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Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has figured uniquely in Australian politics. While Assange has battled extradition, first to Sweden, and then to the US, he has gained significant sympathy in Australia. While successive Australian governments backed the US prosecution of Assange, many politicians across the political spectrum, as well as journalists, intellectuals, and celebrities, called on Assange to be released. In 2023 the incoming Australian Labor government of Anthony Albanese started calling on him to be released.

Early life, hacking conviction, and custody battle
Assange was born Julian Paul Hawkins on 3 July 1971 in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. His mother was Christine Ann Hawkins (b. 1951), and his father a builder anti-war activist John Shipton.

The couple separated before their son was born. When Julian was a year old, his mother married Brett Assange, an with whom she ran a small theatre company and whom Julian regards as his father (choosing Assange - originally a Chinese name - Ah Sang - as his surname). Christine and Brett Assange divorced around 1979.

Christine then became involved with Leif Meynell, also known as Leif Hamilton, whom Julian Assange later described as "a member of an Australian cult" called The Family. They separated in 1982.

Assange was born in Queensland and has never renounced his Australian citizenship. As a child, he moved constantly, living in more than 30 Australian towns and cities by the time he reached his mid-teens,[42][43] when he settled with his mother and half-brother in Melbourne. Assange attended many schools, including Goolmangar Primary School in New South Wales (1979–1983)[40] and Townsville State High School in Queensland as well as being schooled at home.

Assange studied programming, mathematics and physics at Central Queensland University (1994) and the University of Melbourne (2003–2006),[37][46] but did not complete a degree.

In his teenage years he married a woman named Teresa (surname unknown) and had a child called Daniel who became a software engineer and still lives in Australia. Assange was arrested and charged with hacking, which he denied, at the same time he had broken up with his wife and fought her for the custody of Daniel. According to Assange's mother, it was at this time Assange's hair turned white, giving him his trademark platinum mane. In the same period Assange was hospitalised due the the stressors he was facing. He was diagnosed with autism. He also spent time in the wilderness (Dandenong?) of Victoria living rough.

Hacking Worms etc Mendax in Latin Charged with X counts. Not guilty...

The judge in his criminal trial at Court? found him guilty but gave him a good behaviour bond and a fine and ? damages, citing Assange's disrupted childhood and his lack of malice. He eventually won custody of Daniel and rebuild his life.

Founding WikiLeaks
After his criminal and the custody battle, Assange, an Internet activist or "cyberpunk" founded WikiLeaks. He is generally described as its founder and director (up to 2018). About this time he moved to Britain. Assange formed an advisory board in the early days of WikiLeaks, filling it with journalists, political activists and computer specialists. Most of the members told Wired magazine that they hadn't done much advising and had little involvement with WikiLeaks. Several members said they didn't know they were mentioned on the site, or how they got there. Computer security expert Ben Laurie said he had been a member of the board "since before the beginning", but he wasn't "really sure what the advisory board means." Former board member, Australian broadcaster, Phillip Adams criticised the board, saying that Assange "has never asked for advice. The advisory board was pretty clearly window dressing, so he went for people identified with progressive policies around the place." Assange responded by calling the advisory board "pretty informal".

Though he was an ex-pat dwelling in Britain and rarely if ever visiting Australia, the advent of WikiLeaks caused a sensation in Australia. While the Americans started preparing an indictment.Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard branded Assange a "criminal". In the resulting furore, the Australian Federal Police clarified that he had not broken Australian law, principally because he was outside of Australian jurisdiction.

Many Australian celebrities came out in support of Assange at this point, including Pilger, Mary Kostakidis and Robert Manne, and condemned the Australian governments position, including some members of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). On 22 November, in an open letter to the UK Home Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary, signed by a group of medical practitioners named Doctors for Assange, said Assange's health was declining to an extent that he could die in prison. Subsequent attempts by the group, made to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland, and to Marise Payne, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, also yielded no result.

However, Assange lost support in Australia when he published a list of "strategic targets" in Australia. This list, which leaked from the American embassy in Australia, was pooh-poohed by Bernard Keane of Crikey as trivial as one of the targets was a plant making rattlesnake anti-venine.

WikiLeaks Party
While in the embassy, Assange decided to run as a candidate for the Australian Senate. The party was joined by Australian luminaries such as Alison Broinowski and.

