Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Solomon for his words, being a former member of the Army Reserve. I would also like to acknowledge the member for Bruce. I know that this is an issue where we're both basically on the same page. An Australian, whether you like him or not, cannot be extradited to another country for something that he did in Australia, and for which he was never actually present in that country which deems that it is a crime. The United States want to extradite Julian Assange from England to the United States for what they deem is an affront to United States law. But the point is that he was in Australia, and it was not an affront to an Australian law and he committed no crime in Australia. If we let this fall through, if this slip happens, then really, what is the difference if he did something that was an affront to Koranic law and Saudi Arabia asked for him to be extradited to Saudi Arabia, although he wasn't there?

Our nation has reason to exist by many things but, of course, primarily, by reflecting its sovereignty. Sovereignty means that, whether you like them or not, Australians are guided by Australian rules for crimes or otherwise committed in Australia. Mr Assange, who, if I met him, I imagine I probably wouldn't like. But that is not the issue. The issue, like it was with Mr Hicks, is about the law. It is about the process of law and it's about whether we respect it or whether a time comes where we put it aside because it's convenient or embarrassing. That makes us lesser of a nation. Mr Assange is currently in England, and the United States is making a very strong case for his extradition to the United States, where he will go to jail forever, 175 years, be in maximum security and basically be bereft of any real connection to a proper trial, which would be ridiculous in any case because he was never in their country when they propose he committed a crime.

If anything, he's also a person who has won a Walkley Award. I would expect the media—the fourth estate—to be rallying to the cause, whether or not they like him. This is an issue for Australians at the highest level. I call on Minister Payne and I call on the Attorney-General for their very best efforts in making sure that the sovereignty of our nation, the truth of our nation, the whole mechanism and reason for our nation, are respected by reason of an Australian citizen not being extradited to a third country.