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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Commentator Candace Owens has been blocked from entering Australia ahead of a planned speaking tour.
Australia's Minister of Home Affairs, Tony Burke, rejected Owens' visa application, his office confirmed to Newsweek.
"From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [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 in a statement.
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"Australia's national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else."
Owens has long stoked controversy with inflammatory claims about Jewish, Muslim and transgender people. In July, she sparked a backlash after saying that accounts of the Nazi medical experiments conducted on twins by Mengele in concentration camps sound "completely absurd" and like "bizarre propaganda."
Owens has not publicly commented on being barred from entering Australia. She has been contacted for comment via an email sent through the website for Blexit, a grassroots conservative movement she co-founded.
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The Anti-Defamation Commission, a pro-Jewish group that pushed to bar Owens from Australia, welcomed Burke's decision to reject her visa application.
"This is a victory for truth, for decency, and for the millions of Jewish souls and millions of others whose memory she so shamelessly desecrated," the group's chairman Dvir Abramovich said in a statement provided to Newsweek.
"The decision by the government to bar Owens sends a resounding message: Australia has no place for those who mock the suffering of genocide survivors and insult the memories of the 6 million Jews who perished. This is a line in the sand."
The Anti-Defamation League says Owens has "come to espouse explicitly antisemitic, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel views," while LGBQT+ advocacy organization GLAAD has listed several occasions when Owens has expressed allegedly transphobic views on social media.
Owens left The Daily Wire, a right-wing website, earlier this year amid reported tensions with editor emeritus Ben Shapiro over their opposing points of view on Israel's war in Gaza.
She has been increasingly critical of Israel, writing on X in November last year that "no government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever. There is no justification for a genocide. I can't believe this even needs to be said or is even considered the least bit controversial to state." Israel has denied accusations of genocide.
Her speaking tour in Australia was set to kick off in Melbourne on November 17, with tickers ranging from $95 for reserved seating to $1,500 for a VIP package that included a pre-event dinner and a meet-and-greet with Owens. The tour also included stops in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, and Auckland in New Zealand.
"Join us for an electrifying evening with Candace Owens, the outspoken and fearless American conservative social commentator, author, activist, and YouTube sensation," read a description of the show on ticketing website Ticketek.
"Known for her controversial takes and unwavering stance, Candace is set to light up stages across Australia and New Zealand with her bold and unfiltered perspectives.... this is your opportunity to experience firsthand the intellect and fearlessness that has captivated millions around the globe."
Update 10/28/24, 4:50 a.m ET: This article has been updated with a statement from Tony Burke's office and the Anti-Defamation Commission.
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