Assange critic says detained WikiLeaks founder isn’t Albanese government’s ‘only priority’

A prominent Australian critic of Julian Assange has issued a fresh warning about the detained WikiLeaks founder.

A top foreign policy analyst and prominent critic of Julian Assange says the detained WikiLeaks founder shouldn’t be the Australian government’s “only priority”.

Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove has urged the Albanese government to be careful if it intervenes in Mr Assange’s looming extradition to the United States.

Anthony Albanese earlier this week said he wouldn’t publicly intervene after the UK Home office ordered Mr Assange’s extradition to the US, where he is wanted on spying charges and faces a 170-year prison sentence.

However, the Prime Minister said his position hadn’t changed since he said in December that he didn’t “see the point” of US authorities’ “ongoing pursuit” of Mr Assange.

Mr Assange’s legal team has been given 14 days to appeal his extradition in the British courts.

Asked about the matter on Wednesday, Dr Fullilove wouldn’t be drawn on whether he thought Australia should intervene in the case.

“I think every Australian who gets into trouble abroad deserves the support of the Australian government,” he told the National Press Club.

“I happen to think Mr Assange’s case is a little more complicated than any of the media allow. There’s probably no reason for me to go into that.”

Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove has urged people not to forget that there are other Australians detained overseas. Picture: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

Dr Fullilove has over the past decade blasted Mr Assange and his website WikiLeaks, which published leaked government documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as classified diplomatic cables.

He used his verified Twitter account, on which he identifies himself as the Lowy Institute’s executive director, to criticise an imprisoned Mr Assange in 2019.

“Poor Mr Assange. No longer able to dodge the consequences of his actions. Finally having to live according to the rules that apply to everyone else,” Dr Fullilove wrote at the time.

Dr Fullilove in 2011 wrote a magazine article in which he compared WikiLeaks’ rationale to that of notorious British tabloid News of the World.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is facing extradition to the United States where he is wanted on spying charges and could spend the rest of his life in prison. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP

On Wednesday, as protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in Canberra to demand Mr Assange’s release, Dr Fullilove said Australia should consider the ramifications on its allyship with Washington.

“The US is a proud democracy. They have prosecutors, they have the rule of law, they have prosecutors who look at the evidence and don’t take nicely to political instruction from the White House,” he said.

“I think Australia has to be careful about that element, just as we would be a bit tetchy about someone trying to bigfoot us about our legal processes.

“That doesn’t mean that there’s not lots of room for the Australian government to make representations on his behalf.”

Dr Fullilove urged people not to forget there are other Australians detained overseas such as journalist Cheng Lei in China.

“I don’t wish Mr Assange ill, but I do wish that I more often got questions about other Australians in difficulty.”

The Albanese government has said it will not conduct “diplomacy by megaphone” and that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will provide consular assistance to Mr Assange.

Originally published as Assange critic says detained WikiLeaks founder isn’t Albanese government’s ‘only priority’