MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court on Wednesday rejected U.S. conservative commentator Candace Owens ’ bid to overturn an Australian government decision barring her from visiting the country.
Three High Court judges unanimously rejected Owens’ challenge to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s decision in 2024 to refuse her a visa on character grounds.
Owens had planned to begin a speaking tour in Australia last November and also visit neighboring New Zealand.
Burke used his powers under the Migration Act last October to refuse her a visa because she failed the so-called “character test,” court documents said.
Burke found there was a risk Owens would “incite discord in the Australian community” and that refusing her a visa was in the national interest. As a political commentator, author and activist, Owens was “known for her controversial and conspiratorial views.”
She had made “extremist and inflammatory comments toward Muslim, Black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ communities which generate controversy and hatred,” Burke said in court documents.
Owens’ lawyers had argued the Migrant Act was unconstitutional because it infringed upon Australia's implied freedom of political communications.
Australia doesn't have an equivalent of the U.S. First Amendment that states a right to free speech. But because Australia is a democracy, the High Court has decided that the constitution implies free speech limited to governmental and political matters.
Owens’ lawyers had argued that if the Migration Act was constitutional, then Burke had misconstrued his powers under that law in refusing her a visa.
The judges rejected both arguments and ordered Owens to pay the government’s court costs.
Burke described the ruling as a “win for social cohesion.”
"Inciting discord might be the way some people make money, but it’s not welcome in Australia,” Burke said in statement.
Owens’ spokesman told The Associated Press in an email on Thursday Owens would comment on the court decision on social media later this week.
Burke had told the court that while Owens already had an ability to incite discord through her 18 million followers across social media platforms, her presence in Australia would amplify that potential.
He noted that when Australia’s terrorism threat level was elevated from “possible” to “probable” last year, the national domestic spy agency reported an “increase in extremism.”
Australia has long used a wide discretion under the character test to refuse foreigners temporary visas.
Burke stripped Ye, the U.S. rapper formerly known as Kanye West, of an Australian visa after he released his single “Heil Hitler” in May this year. Ye had been traveling for years to Australia, where his wife of three years, Bianca Censori, was born.
Burke's decision to ban Owens prompted neighboring New Zealand to refuse her a visa in November on the grounds that she had been rejected by Australia. But a New Zealand immigration official overturned that refusal in December, citing "the importance of free speech.”
Owens’ spokesman said on Thursday she would not tour New Zealand.
FILE - U.S. conservative commentator Candace Owens speaks at the Convention of the Right, in Paris, on Sept. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, FILE)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation Thursday that would have put a check on President Donald Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Lawmakers, including top Republicans, have demanded that the Trump administration provide them with more information on the U.S. military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. But Thursday’s vote, on legislation that would essentially forestall an attack on Venezuelan soil without congressional authorization, suggested Republicans are willing to give Trump leeway to continue his buildup of naval forces in the region.
“President Trump has taken decisive action to protect thousands of Americans from lethal narcotics,” said Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Still, the vote allowed Democrats to press their GOP colleagues on Trump’s threats against Venezuela. The legislation failed to advance 49-51, with Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the only Republicans voting in favor.
The U.S. is assembling an unusually large force, including its most advanced aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean Sea, leading many to conclude that Trump intends to go beyond just intercepting cocaine-running boats. The campaign so far has killed at least 69 people in 17 known strikes, the latest carried out Thursday against a boat in the Caribbean.
“It’s really an open secret that this is much more about potential regime change,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who pushed the resolution. “If that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking — involvement in a war — then Congress needs to be heard on this.”
Republican leadership pressed Thursday to make sure the legislation failed, but several senators still carefully considered their vote.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, another Republican who voted against the resolution, said that he still has doubts about the campaign. He pointed out that it was expensive to change the deployment location for an aircraft carrier and questioned whether those funds could be better used at the U.S.-Mexico border to stop fentanyl trafficking.
Tillis said that if the campaign continues for several months more, “then we have to have a real discussion about whether or not we’re engaging in some sort of hybrid war.”
Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, said in a statement that he voted against the legislation because he didn’t believe it was “necessary or appropriate at this time.”
But he added that he was “troubled by many aspects and assumptions of this operation and believe it is at odds with the majority of Americans who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts.”
As the Trump administration has reconfigured U.S. priorities overseas, there has been a growing sense of frustration among lawmakers, including some Republicans, who are concerned about recent moves made by the Pentagon.
At a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier Thursday, Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair, said that many senators have “serious concerns about the Pentagon’s policy office” and that Congress was not being consulted on recent actions like putting a pause on Ukraine security assistance, reducing the number of U.S. troops in Romania and the formulation of the National Defense Strategy.
GOP senators have directed their ire at the Department of Defense's policy office, which is led by Elbridge Colby, an official who has advocated for the U.S. to step down its involvement in international alliances.
“It just seems like there’s this pigpen-like mess coming out of the policy shop,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, during another Armed Services hearing earlier this week.
As pushback has mounted on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration has stepped up its outreach to lawmakers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a classified briefing for congressional leaders Wednesday. The officials gave details on the intelligence that is used to target the boats and allowed senators to review the legal rationale for the attacks, but did not discuss whether they would launch an attack directly against Venezuela, according to lawmakers in the meeting.
Still, Democrats have tested the unease among Republicans by forcing the vote on the potential for an attack on Venezuela under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was intended to reassert congressional power over the declaration of war. A previous war powers vote pertaining to the strikes against boats in international waters also failed last month on a 48-51 vote, but Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who pushed the legislation, said he still plans to force more votes.
“We should not be going to war without a vote of Congress. The lives of our troops are at stake,” Kaine said in a floor speech.
Democrats also argued that the Trump administration was using a flimsy legal defense for an expansive military campaign that is putting U.S. troops and the nation’s reputation at risk. Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services panel, charged that Trump is engaging in “violence without a strategic objective” while failing to take actions that would actually address fentanyl smuggling.
“You cannot bomb your way out of a drug crisis,” he said.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks with reporters about President Donald Trump's foreign policy intentions, with Venezuela in particular, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., leaves a meeting room where he and other Senate Democrats at the Capitol are looking for a solution to the spending impasse, in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, day 37 of the government shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks with reporters about President Donald Trump's foreign policy intentions, with Venezuela in particular, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
