<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/27/australia-rejects-visa-application-by-rightwing-us-pundit-candace-owens>
"Australia has rejected far-right provocateur Candace Owens’ visa application
ahead of a planned national speaking tour, with the immigration minister, Tony
Burke, saying she had the “capacity to incite discord”.
The US conservative influencer and podcast host, who has advanced conspiracy
theories and antisemitic rhetoric including minimising Nazi medical experiments
in concentration camps, will be blocked from coming to Australia after the
federal government voiced alarm about her record.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [notorious
Nazi doctor Josef] Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery,
Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,”
Burke said on Sunday.
“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere
else.”
Owens had scheduled a five-date speaking tour of Australia in November, with
events in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Tickets ranged from
$95 for general admission to $295 for a VIP meet and greet and $1,500 for a
private dinner with the conservative media personality.
She has courted controversy with incendiary claims about Jewish, transgender
and Muslim people. In July, she appeared to cast doubt on well-documented Nazi
medical experiments on prisoners, calling such accounts “completely absurd” and
“bizarre propaganda”.
The US Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, has accused
Owens of coming to “embrace and promote antisemitic tropes and anti-Israel
rhetoric”, noting comments where she called Judaism a “pedophile-centric
religion”. LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation Glaad has pointed to allegedly
anti-trans comments from Owens, including calling the trans equality movement
“evil” and “satanic”. She has also claimed “white supremacy and white
nationalism is not a problem that is harming Black America”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
