Immigration New Zealand is assessing a visa application from controversial right-wing broadcaster Candace Owens.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images – Jason Davies

• Controversial right-wing broadcaster Candace Owens has applied for a visa to visit New Zealand for a speech next month.
• Owens has more than 18 million followers on social media and a history of making controversial claims, including doubting that the holocaust was real.
• Her entry into Australia was recently blocked, with the country’s immigration minister saying her narrative had “the ability to incite discord in almost every direction”.

A controversial right-wing American broadcaster who was recently blocked from entering Australia has applied for a New Zealand visa.

Candace Owens has more than 18 million followers on social media and a history of making controversial claims, including doubting that the Holocaust was real. She has also been accused of being anti-Semitic and homophobic.

Owens is reserved to give a speech in Auckland in November and has also scheduled speaking engagements in several Australian cities following her Auckland appearance.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend reported Her Australian visa had been revoked, with the country’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke saying her narrative had “the ability to incite discord in almost every direction”.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) confirmed on Sunday that Owens had applied for an entertainer work visa to enter New Zealand.

INZ deputy director of operations Jeannie Melville said Owens’ application was being assessed.

“All visa applicants must meet specific requirements, including a good character assessment which takes into account factors such as criminal convictions, deportation history and potential risks to the security, public order or public interest of New Zealand,” Melville said.

“There is no provision in the Immigration Act to prevent a person from traveling to New Zealand solely on the basis of the previous expression of views and ideas.

“Immigration decision-makers must weigh all factors and assess whether a person poses a threat or risk to security, public order or the public interest and can be considered an excluded person.”

The New Zealand Holocaust Center urged Immigration New Zealand to “carefully consider” granting Owens a visa.

President Deborah Hart said Owens has some “crazy” ideas, including that there was no moon landing and that Jews orchestrated JFK’s assassination.

“She distorts the Holocaust, including questioning the medical experiments in the death camps,” Hart said.

“Holocaust denial and misrepresentation are intrinsically anti-Semitic. It denies Jewish history and Jewish suffering.”

Asked recently on Platform on claims that she was anti-Semitic, Owens said she was “absolutely not” anti-Semitic and had worked for a pro-Zionist Jewish organization for more than two years.

People should not be allowed to use the idea of ​​anti-Semitism to protect their bad behavior, she said.

In a post about her speaking tour in New Zealand and Australia, she said the goal was to “discuss everything they don’t want us to talk about — free speech, why elites want to launch wasteful deadly wars, and of course , why. Christ is truly king.”

Hart said allowing Owens to speak could create a harmful environment for vulnerable groups, including the Jewish, Muslim and rainbow communities.

INZ “should look carefully at whether our existing laws should be used to stop Candace Owens from coming here,” she said.

* This story originally appeared on Stuff.