A fine historical reminder in the UK Guardian: There is a precedent for Julian Assange’s predicament. Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett in the late 60s was banned from Australia for reporting the Vietnam war from the North, and for allegedly asking prisoners taken during the Korean conflict to confess to Chinese interrogators. Authorities attempted to turn…
Showing all posts tagged Julia Gillard
Australians back Wikileaks all the way
It looks like many Australians believe in greater transparency in global dealings. Governments and corporate journalists, are you listening? Most Australians support the release of the WikiLeaks cables, say that Julian Assange should receive legal support, and are critical of the federal government’s rhetoric on the issue, new polling reveals. And support for Assange and…
Greens demand Murdoch hack get a clue and fired
The following letter by Greens leader Bob Brown was sent to Murdoch’s Herald Sun newspaper: Dear Editor, Andrew Bolt has blood on his hands. He stridently insisted on the invasion and killings in Iraq which led to millions fleeing. Some of those millions ended up in the ocean off Christmas Island on Wednesday. Andrew Bolt’s…
Let’s start counting; how many Aussie politicians or advisers are leaking to US?
Another day and more information about Canberra’s almost authoritarian desire to suck up to Washington. Please America, protect us from invasion by (insert country here but make sure it’s full of brown people): Julia Gillard’s speechwriter has been a confidential source of information for United States embassy officials in Australia. US diplomatics cables released by…
Hicks: Assange will never receive free trial in US
From a man who knows a few things about Australia abandoning its own citizens: Former… Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will never receive a fair trial if he is handed over to US authorities. Mr Hicks says he hopes the Australian government won’t abandon Mr Assange, as they did with…
Defending Wikileaks faces Oprah-obsessed police force
Today’s rally for Wikileaks in Sydney was a success, apart from the excessively brutal police force seemingly determined to not allow citizens the right to protest in the streets. Before the event itself, the Sydney Morning Herald reported under the misleading headline, “We’ll march anyway; Wikileaks protesters to defy police” – suggesting the police were…
Australia doesn’t seem to know what morality is re Wikileaks
Who is running the Australian government these days? Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday mounted a strong defence of Julian Assange’s legal rights. The WikiLeaks founder is preparing to face court in London early Wednesday morning (AEDT). Mr Rudd said he was prepared to intervene to have a laptop computer provided for Mr Assange in London’s…
Don’t tell us that Australia is an honest broker in the Middle East
This is the not the behaviour of an ally; it’s the actions of a country utterly incapable of viewing the human rights of Arabs as equal to Israelis: The Israeli ambassador to Australia found Kevin Rudd to be “very pro-Israel” and senior Australian diplomats warned the former prime minister that his condemnation of Iran risked…
The Left and the Right in Australia are (mostly) united behind Wikileaks
Wikileaks is bringing together some strange coalitions in Australia, individuals with different political views who recognise Julian Assange as a man who has dared challenge the establishment in ways rarely, if ever, seen. Of course the powerful hate him. But truths aren’t so easily dismissed. Only those who care so deeply about maintaining society’s status-quo…