by Alison Ryan
Join the chorus of voices telling Anthony Albanese to demand our UK-US allies free Julian Assange.
Every Australian who can, should join the “Converge on Canberra for Assange” rally at Parliament House, 12 Noon Thursday 28 July.
Send a message to Anthony Albanese: Follow through on your previous statements and demand our UK and US allies free Julian Assange from Belmarsh Prison so he can come home.
In December 2021, then-Opposition Leader Albanese said: “I’ve said for some time that enough is enough … He has paid a big price for the publication of that information already and I do not see what purpose is served by the ongoing pursuit of Mr Assange.”
But when asked about Assange after winning the May 2022 election, the new PM said: “My position is that not all foreign affairs is best done with the loudhailer.”
In other words, “Trust me, I’m a politician.”
Sorry Prime Minister, not good enough.
Australians can have no confidence that that’s not a spin doctor’s answer to duck the issue.
Especially when, by contrast, Albanese has had no trouble using a loudhailer against our biggest and most important trading partner China, repeating his predecessor Scott Morrison’s rhetoric, even though Australia’s exporters are desperate for that relationship to improve.
Australians should be angry that Albanese is willing to say something in Opposition that he won’t back up when he’s in government.
It raises the question: was Albanese just using the Assange issue as a cheap electoral ploy, to indicate a point of difference with Scott Morrison to harvest votes but with no intention to follow through?
The truth about Assange
The official narrative about Assange is a tissue of lies. Assange’s only crime was exposing that our “side” commits war crimes and covers them up. For two decades the USA and UK, with Australia always in tow, have weaponised “human rights” to conduct permanent warfare in the guise of “interventions”, fueled by a never-ending stream of accusations of crimes against humanity by so-called “authoritarian regimes”. WikiLeaks exposed that the real crimes against humanity were the resulting endless wars, and it exposed the inner workings of the intelligence-diplomatic-military-corporate machinery that orchestrated these wars. It also exposed the cover-ups of horrific war crimes committed by our side, which gave the lie to the Anglo-American sanctimony over human rights. If WikiLeaks had not released the “Collateral Murder” video of US helicopter gunships cooly but murderously gunning down two Reuters journalists and their companions in Iraq, it would likely still be covered up to this day.
The US charges against Julian Assange are false:
He did not “hack” classified documents, in breach of the US Espionage Act; he published documents leaked to him by Chelsea Manning, who served time for her “crime” until US President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017. Essentially, except for being the first to publish, what Assange did was no different to many major media outlets all over the world which published the same documents, sourced from WikiLeaks. In June 2021, the only witness supporting the US charge of espionage, convicted serial paedophile and financial fraudster Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, admitted in an interview with Icelandic newspaper Stundin that his “evidence” is a lie.
He did not put lives at risk; rather, he carefully vetted the documents and even called the US State Department in 2011 to forewarn them when WikiLeaks lost control of some diplomatic cables that were about to be published. Australian journalist Mark Davis was present in the WikiLeaks bunker when Assange released the Afghanistan war documents in 2010, and he testifies that Assange took great care to redact the documents so as to remove sensitive identifying information about US agents. This accusation is a hypocritical smokescreen, however, as, in truth, Assange was exposing the lies about the wars that were really to blame for mass death and destruction.
Australia’s treatment of Julian Assange has been deeply shameful. From the beginning, Australian politicians and media marched in lockstep with the USA and denounced Assange for exposing the Anglo-American war machine. In 2010, then-PM Julia Gillard called his publishing of leaked documents “illegal”—an extraordinary claim given that publishing leaked documents has always been a cornerstone of real journalism. To this day high-profile Australian mainstream media journalists snidely insist that Assange is not a journalist, simply because he exposed the war lies that they had faithfully regurgitated and never questioned. Successive Australian governments have gone through the motions of providing Assange with the bare minimum of consular assistance, while effectively sacrificing this Australian citizen to their subservient strategic relationship to the United States.
The only politician who has consistently advocated for Assange has been former Australian intelligence official and Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie. In recent years, however, Wilkie has been joined by a growing band of MPs in the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group to pressure the Australian government to act for Assange. Not only was Anthony Albanese a member of the Group, but under his leadership the Labor Party adopted a position in its 2021 national policy platform that “it is now time for this long drawn-out case against Julian Assange to be brought to an end”.
Demand freedom
Anthony Albanese must not be allowed to duck this issue now that he’s in a position to do something about it. Australia is the most faithful ally of both the UK and USA, as evidenced by our participation in all their wars. He should demonstrate foreign policy independence by using a 120-decibel loudhailer to demand Assange’s freedom.
Cheers auntieet – I must admit it puts me off..
pcwwpp: keep trying, don’t give up posting, it’s you mob that keep me alive. Gotta hand it to CairnsNews, they do a remarkable job, they do their best
America’s punishment for their treatment of Julian Assange is Joe Biden.
Yer Auntieet, I have this long winded way to make a comment now – sometimes they stay – sometimes not. Anyway – we keep on trying..
