Fact Check: Is Australia considering banning Trump and his family from entering the country?

WASHINGTON, DC: A claim has been circulating online suggesting that Australia might officially block President Donald Trump, his family, and his administration from setting foot on its shores. 

One viral post on X (formerly Twitter) read, “BREAKING: Australia Could become the First Western country to permanently ban Trump, his family, and Members of his administration from its Country.” The post referred to something called Petition EN7254, which supposedly urged the Australian House of Representatives to keep Trump out of the country for good.

The claim quickly spread across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Reddit, and Bluesky, with users sharing screenshots and speculation.

Fact Check: True, petition to ban Trump from Australia under review

It’s worth noting that Petition EN7254 was indeed real. It was filed with the Australian House of Representatives and asked lawmakers to “permanently ban Trump, his family, and his administration from Australia.”

Titled “Ban Trump from Australia,” the petition gathered 2,723 signatures before it officially closed. As of this writing, it is still awaiting a government response on the Australian Parliament’s petition website.

According to parliamentary rules, any petition with more than 50 signatures typically receives a reply from the relevant minister. EN7254 easily met that requirement and remains under review, even though 189 days have passed since it closed.

Snopes rated the claim “true” because the petition does exist and is technically still being reviewed. The fact-checking outlet also reached out to the Australian Parliament for an update on the petition’s status, though no official response had been received at the time of publication. 

Petition calls Trump a ‘danger to world peace'

“Australians have VALUES of mateship, hard work, righting wrongs, and fighting for the underdog," the petition read. "We don't need Trump here, a Putin-aligned dictator who is spreading misinformation, hate speech, and stands for the opposite of what we do. His actions are hurting and endangering OUR COUNTRY and we should ban him from coming here as an agent of hate and a danger to world peace.”

It’s true that Australia has the legal authority to block individuals from entering the country. Recently, the government imposed sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, which included a travel ban, according to ABC News Australia.

Therefore, while a ban on Trump is legally possible, it is not guaranteed.

Petition to ban Trump faces hurdles under Australian parliamentary rules

The petition might move forward, or it might not even meet Parliament’s own standards. Under Australian parliamentary rules, petitions must use “good language,” meaning they cannot name specific individuals.

Petition EN7254 directly mentions both Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which could disqualify it. As a result, it might be dismissed on a technicality before ever reaching a formal debate.

At the same time, another petition, EN8418, appeared in support of Trump. Titled “Invite President Donald Trump to Australia,” it used nearly identical language celebrating “mateship, hard work, righting wrongs, and fighting for the underdog.” Instead of banning him, it urged the government to welcome Trump with a red carpet.

It’s also worth noting that the last time a US president visited Australia was in 2014, when Barack Obama made the trip. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned the gesture this year, visiting Trump in Washington, DC, on October 20.   

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