Australian Government considers visa ban for US influencer Sam Jones after distressing wombat incident

The government is considering banning an American influencer from returning to Australia after she snatched a baby wombat from its distressed mother and posted the video to social media.

Sam Jones sparked outrage after now deleted vision of her picking up a wombat joey before running down a road towards the camera went viral.

The footage showed Ms Jones, a self-described “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist”, catching the joey during the night at an unidentified roadside and rushing away with it while it tries to wriggle out of her arms, clearly distressed.

The video, filmed by an Australian man who can be heard laughing, was posted to Ms Jones’ Instagram account @samstrays_somewhere on Tuesday, leading to a barrage of backlash and calls for her to be deported.

In the horrifying footage, the man filming Ms Jones can be heard saying: “Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her.”

Holding the hissing animal up for the camera, Ms Jones then says: “I caught a baby wombat. Mumma’s right there, she is p*****, let’s let him go.”

After viewers and animal activists lashed the influencer’s actions, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke today told Sky News the Department of Immigration was “now working through the conditions on her current visa and determining whether immigration law has been breached”.

“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.

“I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return”.

As well as the public, Aussie politicians have also been left in dismay after viewing photos and footage of the wombat incident, slamming Ms Jones’ behaviour in interviews Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles labelled Ms Jones a “complete idiot” after being questioned about her actions.

“I’ve seen the vision, and that she is a dill, and people who come here on visas shouldn’t be idiots, and clearly that’s what she has been,” Mr Marles told 3AW.

“You don’t need any degrees in wildlife management to understand that this put the wildlife in apposition of stress.

“Questions about being deported, this whole legal process to go through being charge, convicted, all that sort of stuff will play out, or it won’t, but that’s a subject or a matter for other authorities.”

Finance Minister Jane Hume described the incident as “heartbreaking”, adding she couldn’t believe “this silly, silly woman would do something so stupid, so irresponsible”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, speaking on Sunrise, said Ms Jones’ actions were “dreadful”, adding the joey should have been left alone.

“I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look leave the baby wombat alone, leave it with its mum,” Senator Wong said, noting it was a matter for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to address.

Ms Jones turned her public Instagram account, boasting 92,000 followers and many photos with animals she’d hunted, to private, as well as her TikTok account, on Wednesday.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell called for authorities to take serious action on Ms Jones and the man behind the camera for breaching the Wildlife Act.

“It’s certainly not the behaviour of someone who respects and values native animals,” she told ABC Radio.

“We want action on this, we want outcomes, we want them to face the repercussions because this is a breach of the Wildlife Act no matter what state you’re in, that’s really clear.”

Penalties for acts of animal cruelty vary across the country, but can reach as high as $235,600 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations, with potential imprisonment of up to seven years.

The Department of Home Affairs only considers cancelling a visa if there is a breach of a visa condition, including being charged with a criminal offence or being a risk to the community.