Foreword…

The following article was written prior to the removal of Robyn Irene’s ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ from the Western Australian newspaper The Stringer. Since Robyn’s article was also published on Indymedia, my reference links are now pointing to that site.

“DON’T GIVE IT OXYGEN!” was temporarily approved for publication by The Stringer’s founder, Gerry Georgatos, but I was advised within the hour, that the newspaper had opted instead to remove Robyn Irene’s ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ .

A shame – and painfully ironic? – that “DON’T GIVE IT OXYGEN!” cannot address the same audience, but I respect Mr Georgatos’ wishes to have “never published ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ in the first place”, for the reasons he stated.

I also appreciate Gerry’s kind advice that I try uploading my article to the other site, Indymedia, where he is apparently a ‘Trusted User’ with publishing rights for his own and other writers’ articles. Robyn Irene may also be an Indymedia ‘Trusted User’, so I would advise her, Gerry or Anonymous (name listed as the publisher of ‘The Betrayal of Julian’) to carefully re-read the Indymedia Editorial Policy:

“Newswire articles and/or comments will not be placed on our promoted newswire if they are [among other things] (1) inaccurate: posts that are inaccurate or misleading; (2) from political parties: the newswire is designed to generate a news resource, not a notice-board for political parties; and (3) a personal attack: articles and/or comments that contain abusive language against other activists or site users.” (coughs…)

“DON’T GIVE IT OXYGEN!”

One should not call accounts of events “slander” unless one knows that it is, from having witnessed the events, or seen evidence that leaves no doubt that the accounts are untrue. Calling truthful accounts slander is a catalyst for the Martha Mitchell Effect, a phenomenon that psychologist Brendan Maher named after Martha Beall Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell was the wife of John Mitchell, Attorney-General in the Nixon administration. When she alleged that White House officials were engaged in illegal activities, her claims were conspiratorially deemed to be the result of mental illness. Ultimately, the facts of the Watergate scandal vindicated her, but the label: “Cassandra of Watergate” was nevertheless slung upon her.

Journalism that guesses whistle-blower accounts to be slander, on no evidence, is likely to have a hidden agenda – shoot the messenger and bury the truth? – but its deepest vice is probably loyalty. When one becomes but an echo of hearsay, one is right up the other end of the spectrum from the scientific journalism of Wikileaks, even when defending the organisation, its political wing, or the behaviour of members. That would surely be the beginning of the end, as would be the suppression of documents…

From Shining the Light, to the Dark Side…

Activist Robyn Irene’s punch-in-the-face, factually imprecise and somewhat whacko article: ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ (Oh those Judases! – and him all naked, but for his crown of thorns…) that was recently given a respectable airing in The Stringer – Independent News, is a good example of whistleblower-bashing and ‘forgetfulness’ to check: “Would my claims stand up in Court?”. The author of the article might also have asked: “Is mention of my friend’s erotic dreams about Julian Assange, the Christ figure, really serving the purpose I want it to?”, and perhaps… “Do I have any EVIDENCE that it was ASIO, and not my Mitty-like meanderings?”.

The publisher’s ABOUT page states:
“The Stringer was founded by media academic and producer Jennifer Kaeshagen and by multi-award winning investigative journalist Gerry Georgatos”.

It doesn’t mention anywhere on The Stringer’s website that Gerry Georgatos was also the WA candidate for the Wilileaks Party in the last Senate Elections. He was, and is likely to run again on April 5th, since the AEC did not permit Julian Assange to stand in WA. It wouldn’t be clear therefore, to many readers, that ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ is favourable copy for both Georgatos’ Party and his Candidacy, even if the hefty personal attack on some of the party’s resignees is obvious.

Gazing upwards, I can see how ‘Robyn Irene’, as sanitising agent, would be attractive. Her romantic, narrative style and the characters she describes – one of which, in the first person – would also appeal - Ordinary citizen gives testimony of her noble and dangerous adventure with secret agents! It’s all a bit ‘True Lies’ but perfect for drawing supporters into the story. I’m saddened that a multi-award winning investigative journalist involved with Wikileaks would let such pulp fiction through the door.

