A federal court has dismissed the appeal of Holocaust denier David Irving, blocking the London-based writer from entering Australia.
Irving, who was appealing two government decisions not to grant him a visa, also was ordered to pay court costs. In a statement from London, Irving said he would appeal the court ruling.
In making his decision, the federal judge stressed that Irving’s views were not the cause for the ban, despite the claim by Irving and his Australian supporters that he had been the victim of censorship.
Rather, the judge said, Irving’s record of contempt for the law in a number of jurisdictions was sound legal reason for him to be refused entry to Australia.
The judge was referring to actions that include a conviction in Germany for remarks denying the Holocaust, and deportation from Canada for lying under oath to immigration officials.
Irving was appealing the May 1994 decision of Nick Bolkus, a senator and federal minister for immigration, not to approve a visa for Irving. That decision reaffirmed a 1993 decision by then-Immigration Minister Gerry Hand.
In 1994, a federal court prosecutor had said Irving was refused a visa to Australia because he was considered a liar, unreliable and a threat to the national security of another country, rather than for the views he espoused in his lectures.
Irving was refused entry in December 1992 on the grounds that he “did not meet the good character requirements” of Australia’s Migration Regulations.
Irving, whose books are available in Australia, has said the facts of the Nazi Holocaust are myths created by the Diaspora and the State of Israel for propaganda purposes.
The Australian Jewish community has strongly protested Irving’s efforts to enter the country.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
