David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice asked by Senator Shoebridge today relating to Mr Julian Assange.

The Greens thought it was really important to finish this year, 2023, with a question about Julian Assange. We don't want to see any stone left unturned or any avenue not pursued for Mr Assange, an Australian citizen and a Walkley-award-winning journalist, to be home this Christmas with his family—his beautiful wife, Stella; his three children, Gabriel, Max and Daniel; his brother, Gabriel; and his father, John—or his friends. Mr Assange deserves to be home with his family, as most of us will be on Christmas Day.

The questions asked by Senator Shoebridge today were very important. They were constructive suggestions to the government. We have come into this place and consistently asked questions about what the government is doing to put pressure on the US administration to drop the extradition and the political persecution of Julian Assange. We respect that the Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, has raised this directly with President Biden. We respect that the foreign minister, Senator Wong, has raised this directly with the Secretary of State, Mr Blinken. We respect—and I know this from my personal experience, having visited Washington recently with the Assange delegation—that Mr Kevin Rudd, our ambassador to the US, has raised this directly, as have a number of other senior Labor ministers, with the US administration. We are frustrated, like so many other Australians, that nothing has come from this representation.

However, the questions asked by Senator Shoebridge today related to the UK. What are we doing with our counterparts in the United Kingdom to secure the release of Julian Assange? It is ultimately the UK government and their Attorney General or their Prime Minister who make the final decision on whether Mr Assange will be extradited to the US to face up to 175 years in a maximum-security prison, a virtual death sentence. We didn't get a response from the foreign minister today, and that is disappointing.

Senator Shoebridge asked about a recent UK Supreme Court decision in the Rwanda case, AAA and others v the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which found that the UK courts should not simply accept assurances from other countries that a person, once deported, would not face torture or other serious consequences. Senator Shoebridge asked whether the minister had sought legal advice concerning this recent ruling, and he didn't get a response. He didn't ask the minister or the Prime Minister to interfere in the UK's judiciary process—the same old trope that we keep getting from both the previous government and this government. He asked whether they had noted this and sought advice on this, presumably so they could raise this with the UK government. He then went on to ask whether we had made any inquiries to the US about assurances about Mr Assange's treatment should he be extradited or deported, and that question wasn't responded to either. Lastly, he pointed out that the final decision rests with the UK Home Secretary, who can refuse extradition, and this is a political decision. Julian Assange is a political prisoner. He is being extradited to the US and pursued by the Department of Justice because of Mr Donald Trump. This is an open political persecution in broad daylight. Everybody can see he is a political prisoner and this is a political persecution.

I'm pleased to say that the friends of Julian Assange group in this parliament have brought together over 60 MPs from all political colours—from the Liberal Party, the National Party, the crossbench, the Greens and the Labor Party—to secure Mr Assange's release. We will continue to build momentum, but we need something from the government—some kind of assurance that there is hope for the thousands of people out there who have been campaigning for Julian's release, for his family and for the millions of Australians who, polls show us, support his release. It is without a doubt the worst abuse of power that I have seen in my time. The US government, seemingly complicit with the UK government, are using all the powers of their state to go after one man who exposed their lies, deceptions and war crimes. They clearly don't want that kind of transparency. They are trying to make an example of Mr Assange, just as we should make an example by demanding his release and making sure that we have justice and he is home with his family for Christmas.

Question agreed to.