But soft, what light through yonder Windows breaks?

I don’t expect anyone to do anything about Robyn Irene’s hack-attack, especially WACA, who have more significant battles to fight, but as a matter of courtesy and good form, ‘The Betrayal of Julian’ begs some response, in defence of a number of people’s GOOD faith, and respect for the whole truth… Amen. Rest assured, that there will be no Biblical dream sequences or contagious paranoia, but I’ll be damned if I think this baby will be given any oxygen by Nurse Irene.

Robyn Irene – aka Robyn Connell Jackson – in her thesis on betrayal – sets out with a critique of a recently published chronicle called ‘Ghosting’ by Andrew O’Hagan (ghost writer for Julian Assange’s unauthorised biography). You’d never know, because she fails to mention the title of O’Hagan’s work, and just refers to it as “his piece”. That’s a typical supporter strategy – “Don’t give it oxygen!” – but how the editorial staff of The Stringer did not pick up on the absence of a title to a work Jackson is describing, I do not know…

Another ‘betrayal of Julian’ is cited. This one is within the context of the Wikileaks Party election campaign. Well on topic for ‘suppression of documents’, but with a cached message: “Don’t bother looking. There’s absolutely nothing to see here!” – Jackson chooses to mention leaked emails that “prove something everybody knew already…”. Circling angrily around the “drama” that caused the WLP mass resignations, she never says what the actual drama was. No mention either of interviews that readers could consult, or of leaked phone recordings – one of which a certain blogger, “Educated Class” was complaining about a while back, to ex Wikileaks Party Office-bearer David Haidon.

We have heard extracts of that recording; and of another, between John Noble Shipton, father of Julian Assange, & WACA, two women who founded the Wikileaks Australian Citizen’s Alliance, and sat on the Wikileaks Party’s National Council last year. Jackson attacks WACA, exactly in the manner as the attack-site Rixstep did within hours of the women’s resignations, for their apparent role in the WLP’s failure in last year’s Senate elections. It would seem that Jackson remains ignorant of, or hasn’t ‘given oxygen’ to the recordings of phone conversations on the day of the resignations, wherein one can hear the Party’s CEO John Shipton proposing, in no uncertain terms, that WACA resign if they won’t ‘wear’ an ‘administrative error’ scenario, to explain what happened to the WLP’s NSW preferences.

Shipton was aware by that time that the NSW preferences had been ‘tweaked’ by a small number of people, unbeknownst to most of the National Council, but it seems he wanted to avoid a disaster in divulging that. Had he considered the gravity of the ultimatum he was giving to WACA, or was it delivered in exhasperation? Had he anticipated how people from an organisation that supports whistle-blowing and aspires to Truth, Transparency and Justice [WACA's motto] would feel, as Party representatives, surpressing information and propagating a story the wife will believe – or not…? The call Shipton made in that moment was possibly the greater of two evils. One pathway – quarantine the problem and apologise to the members and voters, as WACA suggested – might have kept the supporters together and not necessarily lost the election. A ‘Scandal of Pointless Treachery’ [The Shooters & Fishers Party did not reciprocate] would also have made headlines and high-lighted our integrity. The other pathway – bury it – would rip at the very identity of our social bond: shining the light.

And the truth did set them free…

Only extracts of the Shiton-WACA and Shipton-Haiden recordings have been published, as yet, but I’ve heard both in their entirety and can report. First of all, there’s no doubt in my mind that I was listening to the voice of John Noble Shipton, whom I’ve spent a lot of time with since 2011. That the other voices were those of Sam Castro, Karen Cochrane, and David Haidon, has been confirmed to me personally by those people.

