Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, the question of whether the Ecuadorian government grants Mr Assange asylum is a matter for them. We will seek information on it, but we will not make representations to them one way or the other. It is not a matter for us; it is a matter between the asylum seeker and the government of Ecuador. We have no status in the UK court system, and we do not intervene in courts where Australian citizens outside the country are engaged in any case. But I can tell the senator that we made representations to the government of Sweden seeking assurances that, were they to succeed in their extradition of Mr Assange, he would be treated according to due process—in other words, he would be treated as any citizen of Sweden would be treated—and they gave us that assurance. In other words, if he came to be detained in that country, he would have access to his lawyers and to his family. (Time expired)