'Enough is enough': How Australia's politicians fell in line behind Assange's release
Assange's release from prison was helped by significant lobbying from Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong and Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd.
By the time it was announced Julian Assange had struck a plea deal with the US Department of Justice, there was no apparent opposition within the Australian Parliament.
Once upon a time, senior members of the Coalition were united with Australia’s major ally on the need for the WikiLeaks founder to face the charges against him under the US Espionage Act.
However, as time wore on, it became harder to justify Assange’s continued imprisonment. Chelsea Manning, who leaked Assange the diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published in 2010, had her sentence commuted by the Obama administration in 2017 after spending seven years in prison. Heading into this year, Assange had already spent five years in a high-security British prison fighting extradition to the US.
This allowed Australian politicians to avoid the awkward questions over whether Assange is in fact a journalist, or whether he committed a crime. Instead, people increasingly thought the situation was untenable – even if there is an ongoing question over the extent to which Assange prolonged the process by refusing to plead guilty.
