Conservative US influencer Candace Owens barred from New Zealand

28 November 2024, 09:14

Candace Owens smiles and flashes a peace symbol
New Zealand Candace Owens. Picture: PA

The move comes just weeks after an Australian ban.

The US conservative political commentor Candace Owens has been refused a visa to enter New Zealand for a speaking engagement because she had been banned from another country, immigration officials said.

News of the ruling came weeks after neighbouring Australia also rejected her visa request, citing remarks in which she denied Nazi medical experimentation on Jews in concentration camps during the Second World War.

Ms Owens is scheduled to speak at a series of events in several Australian cities and in Auckland, New Zealand, in February and March next year. Tickets remain on sale and there is no acknowledgement on the promoter’s website that she has been refused entry to both countries.

The commentator, who has more than three million followers on YouTube, is accused by her detractors of promoting conspiracy theories and antisemitism and has ignited firestorms with her remarks opposing Black Lives Matter, feminism, vaccines and immigration.

In March, Ms Owens said she had parted ways with the Daily Wire, on which she had hosted an online talk show since 2021, after clashes with its founders over her remarks about Jews and her opposition to US military support for Israel.

She was widely criticised for comments in a YouTube video in July that minimised the Holocaust.

Ms Owens had promised Australian and New Zealand audiences a discussion of free speech and her Christian faith when she announced the speaking tour in August.

But Australian officials banned her from the country in October, with Immigration Minister Tony Burke telling reporters Ms Owens “has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction”, citing her remarks about the Holocaust and about Muslims.

“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else,” Mr Burke said.

Australian Jewish groups had urged officials to bar her from the country.

New Zealand officials did not refer to Ms Owens’ political views in a statement on Thursday.

She was refused an entertainer’s work permit for New Zealand on the ground that visas legally cannot be granted to those who have been excluded from another country, said Jock Gilray, a spokesperson for the immigration agency.

Ms Owens and the Australia-based promoter, Rocksman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’

The vehicle was later extinguished after the driver, covered in flames, emerged from the vehicle.

Amsterdam Dam Square car explosion sees driver engulfed in flames - just days after mass stabbing

d

Pictured: US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for world's most isolated tribe

The Sentinelese are a pre-Neolithic tribe that rejects contact with the modern world

US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for the world's most isolated tribe to try

The Trump administration has been ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

'No one is safe, not even the penguins': Trump administration ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

World leaders react to US tariffs

'This is not the act of a friend': World leaders react to Trump's 'unwarranted' tariffs

British couple

British couple found dead in New Zealand named - as police probe possible murder-suicide

Virginia Giuffre said she had been left with 'four days to life' after the crash

Bus driver breaks silence on Virginia Giuffre crash that left her 'with four days to live'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

David Lammy to urge Nato allies to increase defence spending in bid to make alliance 'stronger, fairer and more lethal'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

EU threatens further countermeasures against US tariffs after 'major blow to world economy'

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' and warns that the president 'hasn't thought it through'

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza

Israel expands ground attack on Gaza to seize 'large areas' - despite pleas from hostage families

Police said two people died on Palliser Road, Roseneath.

British couple found dead at home in New Zealand - just months after moving to 'begin new chapter'

Virginia Giuffre warned it was a "very bad situation" after she claimed a school bus ploughed into her car

Virginia Giuffre was charged with breaching restraining order days before crash that 'left her with days to live'