Australian Assange

Julian Assange has received condemnation from many countries in regards to the political damage he has caused. Some countries and citizens have threatened his life and freedom in order to seek justice for the political pots he has stirred. However, on the other side, Assange has many supporters all over the world, but none has vocal or steadfast as those on his own homeland, Australia.

Australia views Julian Assange as a hero due to their history of always finding rooting for the underdog. One of the countries biggest national heroes is Ned Kelly, some citizens have named Julian Assange as the Ned Kelly of the diginal age. Ned Kelly rose to notoriety in the mid 1800s due to his resistance to oppressive British ruling and defiance of colonial authorities. He was one of the original bushrangers and quickly became an outlaw who was eventually hung for his crimes. Assange is similar in the fact that he has openly defied ruling governments over individual rights and has brought to light injustices that the government has attempted to hide and cover up. Australia’s most famous citizens are all similar to Assange as in they are all truth seekers. They find no crime in producing evidence in others crimes. Australia’s rugged history causes them to find the hero in the underdog.

Assange is very confident in his support among his fellow countrymen. Assange has been quoted as stating that, "if we look at Australian opinion polls, actually Wikileaks and myself have far greater popularity amongst the Australian population than sitting prime ministers have had in many years." He later added that, "it’s not right to say that this organization is polarizing or that somehow the critics are evenly balanced with our supporters because it’s simply not true."

Australia was first colonized by the lowest classes from England and modern Australians are overjoyed with the idea that Assange is a crusader trying to bring down the power of the elite. Australian’s support for Assange has been very high throughout his entire trek in the world’s spotlight. In Sydney on December 10th, 2010, over 500 protesters, led by an internet based activist group called GetUp!, gathered to protest the treatment of Julian Assange by Swedish authorities. Assange’s case has been a fast growing campaign, quickly raising $360,000 to run a full-page ad in the New York Times to gain awareness and support.

Australia has been caught between condemnation for Assange’s illegal activities and national pride for his rebellious action against those in power. Australia is a young country with not as much as America at stake if Assange were to release their cables. While most of the cables released shone negative light on other countries, Australia’s government was still represented as well. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was mentioned in U.S. diplomatic documents. One cable called Rudd a "control freak," while another stated that he told United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be prepared to use force against Australia’s largest trading partner, China "if everything goes wrong". Another document expressed America’s concern about Australia's capability to pay for its military increase.

These documents sent Australian government in a frenzy over Assange, causing them to jump into action to try to stop him. Prime Minister Julia Gillard openly talked about investigated the illegal activities that Assange has undoubtedly committed in order to bring the rebellious to justice. Many citizens felt that he was unnecessarily demonized and that they would take the investigation too far, ignoring his rights as a citizen.

"What we do with Australians in strife anywhere in the world is that we take the view that our responsibility is to ensure the consular rights and legal rights of all Australians abroad are protected. And that includes Mr Assange," quoted Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd in response to these accusations.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has publicly ridiculed Julian Assange and pushed for the Australian Federal Police to investigate WikiLeak’s and its founder, to see if any Australian laws had been broken. Meanwhile, all across Australia, protests have broken out in support of Julian Assange. Many felt that Gillard had been unfair towards Assange and that his legal rights as an Australian citizen should be upheld no matter what he had done.

In response to her comments, an open letter to Julia Gillard, condemning threats to make publication of the leaked cables illegal, was signed by more than 20 editors of Australia’s leading media organization.

While Assange hasn’t had unconditional support from all Australians, most are happy to jump to Assange’s protection if his civil rights are in violation. However the Australian government has been dragging its heels to defend and protect their citizen because of the negative press WikiLeaks has caused their own country. Many WikiLeaks cables have portrayed former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd in an unflattering light within his relations with the U.S. Many Australian politicians have calls Assange’s patriotism into question and believe that he should be extradited to the United States so that they can deal with him as they please. However, the Foreign Minister and Attorney-General made sure that Julian Assange’s legal rights were met and that he was not extradited to Sweden or the United States under the alleged rape charges.

"What we need from the Foreign Minister or the Attorney-General is very clear evidence that the Australian government is materially assisting to ensure that Assange’s legal rights are met and that everything’s done to ensure that he is not fitted out with a process to have him extradited to Sweden and then to the US.” Most Australians have been thrilled with the government’s treatment of the founder of WikiLeaks. "Mr. Assange has been treated very poorly by the Australian government," said Greg Barns, a director of the Australian Lawyers Alliance. In regards to Australia’s personal investigation of Assange he stated, "I am not aware of any offense against Australian law that he has committed."

“WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed,” Mr. Assange wrote in an editorial in The Australian. “But the U.S., with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone.” Many Australians are willing to believe that Assange has done more good than harm through his website and journalistic endeavors.

Assange believes that Australian government has been releases information about himself and his employees to foreign bodies. While it is similar to the leaks he has committed in the last few years, he feels that his rights as a citizen have been violated. Information regarding himself and his correspondents could potentially harm them and stop his entire operation if their lives face too much risk. Many Australians seem to agree that Assange should be treated as any other Australian citizen, with the same rights and privacy laws despite his own actions.

Australia has been caught between condemnation for Assange’s illegal activities and national pride for his rebellious action against those in power. However, Australian’s believe that Assange is releasing government documents for the greater good in the pursuit for human rights, that his actions have created a new form of journalism and created great strides in freedom of information and politics.