Immigration New Zealand has refused to take a public position on whether ultra-conservative political commentator Candace Owens will be permitted entry to New Zealand following the announcement of an Auckland date in her international speaking tour. That is what you would hope for from a public sector organisation, but, unfortunately, the current Immigration rules allow the department an uncomfortable amount of discretion on whether permission to speak in New Zealand would be granted.
While hysterical, totalitarian leftists find themselves sharing unusual political territory with conservative Jewish lobby groups, with calls for immigration officials to decline any application by Candace Owens to enter New Zealand, Immigration NZ have simply said that Owens would need to apply for an entertainer’s work visa to be paid to speak in New Zealand and no such application has yet been forthcoming. Unfortunately, when Owens does apply for her work visa, Immigration New Zealand will have to consider whether she meets the ‘good character’ requirements to be issued with such a visa.