Since the integral recordings have not been published, I’ll sum them up, but in enough detail to enlighten the debate. In the first recording, WACA and Shipton are trying to determine for some time, just what the hell had happened with the Party’s Preferences, since what was voted on by the National Council was not what was reported to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). In the course of the discussion, it seems there are things that Shipton was unaware of, regarding the actions of certain key players in the campaign (not WACA) and he sounds distraught by what he is discovering. He also explains to WACA some shit that’s been going down on his end.

Kelly Tranter, 2013 NSW Candidate for the WLP: "An administrative error"

When it’s clear to all parties that the WLP’s National Council has been gesummt in two States, and that WACA know who is responsible – because of a confession and an email trail – the real conflict begins. The women try hard to convince Shipton that the WLP must remain truthful and transparent, at all costs. Shipton’s position is that an Independent Review in the middle of an election campaign is suicidal. One can understand both sides – I felt his fear on the way to talking to the resignees, and their nausea after l arrived. What became clear on hearing the recordings, was that they were diametrically opposed, and that their desired courses of action were mutually exclusive. Robyn is perhaps right in saying it could have been resolved, but Shipton, in the heat of the moment, closed all doors by instructing the women to resign if they would not go his way. I was a close friend of John Shipton, but have to admit that he could have handled that moment better.

On personal experience and direct knowledge.

Robyn Connell Jackson met John Shipton for the first time on September 15th 2012 at the Aboriginal passport ceremony. I was documenting the event, at John’s request, and had asked him to come outside so we could film his ‘arrival’. She appeared out of nowhere, and awkwardly interrupted the recording of his speech to introduce herself. It was also the first time Robyn and I had stood face-to-face, but we knew each other online through the Wikileaks network.

I saw Robyn at one (1) WLP meeting after that and never, at any of our events; all of which I attended. Her claim of “personal experience and direct knowledge” is nil in relation to the Melbourne events that constituted The Wikileaks Party “drama” . Her only personal experience is as detailed above, and the imagined encounter with ‘Mr Brown Overcoat’ in a “busy Sydney cafe”. You know, if I had been The Stringer’s editor, I would have scratched that episode. It reminded me of a crazy bloke who once maintained to me that someone was “standing there watching your house from across the road”. It was a bus stop.

Jackson’s tales of ‘The Faction’ have their origin in hearsay, and are recounted in apparent ignorance of a second body of evidence, recorded shortly before the mass resignations. In that recording, Shipton attempts to charm the Victorian Volunteer Co-ordinator, David Haidon, away from his fellow activists into a smaller group (faction?) that will bypass the authority of the National Council. Stand-up comedian and former WLP Social Media Co-ordinator, Sean Bedlam, reported that he too was a recipient of that proposition. He mentioned that Shipton said he wanted to “tear the women’s faces off”, and that he, as someone who deals in harsh language as a comedian, found that harsh…

Maintaining some perspective…

I went to Melbourne to listen to what these people had to say and let them prove it. One must be even-handed, and in this case, compassionate. They WERE clearly heart-broken, just as Leslie Cannold had said on ‘Lateline’, One cried for two hours on the phone to me. The evidence was presented soon after I arrived. Then and only then did I know that they were telling the truth.

It has been disappointing, to say the least, to see good people parroting a story they haven’t verified, and being leveraged into smearing former friends and allies; great activists whose word and hearts they had come to trust, and with whom they were moving mountains. It’s clear both sides of the WLP schizm would want to save Julian and Wikileaks, if either were threatened, but those who protect the ‘scenario’ are trying to claim that the ‘principled faction’, who resigned rather than bull-shit the Australian people, want to destroy the party AND Wikileaks! According to Rolling Stone, loyalty is valued above all else and garners favour… and of course exposing corruption within the WLP could be damaging to Wikileaks. Everyone has feared that, but Christine Assange’s request to stop attacking/defending each other and concentrate on getting the truth out was only half-heard and barely heeded. No one felt comfortable revealing the whole truth, and others became reluctant to probe for it. Then in the midst of that gridlock, Shipton moved forward with his ‘Independent Review’. “What we already knew” there was confirmed by its author, as a disclaimer. The ‘auditor’ was a Party Member. What we weren’t informed of was that Samantha Castro’s submission to the Review had been suppressed.

