MAGA influencer denied visa for failing 'character test': Report

Politico reports Australia’s highest court has refused to grant MAGA influencer Candace Owens a visa, claiming she failed a “character test” according to that nation’s standards.

The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect free speech, reports Politico, and High Court Justices Stephen Gageler, Michelle Gordon and Robert Beech-Jones jointly ruled that implied freedom of political communication “is not a ‘personal right,’ is not unlimited and is not absolute.”

In its unanimous decision, the court added that Australia’s Migration Act, which covers temporary and permanent visas, protects the Australian community from visitors who might “stir up or encourage dissension or strife on political matters.”

“Ms Owens’ … submissions should be emphatically rejected,” High Court Justice James Edelman said in a separate judgment.

Owens, who has claimed the wife of French leader Emmanuel Macron is a man, among other assertions, applied for a visa to enter Australia last year as part of a speaking tour. However, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected her application through the character requirements clause of the country’s Migration Act.

Owens petitioned the country’s High Court to reverse Burke’s rejection, arguing that Burke’s determination went against the Australian constitution.

Politico reports that Australia’s Department of Home Affairs defines “good character” as showing “enduring moral qualities of a person.” And in his decision, Burke said Owens had made “extremist and inflammatory comments towards Muslim, Black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities which generate controversy and hatred.”

“In the current environment where the Australian community is experiencing heightened community tensions, as per the advice of Australia’s security apparatus, I find that there is a risk that [Owens’] controversial views will amplify grievances among communities and lead to increased hostility and violent or radical action,” Burke said, according to Politico.

Read the full Politico report at this link.