In case you missed it, the internet is buzzing about the news and video of an American influencer who took a baby wombat from its mother.
What she (probably) initially thought was a good idea to get more views for her social media accounts may now be the reason for her to get deported out of Australia.
The now-deleted video showed Sam Jones snatching a joey wombat from its mother and carrying it to a car while a man can be heard laughing in the background while filming Ms Jones.
This video has now come to the attention of Australian Federal Government top officials including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
Ms Jones who according to her social media describes herself as “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist” was in Australia reportedly on a Visitor Visa. We are not sure exactly what subclass of visa she had.
The incident prompted a backlash among the Australian public and now the Australian government is reviewing whether she breached the conditions of her visa.
It is now reported that while her visa is under review, Ms Jones has now left Australia.
Reasons for cancellation?
What are the reasons for the Home Affairs Minister to cancel her visa?
Breach of Visitor visa conditions
Visitor visa comes with certain conditions including work restrictions (condition 8101). Visitor visa holders can not work while in Australia. If by making the video with the aim of getting more views and earning money from it, Ms Jones may found to be “working” and may be found in breach of condition 8101.
General visa cancellation grounds
The Home Affairs Minister has broad visa cancellation powers including a non-delegable personal powers to cancel a visa on character grounds under s501of the Migration Act.
If Ms Jones is found to have breached wildlife protection laws or animal welfare laws, then she can potentially be found to breach the character requirement for Australian visa holders.
The Minister also has the power to cancel visas under s116 of the Migration Act, that is, if the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to cancel the visa.
Some may remember what happened to a certain famous tennis player, Novak Djokovic, back in January 2022 where the Minister cancelled his visa invoking s116 on the ground that Djokovic’s presence in Australia is or may be, or would or might be, a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community or a segment of the Australian community.
It is possible that the Minister may exercise this power again.
It can be argued by the Australian government that the action of Ms Jones, considering that she is an ‘influencer’ and may have a number of followers there is a possibility that she or her actions will encourage this kind of behaviour and will endanger Austrralian protected species and therefore there it is against the good order of Australian society.
Effect of cancellation when she already left Australia?
Would a cancellation even affect her Australian visa status now that she has voluntarily left Australia? Some would say that reviewing and subsequently cancelling Ms Jones’s visa will be useless.
If a visa is cancelled under s116 of the Act, the visa holder faces a 3-year ban pursuant to public interest criteria (PIC) 4013 and 4014 of the Migration Regulations 1994 from applying for a further Australian visa due to the cancellation under s116.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is quoted as saying that "Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers.”
Which does not bode well for Ms Jones.
Broader Implications
Effect of the upcoming Australian Federal Elections
Just like in the case of Djokovic which happened during a federal election year (2022), this incident with Ms Jones also happened during a time when a federal election is scheduled to be held. Immigration is one of the key issues in the campaign and politicians want to be seen as being tough on immigration. They need to be seen as protecting the Australia and the Australian public.
Ms Jones can potentially be used as an example of how tough politicians can be on immigration. If visa holders do not want to be in this position, this is not the time to give the Australian government a reason to cancel your visa.
Implications of cancelling visitor visas
The video of the “influencer” may be distressing and considered by a lot of Australians as “appalling” but is her action enough to cancel her visa or ban her from Australia.
We have heard of Australian doing foolish acts while overseas, should other countries retaliate and cancel their visas too?
More articles:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-13/us-influencer-wombat-video-visa-under-review/105047538
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/sam-jones-baby-wombat-video-leaves-australia/105051630