Live a lie; die a lie…

The irony and cognitive dissonance was agonising. It drove many away.

Members who hung in there with the Party to “give them a chance to redeem themselves”, later admitted to having blocked their ears completely, in cult-like fashion, to what the “Faction” – Shipton’s challengers – had to say. Others withdrew from the Wikileaks movement completely, and have not come back. We are weaker, because the truth could not be told. It’s tragic for all of us, since there seems to be no question now of going back to the crossroads and taking the more ‘noble’ pathway. From her distant mountain perch, remaining devotee Robyn Connell Jackson parrots a blame game.

Julian Assange admitted and apologised for not ‘being there’ himself. Minutes of meetings that the Party did release, as well as Dan Matthews’ statement, revealed that Julian had only attended one of 13 council meetings – the first, if memory serves. What the leaked emails told us that we DIDN’T know – and Jackson didn’t mention, is that Julian appeared to be unaware his “promise” to Scott Ludlam would be broken in WA by the other last-minute switch.

Why campaign manager Greg Barns, apparently on his own initiative, advised Gerry Georgatos to preference BOTH of the Nationals’ Candidates could be a question that will never be answered…

Assange did some very good things rather than micro-managing his father’s disastrous WLP project. He helped free Edward Snowdon; monitored Chelsea Manning’s trial; and kept a close eye on a mounting crisis in Syria. He also spent a lot of time worrying about and trying to counter the hypothetical effects of the feature film: ‘The Fifth Estate’. Maybe a little less time on that and just one more NC meeting attended – the last one before the Preferences were submitted, for example – and the Party’s faux pas might have been avoided.

In the end, we all support JA and the Wikileaks organisation. Many would also support Assange running in the future as an Independent Candidate in the Senate, working in tandem with Senator Scott Ludlam; to save our souls, our refugees and our planet from the Abbott Government.

The “Don’t Give it Oxygen” style of unscientific journalism that has reached its zenith with evangilists for the WLP, is a kind of succubus that has emerged from the sound body of Wikileaks. O’Hagan’s memoirs would suggest that this demon has always been there, as the dark side of Julian Assange. If this phenomenon is due to the influence and subsequent emergence of his father, then the Darth Vadar image is apt, and the integrity of the organisation in danger of crumbling.

That Julian Assange can’t reveal his own secrets is acceptable, but only in the case where he is doing great ethical hacking – which is possibly, what he should stick to. Going into JTRIG mode – “Destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt” – with friends and allies, in the case of any disagreement, is not going to do it in party politics, either for Luke or Darth.

I made a film for the Wikileaks Party to explain the significance of Senate preferences in the Australian electoral system, where the Wikileaks Party were running. It would still be of public interest however, to know why so many people felt they could no longer continue with the campaign.

Voting has now closed, and as we await the results – predicted one week ago by the bookies, the Murdoch press and, minutes ago, by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a landslide victory for our right-wing Liberal Party – I will take a moment to explain what we, The Wikileaks Party, had intended to do in the Australian Senate.

We had realised that the Upper House, whose purpose was to review and adjudicate on the operations of government – our Lower House – had become more of a House of Deal-Making. Who better, we thought, than Julian Assange and his fellow-candidates to represent us in the Australian Senate, given Wikileaks’s outstanding record of ‘keeping the bastards honest’? God knows we’d tried taking to the streets before the Iraq War, but the man at the top had not heard our voice…

The hope of Julian Assange was based on the idea that one citizen can make a difference, and as a film-maker and citizen journalist, I decided to nail my colours to the Wikileaks mast some 3 years ago. That resulted in the making of roughly 80 films and 200 written articles on the subject of Wikileaks over the last 2 years.

