Her application was rejected in October 2024 by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, citing her record of downplaying the Holocaust and Islamophobic comments. Burke has powers to deny non-citizens entry based on character requirements under the Migration Act.

Owens appealed to the High Court on the grounds that the power burdened the freedom of political communication, an implied right. Unlike the U.S., Australia does not have an express constitutional right to free speech.

“The implied freedom is not a ‘personal right,’ is not unlimited and is not absolute,” said High Court Judges Stephen Gageler, Michelle Gordon and Robert Beech-Jones in a joint judgment.

I’m really not sure which is better: the American model, which can be co-opted by forces inside and outside the country to hijack a society through propaganda, or the Australian model, which could theoretically be used by a hostile government to control speech.

I guess the former can lead to the latter when enough control is established over the government, no matter the constitutional rights…