Yeah auntieet every now and then we can open the trash file and somehow some of the comments go there. If they are good
we republish but it seems some end up back there, not of our doing. Ed
Ps auntieet, In my reply comment to ‘jo’, both You and Freddy were front of mind when talking about those of us who’ll be “in the trenches etc”. Yes, it seems many of us here are missing him. At first I wasn’t too concerned and figured like Harry Palmer he’d just become tired of kissin that bloody brick wall! Hopefully just taking time out from a rough patch.
WOW auntieet, My deepest gratitude and love to you. I can honestly say no one has ever expressed more heartfelt, and beautiful words to me. It brought me to tears – but in a good way…you understand what I mean – and gives me strength. I will print it out and keep it with me always. There are some wonderful people on this forum. ‘Dandy’ has also expressed to me their kind words of comfort.
You auntieet, are a truly beautiful soul and I know your very lucky family would be the first to agree. They’re just tryin to gee you up so that your fire doesn’t go out. It will burn bright for all eternity.
Thank you jo – nailed it yet again. Essentially the wheat is being sorted from the chaff. People like us need to forget all about the sheople, the platitudinous hand wringers and the Kumbaya brigade with their hollow, hackneyed and banal posturing. They possess no genuine fighting/warrior spirit. What little they may have had has all been bred out of their DNA over generations of pampered self indulgence, indoctrination and apathy. Always looking for someone else to blame for their discomfort – then desperately looking for someone else to come rescue them. (Not forgetting, that the jab-compliant cowards now also have altered, severely compromised DNA).
So we’re totally on our own here. But we’ll be in the front lines and trenches when the day comes. Prepared to conquer by whichever means possible or die trying. And once it’s all over, I guess we’ll then have to take care of all those others – when that is, they emerge from their hiding places.
DJ: Probably not the right comment fitting for this CnsNews post, but fitting for the times that be. I’ve been reading about what you had to say about your Mum, from the start. My family easily says that I’m cold hearted & have no feeling, you prove them wrong, for every comment you made about your Mum stabbed me in the heart & bought forth an emotional tear. Your Mum didn’t want the jab, the establishment & bs lying rules kept you away from her. Take heart warrior woman, you came from a warrior woman, don’t think for a minute she’s not there with you
Yep DJ, they should choose their target more wisely… wannabes hey mate
Dj & pcwwp: yep, thought the system was locking you out, so good & encouraging to see you’re still getting through (saneness amongst this madness) don’t know where Freddie went, missed you, Freddie & pcwwp, thought they may have been more locked out than you Dj, yep things have changed amongst these pages. But truth is still raising it’s nonconforming head. Gotta thank CnsNews, the only decent news worth looking at, not just them, their contributor’s & links & strength of human decency & knowledge
Yes, unfortunately you are may be right Jo – the dollar has been predicted to fall by year end, and then things will get a lot lot worse… I hope Albanese wakes up from his slumber before then..
Thank you auntieet and likewise. Been a real eye-opener on here lately eh?! Seem to have (unwittingly) at least been useful in exposing some hateful deceivers who lurk amongst us. Give em enough rope. Should’ve chosen their ‘target’ much more wisely lol.
The USA is $31 trillion dollars in debt, every citizen “owing” $ 92000.00 to the coming debt collectors.
When USA falls the domino effect will take down all the other affiliated puppet nations including the land of peaceful demonstrating but never changing OZ. When this is happening NO ONE will have one single thought about Assange – THE AUSTRALIAN. Survival it will be for ALL citizens, without money, food and shelter and non existing government support. Some might start to wonder than why so many distractions have distracted one from realizing that we are up the creek without the paddle for some time and that the creek has turned into raging stream that can not be controlled by anyone.
A guy brought up in Australian welfarism by a single mum is now taking down that what made him “survive” being a fatherless child. Maybe Albo will wake up from the useful idiot syndrome and get it at one stage before the wrath of his citizens will change him forever, once the freedom loving Aussies are done with face painting for good as their hungry and not fed guts rumble.
yes – hi auntieet..
Please add my name to any list of supporters for this well written condemnation of the way both Lib and Lab have gone in for the old style Aussie cringe with respect to Julian Assange. Yes, he told the truth. That is his ‘sin’. The way he has been treated is an utter disgrace. And the way his country’s leaders have abandoned him is a pathetic disgrace. Shame.
Glynne Sutcliffe MA (Chicago) BA Hons & Dip Ed.(Melbourne)
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DJ: Good to know you’re still around mate
Albanese neither has the balls or gumption to do the right thing. He’s a sleazy snarkie snake
Release him he was telling us all the truth
Yes, Albanese needs to walk the talk!! It’s time to put a stop to this grave miscarriage of justice. Julian was doing his job as a journalist as they should all be doing. People are entitled to know what governments are doing in their name.
The US is acting out of spite and malice – they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and they don’t like it.
Viva Assange !! –
“rally at Parliament House, 12 Noon Thursday 28 July.” Has it been repaired since the fire?
Australia has never stood by its people. Nor has Australia it stood by the arts in any field.