US influencer barred in New Zealand after Australia ban

Conservative US political commentator 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 say. Thursday's ruling came weeks after Australia also rejected her visa request, citing remarks in which she denied Nazi medical experimentation on Jews in concentration camps during World War II. Owens was scheduled to speak at a series of events in several Australian cities and in Auckland, New Zealand, in February and March next year. 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, 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. 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 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," Burke said. Australian Jewish groups had urged officials to bar her from the country. New Zealand officials did not refer to 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. The Australia-based promoter, Rocksman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.