One of the world’s most influential conspiracy theorists — and suspected QAnon figure — Ron Watkins has gone silent since his visit to Australia was made public.
Last week, Crikey reported that Watkins had been seen in Sydney, with some evidence suggesting that he was planning on staying beyond the short-term.
Watkins’ father, Jim, later confirmed on a livestream that Watkins was in Australia before walking it back the next day.
“All I know is he’s hiding because he has got some people trying to kill him right now,” said Jim, who is also linked with Ron to the Q account that birthed the QAnon conspiracy theory. (Ron Watkins has denied being Q.)
Since then, Watkins has stopped posting to social media. His last post to his more than 300,000 followers on Telegram was on August 8. Prior to that, Watkins had already posted nine times that month and dozens of times the month before.
Watkins has clearly been online as more than 20 posts on his Telegram account mentioning Australia had been deleted since Crikey reported his Australia trip. These included:
- A claim that Australians are applying for asylum in other countries to “escape the tyranny of MEDICAL FASCISM”.
- An unfounded rumour that Australia would be “importing vaccinated Chinese construction workers to replace their unvaccinated domestic workers”.
- A post saying that Australian government social media bots were waging a “disinformation battle” about last year’s trucker protests.
- Other messages saying that Australia is “the testing grounds for what the elites are planning”, the “canary in the coal mine”.
Why Watkins has gone silent while also trying to sanitise his online history is unclear. One possible explanation is that Watkins is trying to avoid being deported.
Visitors to Australia must fulfil requirements in the Migration Act 1958 to be granted a visa. This visa can be rejected or cancelled after being granted on health and character grounds. High-profile figures who’ve had their visas refused or cancelled include conspiracy theorist David Icke, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and far-right commentator Katie Hopkins.
Many QAnon experts and journalists have provided evidence suggesting Watkins has been in control of the Q account, including Watkins’ own admission in a documentary. Even if Watkins is not behind Q, he has emerged as one of the world’s leading conspiracy theorists and was responsible for running the 8kun website that has inspired mass shootings and hosted child pornography.
The Department of Home Affairs declined to comment on whether it was aware of Ron Watkins’ conspiracy links and had considered cancelling his visa on character grounds.
“The department does not comment on individual cases,” a department spokesperson said.
