Chelsea Manning will no longer appear in Australia this month but will instead conduct her scheduled speaking tour via satellite from New Zealand.

Manning’s tour had been thrown into doubt by the requirement of a special direction visa to visit New Zealand and the Australian government’s decision to issue the tour organiser, Think Inc, a notice of intention to deny her a visa.

On Wednesday the organiser announced that the whistleblower had been granted a visa to enter New Zealand. Manning received a work visa from Immigration NZ overnight and is scheduled to appear in person at events in Auckland and Wellington at the weekend.

But Think Inc said on Wednesday that Manning would no longer appear in Australia because the Department of Home Affairs had yet to make a decision on her visa application.

“This does not provide Chelsea or Think Inc enough time to successfully implement her scheduled live appearances,” the company said.

Think Inc’s director, Suzi Jamil, said: “We are disappointed that Chelsea can no longer appear in Melbourne or Brisbane in person, nevertheless we are pleased that Melbourne and Brisbane audiences will still have the opportunity to hear her directly.

“I’m looking forward to her conversation with respected Australian journalist Patrick Abboud, discussing data privacy and surveillance, imprisonment, the suppression of information and ideas by power structures, and transgender rights. As a high-profile public figure, her opinions, ideas and expertise on these matters is timely and of genuine interest to our community.”

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on espionage charges after leaking hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic documents. Her sentence was commuted by the US president Barack Obama in early 2017, after she had served close to seven years in prison.

On Sunday she spoke via satellite at the Sydney Opera House’s Antidote festival because the home affairs department had given notice it would not make a decision in time for Manning to attend her first event on Sunday.

In New Zealand she was subject to “good character” provisions in section 15 of the Immigration Act 2009, as she had been sentenced to a prison term of more than five years. In Australia the immigration minister, David Coleman, has the power to refuse a visa on “character” grounds.

In an earlier statement the general manager of New Zealand Immigration, Steve Stuart, said while Manning had been convicted of a serious offence and sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment, “it was noted that her sentence was commuted by President Obama in January 2017”.

“The assessment noted that Ms Manning has not reoffended since her release from prison and the likelihood of her offending while in New Zealand is considered low,” he said.

“It was also noted that she has travelled to a number of countries to speak at similar events and appears to have complied with the terms and conditions of any visas issued.”