‘Petty act’: Far-right US pundit’s visa rant

Far-right US commentator Candace Owens has hit back after Immigration Minister Tony Burke rejected her visa on the grounds that she has the “capacity to incite discord”, lashing the government for the “petty act of vandalism”.

The controversial conservative podcaster has been widely criticised for her anti-Semitic comments, conspiracy theories and attacks on the Muslim and transgender communities.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her visa was rejected, Ms Owens lashed Mr Burke for “leaking” the results of her private application and said she was “stunned” by the process.

“I also want to make it clear to you guys that I found out at the same time that the press found out, so his office chose to leak this,” she said.

“This is supposed to be a private application process, so unless I spoke about this, no one should have known about this.”

She also claimed her application was blocked due to her coverage of attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, stating her fans would remain loyal to her.

“I just wanted to make sure that every person knows that despite me being fired, demonetised, spoken ill about, I haven’t changed my position,” she said.

“That’s what this really is, a petty act of vandalism. No one’s worried about me coming to Australia because they’re angry that they’ve put this narrative out about me and my listeners haven’t accepted it.”

Acknowledging her cancelled visa, which her team have vowed to fight through an appeal in the Federal Court, Owens also said she was disappointed she would not be able to “hug a koala” and “fight a kangaroo”.

“I did want to hug a koala, I’m not gonna lie, I did. I think koalas are really cute,” she said.

“I did also maybe kind of want to fight a kangaroo. I see a lot of these videos, they’re like jacked and like, punch people, and I was like, maybe that would be good content, but if I have to hang that up, I will hang that up.”

While it does not appear that Owens’ team have filed an appeal, an announcement on her Ticketek page states she and her event organiser Rocksman are “optimistic about a favourable outcome”.

They have also promised existing ticketholders, some who have shelled out $1500 for VIP tickets, will be refunded.

“Should the appeal be denied and cancellation become necessary, we will promptly notify all ticketholders and begin processing refunds automatically on the organiser’s behalf,” the announcement said.

A spokeswoman for Owens said the live shows across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane had sold “tens of thousands of tickets”.

A spokesperson for the tour promoter also labelled Mr Burke’s decision as “simply dumb” and claimed it was “censorship”.

“Minister Burke’s reasoning is that he doesn’t want Australians exposed to Ms Owens’ message,” they said.

“However, whether she is in the country or not, Australians have access to her message via social media along with millions of viewers every day.

“This is clearly nothing more than political bias disguised as a public safety measure.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Mr Burke said Ms Owens’ visa was rejected on the grounds her views would harm social cohesion.

“From downplaying the impact of The Holocaust with comments about Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,” Mr Burke said.

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