No refunds for 15,000 Australian ticket holders after Candace Owens’ tour cancelled

None of the 15,000 ticket holders for conservative influencer Candace Owens’ cancelled Australian tour are expected to get their money back from the promoter, after it spent all its money then collapsed. Owens herself says she is hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket and claims she was misled by the promoter, Rocksman, a company with links to the influential conservative lobby group Turning Point Australia . Rocksman collapsed with just 21 Australian cents in its bank account and will never refund Owens, her Australian ticket holders or other creditors, according to its liquidator’s statutory report to creditors, filed with Asic and dated 3 March. Owens is a rightwing commentator who has since had a public falling out with Donald Trump. Her 2024 Australian tour was delayed then cancelled after the Australian government refused to give her a visa as she had the “capacity to incite discord”, a decision the high court backed in October. Joel Jammal, the head of Turning Point Australia and a sponsor for the tour, said he believed it sold 15,000 tickets, which started at $95 and ranged up to $1,500 for VIP tickets, suggesting Rocksman sold at least $1.4m worth of tickets. But Rocksman was declared broke after entering liquidation in December. Its liquidator, David Sampson, reported that refunds would be impossible as Rocksman had no insurance to cover the tour’s cancellation and had spent all its money. …