Sweden charges and embassy period
About this time, Assange was charged with sex crimes in Sweden, a development that many Australians such as John Pilger described as a frame-up by the CIA. Assange fought these charges but ultimately lost his appeal and sought refuge in the Ecuadoran Embassay in London. In Australia, this was headline news. Assange attracted much sympathy from Australians, but Labor PMs Gillard and Kevin Rudd continued to hold the line that the US's actions were justified and the was no conspiracy, despite high levels of sympathy for Assange in the ALP and among progressive liberals. Liberal PMs Tony Abbott continued to hold the line, as did Scott Morrison. "Scomo" caused a sensation in Australia by making a comment about Assange supporter and actress Pamela Anderson which she described as "lewd".

In December 2019, Australian journalist and former SBS newsreader - known as the 'chic' 'face' of SBS - Mary Kostakidis said "I became fascinated at this young, idealistic Australian, very tech-savvy, who developed a way for whistleblowers to upload data anonymously", and said she would be giving "100 per cent of my attention and resources" to his defence. The then 65-year-old was one of only a handful of Australians to have seen Assange since his imprisonment; she travelled, at her own expense, on her own time, to see him; and committed herself to giving '100 per cent of my attention and resources' to his defence. She was a supporter since 2006, long before he was famous.

Prison Period
In 2019, Assange was dragged from the embassy in London and charged with skipping bail. At the same time an American indictment was unveiled.

This was met with further outrage in Assange's homeland. In October 2019, former deputy prime minister and National MP Barnaby Joyce called for the federal government to take action to stop Assange being extradited from the United Kingdom to the US. Later in October, the cross-party Bring Assange Home Parliamentary Working Group was established. Its co-chairs were independent Andrew Wilkie and Liberal National MP George Christensen. Its members included Greens Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt and Peter Whish-Wilson, Centre Alliance MPs Rebekha Sharkie and Rex Patrick, and teal independent Zali Steggall. In the lead up to an extradition hearing on 1 June 2020, more than 100 politicians, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists from Australia wrote to Foreign Minister Marise Payne asking her to make urgent representations to the UK government to have Assange released on bail due to illness.

The cause was taken up by Amnesty International and the "journalists' union" Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) campaigned via the World Socialist Website WSWS and set up front groups in Australia, such as Teachers for Assange.

Former National Party Deputy PM Ian Sinclair and former Labor NSW Premier and Foreign Minister Bob Carr joined the call for Assange to be released.

In June 2021, Assange's half brother Gabriel Shipton and biological father John Shipton left Australia to conduct a month-long 17 city tour of the United States to generate awareness and support for Assange and press freedom. In a Saint Paul, Minnesota event, sponsored by Women Against Military Madness, the Shiptons asked supporters to appeal to members of Congress to weigh in with the Justice Department to reconsider its prosecution.

The Albanese government
After Scomo lost office, the incoming Labor PM Anthony Albanese changed tack and moved to the left, calling for Assange to be released. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, however, stated that the rule of law needed to be followed. In February it was reported that Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer had joined the Sydney chapter of the Belmarsh Tribunal, a pro-Assange event hosted by Jacobin magazine. The Tribunal includes Greens Senator David Shoebridge, teal independent Monique Ryan, Bob Carr, and former 7:30 report host Kerry O'Brien.

Reactions in Australia
In October 2019, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce called for the federal government to take action to stop Assange being extradited from the United Kingdom to the US. Later in October, the cross-party Bring Assange Home Parliamentary Working Group was established. Its co-chairs are independent Andrew Wilkie and Liberal National MP George Christensen. Its members include Greens Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt and Peter Whish-Wilson, Centre Alliance MPs Rebekha Sharkie and Rex Patrick and independent Zali Steggall.

In the lead up to an extradition hearing on 1 June 2020, more than 100 politicians, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists from Australia wrote to Foreign Minister Marise Payne asking her to make urgent representations to the UK government to have Assange released on bail due to his ill-health.

Later views
In April 2012, interviewed on Assange's television show World Tomorrow, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa praised WikiLeaks and told his host "Cheer up! Cheer up! Welcome to the club of the persecuted!" In August 2012, historian and journalist Tariq Ali and former ambassador and author Craig Murray spoke in support of Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy. In April 2013, filmmaker Oliver Stone stated that "Julian Assange did much for free speech and is now being victimised by the abusers of that concept". In November 2014, Spanish Podemos party leader Pablo Iglesias also gave his support to Assange. In July 2015, British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn opposed Assange's extradition to the US, and as Labour Party leader in April 2019 said the British government should oppose Assange's extradition to the US "for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan."