Many Australians, across the political spectrum, liked the idea of a Wikileaks Party representative in the Australian Senate, and we sailed over the line to becoming a political Party. Its motto of “Truth, Transparency and Democracy” – which later mutated into “Truth, Transparency and Justice” – gave promise that we would set a precedent in political history.

When the Party collapsed, I travelled to Melbourne, from where our campaign was being run, to ask why. OMG…

Sam Castro - Why I resigned from the Wikileaks Party

My recognition of the importance of the Wikileaks struggle for transparency and democracy was inspired by the courage and rigour of Julian Assange, and the reliability of his publications. My active participation in the movement was encouraged and facilitated by the grass-roots activism of his mother, Christine Assange, and the idea that she and others conveyed to me, that this was about “Journalism with a Heart”.

I think we lost the heart somewhere along the election trail, and when she became “Inactive”, Christine’s solid moral compass. John Pilger apparently advised Julian against getting involved in Party politics, and I was reminded of this when Christine advised us to support Scott Ludlam, regardless of which Party he belonged to. That made sense, for Australians. At a time when we were floundering in grief, anger, confusion and alienation, her voice rang out to anchor us once again in common values and truth. Without Scott, you Christine, and some heart-felt apologies to our supporters, our party is over…

More revelations about the Wikileaks Party have emerged today from Gary Lord – aka Jaraparilla – who was a member of the WLP National Council for about a week. We discover now why he didn’t need to step down, contrary to legal advice he’d received from within the Party. We also learn of an unexpected connection between Wikileaks and James Ashby?? and of why the Party became divided. ‘Where’s That Party Review?’ is definitely a must-read…

Whatever your choice of political party for government in the House of Representatives, you can still vote for the Wikileaks Party in the Senate.

Go The Leeks! - Click to enlarge

The WikiLeaks Party stands for unswerving commitment to the core principles of civic courage nourished by understanding and truthfulness and the free flow of information. It is a party that will practise in politics what WikiLeaks has done in the field of information by standing up to the powerful and shining a light on injustice and corruption.

The Constitution of the WikiLeaks Party lists its objectives which include the protection of human rights and freedoms; transparency of governmental and corporate action, policy and information; recognition of the need for equality between generations; and support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination.

Julian Assange: Wikileaks Party Candidate for Victoria

The Wikileaks Party’s most prominent candidate, running in the State of Victoria, is Julian Assange, the founder and editor in chief of WikiLeaks. He states:

“The values of transparency and accountability and resistance under pressure that I have developed through hard experience with WikiLeaks, that is what we intend to take to Canberra.”

Running in New South Wales is lawyer and Human Rights activist Kellie Tranter, who has delivered addresses, chaired workshops and participated in public debates on issues like climate change, human rights and gender equality at local, national and international conferences, including speeches opposing unjustified wars and economic exploitation.

Kellie Tranter: Wikileaks Party Candidate for NSW

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For Western Australia the lead candidate is Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, investigative journalist and PhD researcher in Australian Custodial Systems and Deaths in Custody. He founded Students Without Borders, with one of its initiatives recycling and refurbishing computers, becoming the largest computer recycling program in Australia. Gerry has travelled widely among remote Aboriginal communities and extensively researched Aboriginal homelessness, poverty, imprisonment and suicide rates. He has been a long-time staunch refugee rights advocate, visiting immigration detention centres, an anti-drugs campaigner working alongside the vulnerable and a life-long freedom of speech campaigner. His advocacy in fighting racism has been longstanding and he has completed two Masters topically covering racism and the ways forward.

Gerry Georgatos: Wikileaks Party Candidate for WA

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For a complete overview of the other Candidates, the Wikileaks Party National Council, its Constitution and Policies, and information on how to become a Member and DONATE! please visit the Party’s website at wikileaksparty.org.au.

