Australia: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s return to Australia has been strongly recommended to the UK and US by Federal MPs, including the prime minister and cabinet members.
With 86 members of the Australian Parliament voting in favour of the resolution and 42 against, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie hailed the motion’s passage as “an unprecedented show of political support for Mr. Assange by the Australian parliament.”
Although Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer supported the motion in favour of Assange, opposition leader Peter Dutton has opposed the motion. The UK high court due to hold a two-day hearing next week will examine whether Assange should be extradited from the UK to face charges, including those under the Espionage Act.
The charges are related to the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked records and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011 about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Josh Wilson, a government backbencher, has backed Wilkie’s move to suspend parliamentary standing orders to discuss the matter.
Anthony Albanese’s government has repeatedly stated that “enough is enough” and that it is time for the Assange matter to be “brought to a conclusion.” But Wednesday’s resolution cleared the air about what that conclusion should include, allowing him to return to Australia. Parliamentary motion has particularly noted that, “the importance of the UK and USA bringing the matter to a close so that Mr. Assange can return home to his family in Australia.”
During the hearing, Wilkie urged fellow MPs to support the motion because it was “time for all of us to take a stand.” Wilkie has said that if Assange lost the final UK appeal, “he could be on a plane to the United States within hours. We’ve just about run out of time to save Julian Assange.”
The Labour MP Wilson has said to the parliament that the same material at the heart of the charges against Assange had been “published without legal consequence by media organisations in the United States.”
Wilson stated that “It is significant that both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition have been clear in saying the matter should come to an end.” While Dutton has previously commented on the matter, he and fellow Coalition frontbenchers ultimately voted against the motion that also stated the material “revealed shocking evidence of misconduct by the USA.”
Several Coalition MPs who have previously called for Assange’s release, including Barnaby Joyce, were not present at the vote. In addition to the Greens, many crossbenchers supported the motion. The US State Secretary, Antony Blinken has commented that, it was “very important” for “our friends” in Australia to understand the US concerns about Assange’s “alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country.”
Assange’s supporters claim that the publication of information regarding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars is in the public interest. They believe that his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. In September, over 60 Australian federal politicians explicitly called on the US Department of Justice to drop the prosecution against the WikiLeaks founder, warning of a significant and sustained public outcry in Australia if he is extradited.
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