Conservative US commentator Candace Owens has slammed calls to have her banned from visiting Australia with a 10-word put-down.
Her planned tour in Australia and New Zealand in November is now in jeopardy after politicians and organisations urged for her visa application to be knocked back.
A ticket for her show in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide costs $95 – but it can cost as much as $1,500 for a VIP dinner with Ms Owens.
Having grown to fame during the Trump presidency, Ms Owens has drawn outrage for her controversial comments on Israel, the Holocaust and LGBTQI issues.
Home Affairs minister Tony Burke, who has the power to block or refuse a visa, said he would oversee a brief of Ms Owens’ application once it has been made.
‘My opposition to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia has always been on the record,’ he said on Friday.
Ms Owens has repeatedly blasted the possible ban and doubled down on her attack while speaking with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday.
‘It’s kind of incredible to think that people could be so fearful of just speech and conversation, and it’s really the only way that we can be free as a society, is if we’re free to hear ideas and free to change our mind,’ she said.
Far-right US political pundit Candace Owens (pictured) has hit back at Aussie politicians and organisations calling for her visa into the country to be denied
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke (pictured), said on Friday that he would personally oversee Ms Owens’ application for a planned tour of her live podcast
‘So I was quite surprised to see that they’re like, “Don’t give don’t give her a visa, she’s a bad person”.
Ms Owens then delivered a 10-word putdown: ‘It’s not going to harm you to hear different ideas.’
Ms Owens has previously claimed Israel was founded by a ‘cult’ and labelled some of the Holocaust atrocities as ‘completely absurd’.
She has also taken aim at minority groups and claimed there was a link between trans people, ‘clinical insanity’ and a rise in mass shootings.
The far-right commentator responded on Sunday by accusing the media of negatively portraying her for what she argued are reasonable political views.
‘It was deemed ‘extreme’ that as a black woman, I did not submit to the Black Lives Matter narrative,’ Ms Owens said in a statement.
‘I instead called out the movement for weaponizing the smear of racism to avoid criticism and laud criminality. For my contribution, I was labelled a “black white supremacist”.
Ms Owens shot to fame during the Trump presidency and has drawn outrage for her controversial comments on Israel, the Holocaust and LGBT issues
‘Similarly, when I took the “extreme” position that forced lockdowns and vaccination run counter to individual freedom and happiness, I was labelled ”dangerously misinformed’ and accused of promoting death.’
She added that the controversy has been exacerbated by clips of her show being taken out of context.
‘Any person who listens to my show outside of media snippets knows fully well that I love Jewish people,’ Ms Owens said.
‘They have always been a huge part of my life, and I will continue to use my platform to call out the people and groups who are using Jewish pain and Jewish history to obfuscate their own bad behaviour.
Her statement came after she slammed the proposed ban on Saturday, labelling it ‘crazy’.
Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender is among Ms Owen’s critics who have called for the US commentator to be barred from the country.
‘Ms Owens is a media provocateur, who makes her living generating controversy, division and hatred. Her denial of the truth of The Holocaust is obscene,’ she said.
‘We don’t need her input to public discussion in Australia a time when we must preserve social cohesion. I welcome the minister’s call to review her visa application.’
Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan added: ‘There is no place in Australia for people who spread hateful messages and undermine social cohesion.’
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said Ms Owen’s views meant she failed the character test under the Migration Act.
‘At a time of unprecedented strains on the cohesiveness of Australian society, which is very largely the outcome of ignorant and malicious comment on social media, the last thing we need to be importing into our country is yet another so-called celebrity who has made racist and bigoted comments about Jews and other vulnerable groups,’ he said.
‘Our new Minister for Immigration now has an opportunity to show the leadership needed to affirm that principle,’ he said.
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