Most importantly, if you would like “The Leeks” to receive a STRONG primary vote:

…… VOTE 1 WIKILEAKS PARTY, ABOVE THE LINE

If you don’t live in Australia, there is unfortunately no Wikileaks Party in your country, yet…

Wikileaks Party Artwork by Mark Rastrick- click to enlarge

Why is it important to have a Wikileaks Party in Australia? Perhaps, no more important than to have one in the US, New Zealand, Canada or the UK, since these countries form the “5 EYES” alliance which surveilles every citizen in the world. When Wikileaks released the “Spy Files” in 2011, it claimed the existence of a global spying network, a secret new industry spanning 25 countries. Edward Snowden has now given us proof, and reveals that Australia houses four facilities which contribute to a key American intelligence collection program.

Journalist Phillip Dorling tells us where…

“The US Australian Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs and three Australian Signals Directorate facilities: the Shoal Bay Receiving Station near Darwin, the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station HMAS Harman outside Canberra are among contributors to the NSA’s collection program codenamed X-Keyscore.”

Sydney held a PRISM-BREAK meeting 2 days ago, in response to Edward Snowden’s revelations. Wikileaks Party National Council Member Cassie FINDLAY pledged to uncover the extent to which Australian citizens have been spied upon by foreign intelligence agencies, on the behest of our own government.

This however is not just a Wikileaks party… Rachel Evans from the Australian Socialist Alliance paid passionate tribute to Venezuela, Honduras and Ecuador for their support of the whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

David Campbell from the Australian Pirate Party explained how PRISM surveillance violates the UN’s international declaration of human rights. He cites:

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence.”

IT specialist and member of the Support Assange and Wikileaks Coalition Matt Watt talks about the extent of PRISM surveillance.

And in Melbourne, international speaker for the PRISM-BREAK event was Vince Emanuele, who is a former US Marine of two tours to Iraq. Vince refused to go to Iraq again by laying down his weapon. He is now organiser for the Michigan chapter of Veterans for Peace and serves of the national Board of Directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He also hosts the Veterans Unplugged radio program on Radio WIMS, Michigan.

Vince is currently on a speaking tour of Australia. He had this to say in Melbourne, and his general message is… don’t go there Australia!

While the Australian Wikileaks Party are busy processing their applications for membership, what’s the buzz around Sydney about Wikileaks and Julian Assange?

"Have you heard of Julian Assange?" "YES!"

Cassie Findlay, spokeswoman for the National Council of the newly-formed Australian Wikileaks Party, delivered a moving introductory address this week to a capacity crowd at Sydney’s Chauvel Cinema. The occasion was part of a national tour of Robert Connolly’s film “Underground”, which tells the story of teenage Julian Assange, and his roller-coaster beginnings as an online activist.

L to R: Rob Connolly, Christine Assange, Alex Williams & Cassie Findlay

Christine Assange, Robert Connolly, actor Alex Williams and SBS journalist Mark Davis were onstage afterwards for a Q & A with the audience. They were later joined by Linda Pearson from the Support Assange and Wikileaks Coalition (SAWC), who called for strong action to repatriate Julian Assange, now entering his tenth month of refuge at London’s Ecuadorian Embassy.

Tour organisers Kaz Cochrane and Samantha Castro, who founded the Wikileaks Australian Citizens Alliance (WACA), and who are co-members of the Party’s National Council, will also deliver personalised speeches during the film’s nationwide tour.

Alex Williams plays the young Julian Assange in "UNDERGROUND"

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Of particular note was the solidarity expressed by the filmmakers and cast with their subject. No surprise, given the track record of award-winning director, Rob Connolly, in making politically conscious films, such as ‘Balibo’, and ‘The Bank’, where the gap between art and life has merely been widened to protect the innocent. Rob muses as I quote Alexa O’Brian’s fleeting tweet: “We don’t need any more Hollywood film scripts. We need transcripts of what’s actually happening in the court room”, and we are both reminded of Assange’s recent gripes regarding the proposed opening scenes of ‘The Fifth Estate’. A sequel to ‘Underground’ is apparently not out of the question… “Watch this space”, he says, and we really do hope he fills it.

