When did Candace Owens apply for Australian visa? Political pundit denied entry to the country upon legal judgment

Candace Owens has been recently banned from entering Australia. According to Reuters, the political commentator applied for the visa in October last year, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke refusing to provide it to her in the same month.

While Candace Owens fought against the decision in court, the judges presiding in the case, which includes High Court Justices Stephen Gageler, Michelle Gordon, and Robert Beech-Jones, have now dismissed her appeal and ordered Candace to pay the legal costs for the government.

Owens has not commented on the matter until now, and her spokesperson told the Associated Press that she would respond to the case on social media.

In their latest decision, the judges declared that the Migration Act aims to keep the Australian community safe from anyone whose presence can lead to disagreement or conflict for political reasons. Apart from that, they noted that Burke’s decision to reject the visa was based on Candace’s opinions related to Islamophobia, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA+, and more.

On the other hand, Tony Burke expressed his satisfaction with the decision, as he said:

“Inciting discord might be the way some people make money but it’s not welcome in Australia. Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.”

The popular author of different books was also refused a visa by New Zealand, a month after Burke took the same decision. However, the ban was overturned in December 2024, with a spokesperson for an immigration official saying that the reversal happened since the authorities recognize the necessity of free speech, as per the Associated Press.

Candace Owens had once responded to Tony Burke: Visa rejection and other details explained

The White Plains, New York, native was supposed to participate in a speaking tour in November last year. As mentioned earlier, she had applied for an Australian visa the previous month, which was eventually rejected.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Candace Owens was supposed to stop by locations such as Sydney and Melbourne. Apart from that, the tour was also planned in New Zealand. Tony Burke elaborated on the reasons for not giving a visa, as he said:

“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.”

Notably, the VIP tickets for the tour were offering a pre-show dinner along with a champagne reception and a meet-and-greet session. The chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich, also supported the visa rejection by saying that Australia cannot accept anyone who “mock the suffering of genocide survivors and insult the memories of the 6 million Jews who perished.”

While Candace Owens’ New Zealand visa was also rejected, she responded to Australia’s decision in a video shared through her YouTube channel in October last year. She claimed at the time:

“All of this is to just make a statement to try to present me as some very scary person akin to Adolf Hitler.”

New Zealand’s initial decision claimed that it cannot provide visas to an individual banned in another country. However, the decision was overturned after Candace Owens approached Chris Penk, the Associate Immigration Minister.