Far-right commentator Candace Owens under scrutiny over planned New Zealand visit

Story by Ben Tomsett 3 min read

August 30, 2024

New Zealand Herald

Concerns are mounting among community groups over a potential visit by far-right commentator Candace Owens to New Zealand.

Owens recently announced a speaking tour of Australia and New Zealand, and is set to visit the country in November.

In the past, Owens has taken aim at Islam, feminism, gender minorities, climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement, and various other groups, religions, identities and movements.

In recent months, Owens has leaned into antisemitic conspiracy theories, including holocaust denial, spurned by her stance on the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.

 Far right commentator Candace Owens. Photo / Youtube@Candace

SkyNews Australia reported Annetta Able, one of the few survivors of Josef Mengele's experiments on over 3000 twins during the Holocaust, is urging the Australian government deny a visa to Owens for her upcoming tour.

"I still bear the physical and emotional scars of Mengele's cruelty," Able told Sky News.
 
"The pain, fear, and trauma I experienced were very real and to hear someone deny these atrocities is a fresh wound to my heart and an insult to the memory of those who perished.

"I urge the Australian government to deny Candace Owens a visa."

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chair Deborah Hart said Owens' comments about Jews tied into age-old antisemitic conspiracies.

"Candace Owens has some very wacky ideas. She says that Jews orchestrated JFK's assassination and she distorts the Holocaust, including questioning the medical experimentation in death camps. In 2022 she defended Ye (Kanye West) when he said he would go 'Deathcon 3 on Jewish people'. She believes there was no moon landing," she told the Herald.

"Indeed she seems to have an unhealthy preoccupation with Jews as she has a lot to say about a group of people that is less than .2% of the world's population.  She also has some awful things to say about the gay community and Muslims."

Hart said there had been a sharp rise in antisemitism in New Zealand, and was concerned Owens could further stoke that.
 

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chairwoman Deborah Hart. Photo / Supplied

"There is a balancing act between the right to free speech, which should be protected and the right to safety and security of minority communities, which should also be protected," she said.

"The Jewish community is tiny in New Zealand and it is also vulnerable. It has of late suffered verbal threats, physical abuse and property damage."
 
Hart said if Owens' visit to New Zealand went ahead she should be treated "with the disdain she deserves".

"We should all just turn our backs on her. She actually is good for a sound bite, but she doesn't have much new to say that is grounded in evidence. On that basis she is pretty boring."

The New Zealand Jewish Council voiced its concern, with spokeswoman Juliet Moses saying there had been a rise in antisemitism in the country since October 7.

"Any antisemitic rhetoric that is uncritically accepted and propagated is likely to give further impetus to this, as well as deepen the divisions in our society," she said.

"Our general position is that it is only in very exceptional circumstances that the government should be determining who its citizens get to hear, even when we have concerns about their views and statements. We don't believe those circumstances exist here."

Juliet Moses. Photo / Supplied

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) confirmed Owens had not yet submitted a visa application.

Should she apply, Owens would need to meet specific requirements, including a good character assessment, an INZ spokesperson said.

As a paid event, her tour would necessitate an Entertainers Work Visa, and INZ would scrutinise her application based on these criteria.
 
While there is no legal provision to prevent entry based solely on previously expressed opinions, INZ would consider whether she posed a risk to New Zealand's security, public order or public interest.

New Zealand has previously denied entry to Holocaust denier David Irving in 2004.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin

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