In the more immediate future, the ‘Underground’ Party Tour will continue throughout Australia. These legendary events have had a tendency so far to play to packed houses, so it’s probably best to buy tickets in advance. Go to the WACA website to (check the dates) and your closest cinema. And to everyone’s great surprise, ‘Underground’ has been selected to open the Washington DC International Film Festival – “in the cradle of American government!” in just two weeks time.

Film critic Eddie Cockrell, our moderator for the Sydney event, Variety and SBS columnist, and the man who just happens to have written catalogues for the Washington Film Festival for decades… reckons it will solicit “A very good reaction!”. . Watch this space, one more time…

Cassie Findlay speaks on behalf of the Australian Wikileaks Party

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Cassie Findlay’s speech:

“It’s been an interesting process. Especially for someone like me who comes from a background of being archivist and not involved in political campaigning before. And indeed a lot of the members of the National Council of the WikiLeaks Party come from really interesting and diverse backgrounds that bring a certain humanity, I think, to our endeavour. So, we have a physicist, we have activists, we have mothers, we have young people, we have people of an older generation. And we’ve been working very hard since, well, certainly some members of the Council since last year. And in earnest this year to put together a Party which I think is about addressing what is missing in Australian politics at the moment which is truth, transparency, a sense of standing up to power. A sense of understanding for yourself what’s actually going on and if we look at, you know, the major parties that are going to be contesting the next election in September, is there much choice? Both of them are sitting mainly on the right. Of course, we have the Australian Greens it’s true. But what we’re doing is putting a candidate up for the Senate who has the most amazing track record of actually scrutinising and understanding information about what’s happening politically, what’s happening across the world and in Australia, and who certainly demonstrated an ability to stand up for what’s right. So, one of our National Council members, Greg Barnes spoke last week in Melbourne about the Party and about putting a candidate up for the Senate where, what we’ve seen rather than a house of review it’s become a house of deals. Well, the WikiLeaks Party and Julian in the Senate will be against that, we’ll be standing up for the Australian people.”

Gary Kennedy, Secretary and Treasurer of Hunter Trade Unions – representative of 31 Unions in Australia – says “ABSOLUTELY” to the question: “Would Julian Assange make a good Australian Senator? “

The Australian Wikileaks Party is about to launch, with Julian Assange as its leader and truth & transparency its motto. Sounds great… but isn’t he still “holed up” somewhere in an Ecuadorian Embassy in the middle of London? What a shame, since our polls say that 1 in 4 Aussies would vote for Assange. Is it not time therefore, dear compatriots, for a reality check?

If Australians want Assange as a Senator – and how extraordinary that would be – they will have to “reek havoc” now to get him home… and the sooner the better. In the face of such hostility from our government, and the wanton vilification of Assange’s fair dinkum, award-winning journalism, imagine the hammering that is in store for him as an actual political opponent. It is clear that once that game begins, the msn will be kissing his ass goodbye.

Aussie Gold! - click to enlarge

Maybe Ecuador could help us… by challenging an obstruction of justice that strangely enough, reposes upon the inaction of one person. Yes, if only prosecutor Marianne Ny would go to London and question Assange, we might have our Senator… But how much does that place us in the position of a horse who thinks the man is bigger, and Ecuador as the mouse that roared?

Ecuador may very well have come of age, opened its eyes, and realised both its purpose and place in the world; while we, the mighty Australia stay blinkered, and follow like a self-doubting adolescent in the shadow of Uncle Whoever.

Dream on Australia, or grow up, and make our Australian dream happen. We need a solution to this pseudo-stalemate and we need it now!

Julian Assange for Senator