U.S. Influencer Faces Petition for Deportation from Australia
Amid rising public outrage in Australia, the government has announced it is investigating the influencer’s visa.
An incident involving an American influencer who captured a video of holding a protected species, a wombat, native only to Australia, has sparked controversy, prompting the Australian government to respond.
According to reports by Reuters, AFP, and BBC on the 13th (local time), Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, stated that they are investigating whether the influencer, Sam Jones, violated visa regulations.
Sam Jones is an influencer with approximately 90,000 Instagram followers. She recently posted a video of herself lifting a baby wombat in an Australian field. In the video, she stated, “I caught a baby wombat,” as she brought the animal close to the camera.
However, as the mother wombat followed and the baby wombat squirmed and made distressed noises, she eventually put it back down on the edge of the asphalt road.
Following the video’s release, strong backlash erupted in Australia over the improper handling of a wombat. A petition demanding Jones’s deportation quickly gained traction online, currently amassing over 10,000 signatures.
As the controversy escalated, Jones deleted the video and set her Instagram account to private. It remains unconfirmed whether she is still in Australia.
Minister Burke indicated that, given the likelihood of rigorous scrutiny should Jones reapply for an Australian visa, it is unlikely she will attempt to reenter the country, effectively barring her from returning.
Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister, remarked that the act was “quite horrific” and emphasized, “Please just leave wombats alone.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also spoke out, saying, “Wombats are gentle and lovely animals,” and added, “Imagine what would happen if you took a baby crocodile from its mother instead.”
The Wombat Protection Society of Australia also strongly criticized the act. The society noted that Jones placed the baby wombat at risk of a traffic accident by putting it on the roadside and accused her of mishandling a protected species simply to garner “likes.”
Wombats, with their round and cute appearance, are marsupials native to Australia and are protected under Australian law.