and podcast host, who at the time had conspiracy theories and antisemitic rhetoric – including minimizing Nazi medical experiments on concentration – had failed the “character test” to obtain a visa under the Immigration Act.

Owens sought a declaration in court that part of the law was invalid or, alternatively, that the minister had misunderstood the law when refusing to grant him a visa.

Owens’ lawyers argued that the character test was more likely to exclude the non-mainstream political views that fueled the division.

Perry Herzfeld SC argued that the “incitement of disagreement” threshold for refusing a visa was so wide that it could capture disagreements and acrimonious arguments and “captured a good deal of the attention of the audience”.

Herzfeld argued at the high court in May that this meant visas could be denied to people who would “spark controversy … the minister does not like”.

But on Wednesday the judges “unanimously found that the minister had not misunderstood the minister’s decision by reading it fairly and as a whole.” [the act] When deciding to refuse to grant the visa, Summary of court decision stated.

In October last year, Burke said: “I am reluctant to underestimate the impact of the Holocaust. [notorious Nazi doctor Josef] From Mengele to claims that Muslims introduced slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to sow discord in nearly every direction. “Australia’s national interests are best served when Candace Owens is elsewhere.”

The minister argued that Owens met all legal requirements for visa issuance, except for the character test. Owens maintained that he met all the requirements.

The high court ruled that Owens was not entitled to any compensation and ordered him to pay the defendants’ costs. Owens and his Australian lawyers have been contacted for comment.