Far-right political commentator Candace Owens has said she was shocked by the stark contrast between Australia and America after learning she could be banned from entering the country.
Owens is planning shows in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in November.
Owens rose to fame during the Trump presidency, drawing widespread outrage for her controversial statements on Israel, the Holocaust, and LGBTQI issues.
Her trip to Australia is in jeopardy after Home Secretary Tony Burke said he will “personally” oversee her visa application.
Mr Burke noted that he has “clear legal powers to deny a visa to anyone who would cause discord”.
Owens told Daily Mail Australia she was “completely shocked” by Burke’s stance and said it highlighted the huge divide between Australia and the US.
“It just couldn’t happen in America that a politician would be proud to come out and say he used his powers to block a visa for someone who wasn’t a criminal,” she said.
If Burke did indeed deny Owens a visa, she said it would be “a stain on Australia, not one that can be simply brushed aside”.
Controversial far-right American political commentator Candace Owens (pictured) has revealed she was ‘completely shocked’ by Tony Burke’s comments
Home Secretary Tony Burke (pictured) said he would ‘personally’ assess Ms Owens’ visa application because of her history of controversial opinions
Owens has previously targeted minority groups, claiming a link between transgender people, “clinical insanity” and an increase in mass shootings.
She also claimed that Israel was founded by a “cult” and called some of the atrocities during the Holocaust “completely absurd.”
These atrocities included the well-documented, horrific experiments performed on twins imprisoned at Auschwitz by the Nazi “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele.
In an episode of Candace Owens Live that aired in July, the commentator said the experiments sounded like bizarre propaganda because they would be a “huge waste of time and resources.”
Mengele’s oldest living survivor, 100-year-old Annetta Able, joined independent Teal MP Zali Steggall in calling for Owens to be banned from the country.
“As a survivor of Dr. Mengele’s inhumane experiments at Auschwitz, I feel compelled to speak out against Candace Owens’ planned visit to Australia,” said Ms. Able.
“Her recent statement dismissing the horrific experiments I underwent as “bizarre propaganda” is not only deeply offensive, it is also a dangerous distortion of the historical truth that I have witnessed with my own eyes.
“I urge the Australian government not to grant Candace Owens a visa.”
Owens said her opinion should not jeopardize her chances of getting a visa to enter the country. If her visa was accepted, she would invite Ms. Able to speak with her.
“That a Catholic mother of three children would be denied entry into this country is absolutely shocking,” she said.
‘I should be able to travel to a country because I’m not a criminal.
“I have never hurt anyone. I have never attributed violence to anyone. I have never been accused even slightly of inciting violence.”
While organizations have tried to cancel her events in the past, Owens says she hasn’t seen “the government embrace that.”
“I’m happy to be invited to universities and high schools to speak to children, but I pose too much of a threat to Australian politics?” she said.
If Mr. Burke actually let Owens into the country, the commentator “wouldn’t even think it would be a victory.”
“I just think this should be a normal circumstance. I’m not a criminal, I’m a mother who takes her family,” she said.
Owens rose to fame during the Trump presidency, drawing widespread outrage for her controversial statements on Israel, the Holocaust, and LGBTQI issues.
Although Owens disagreed with Mr Burke’s “extremely hurtful” comments, she said she would like to meet with him to discuss their differences.
“I would like to meet someone who will talk to me and think I said something wrong,” she said.
“If people actually meet me and hear the truth, they will register it as such.”
It is not the first time a row has erupted with Australia after she criticised the government’s lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During a 2021 episode of her late night show, Owens criticised the 5km travel restrictions, bans on household gatherings and evening curfews as “locking down citizens against their will”.
She said during her political career it was the ‘first time Australian politics became most relevant’.
“And I think the Americans, and myself too, were quite shocked by the way the Australian government treated its people,” she said.
The visa issue also surprised her, because Australia and the US have completely different approaches to freedom of expression and debate.
“In America, we value freedom of speech, we value freedom in general… and this really shocked me,” she said.
The commentator also touched on current issues in Australia, including immigration and the transition to renewable energy.
Owens backed Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton’s call to block immigration from Gaza over fears of welcoming Hamas supporters into the country.
“Why should we accept refugees?” she asked, adding that countries should not feel “bad” about rejecting immigrants.
“For some reason the West has become a dumping ground,” she said.
“We have an identity, and it’s good to have an identity, and it’s so wrong to systematically make people feel bad about wanting to recognize their own country.”
She also described green energy as an “attempt to further subjugate humanity,” claiming that those pursuing the transition are not committed to the same goals.
“They see our lives getting harder and harder because they tell us to strive for things that they don’t strive for,” Ms. Owens said.
“I believe that people know how to live off the land, how to grow their own food. I believe that the only protection against a totalitarian state is to be able to take care of yourself and be resourceful with your own neighbors.”