In July 2016, artist and activist Ai Weiwei, musicians Patti Smith, Brian Eno, and PJ Harvey, scholars Noam Chomsky and Yanis Varoufakis, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, and filmmaker Ken Loach were amongst those attending an event in support of Assange at the embassy. That same month, long-time supporter documentary filmmaker Michael Moore also visited Assange in the embassy. In December 2019, Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis said "I became fascinated at this young, idealistic Australian, very tech-savvy, who developed a way for whistleblowers to upload data anonymously", and said she would be giving "100 per cent of my attention and resources" to his defence. In January 2021, Australian journalist John Pilger stated that were Assange to be extradited "no journalist who challenges power will be safe".

American politicians Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin each either referred to Assange as "a high-tech terrorist" or suggested that through publishing U.S. diplomatic traffic he was engaged in terrorism. Other American and Canadian politicians and media personalities, including Tom Flanagan, Bob Beckel, Mike Huckabee, and Michael Grunwald, called for his assassination or execution, though Grunwald later apologised for this saying "It was a dumb tweet. I'm sorry. I deserve the backlash."

On Assange's birthday in July 2020, 40 organisations including the International Federation of Journalists, the National Union of Journalists, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, the Centre for Investigative Journalism and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters wrote an open letter demanding that Assange be released.

Reactions to his imprisonment in the UK
Since his arrest on 11 April 2019, Assange has been incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison in London.

After examining Assange on 9 May 2019, the United Nations special rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Nils Melzer, concluded that "in addition to physical ailments, Mr Assange showed all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma." The British government said it disagreed with some of his observations. In a later interview, Melzer criticised the "secretive grand jury indictment in the United States", the "abusive manner in which Swedish prosecutors disseminated, re-cycled and perpetuated their 'preliminary investigation' into alleged sexual offences", the "termination by Ecuador of Mr Assange's asylum status and citizenship without any form of due process", and the "overt bias against Mr Assange being shown by British judges since his arrest". He said the United States, UK, Sweden and Ecuador were trying to make an example of Assange. He also accused journalists of "spreading abusive and deliberately distorted narratives". Shortly after Melzer's visit, Assange was transferred to the prison's health care unit.

On 13 September 2019, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that Assange would not be released on 22 September when his prison term ended, because he was a flight risk and his lawyer had not applied for bail. She said when his sentence came to an end, his status would change from a serving prisoner to a person facing extradition.

On 1 November 2019, Melzer said that Assange's health had continued to deteriorate and his life had become at risk. He said that the UK government had not acted on the issue.

On 22 November, in an open letter to the UK Home Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary, signed by a group of medical practitioners named Doctors for Assange, said Assange's health was declining to an extent that he could die in prison. Subsequent attempts by the group, made to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland, and to Marise Payne, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, also yielded no result.

On 30 December 2019, Melzer accused the UK government of torturing Julian Assange. He said Assange's "continued exposure to severe mental and emotional suffering ... clearly amounts to psychological torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

On 17 February 2020, the medical journal The Lancet published an open letter from Doctors for Assange, in which they said Assange was in a "dire state of health due to the effects of prolonged psychological torture in both the Ecuadorian embassy and Belmarsh prison" which could lead to his death and that his "politically motivated medical neglect ... sets a dangerous precedent". On the same day, Reporters Without Borders posted a separate petition which accused the Trump administration of acting in "retaliation for (Assange's) facilitating major revelations in the international media about the way the United States conducted its wars". The petition said, Assange's publications "were clearly in the public interest and not espionage". Australian MPs Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen visited Assange and pressed the UK and Australian governments to intervene to stop him being extradited.

On 25 March 2020, Assange was denied bail after Judge Baraitser rejected his lawyers' argument that his imprisonment would put him at high risk of contracting COVID-19. She said Assange's past conduct showed how far he was willing to go to avoid extradition. In November 2021, his father told a French interview program that Assange had received a non-mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in Belmarsh Prison.

On 25 June 2020, Doctors for Assange published another letter in The Lancet, "reiterating their demand to end the torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange", in which they state their "professional and ethical duty to speak out against, report, and stop torture".

In September 2020, an open letter in support of Assange was sent to Boris Johnson with the signatures of two current heads of state and approximately 160 other politicians. The following month, U.S. Representatives Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Republican, introduced a resolution opposing the extradition of Assange. In December 2020, German human rights commissioner Bärbel Kofler cautioned the UK about the need to consider Assange's physical and mental health before deciding whether to extradite him.