It took ‘creative nous’: Rudd on behind-the-scenes efforts to secure Assange release

US ambassador Kevin Rudd has suggested he played an important role in convincing Julian Assange to accept a plea deal with the United States Justice Department as a partisan stoush erupted over the WikiLeaks founder’s return to Australia.

The opposition accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of giving Assange, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, an overly warm welcome by calling him just after he touched down in Canberra on Wednesday night.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with Australia’s US ambassador Kevin Rudd.Credit: AP

In his first public comments since Assange’s departure from London’s Belmarsh Prison, Rudd said it had taken “creative nous” from Australia to secure his release.

Asked if he persuaded Assange to accept a plea deal to bring the matter to a close, Rudd told the ABC: “You could say that, I couldn’t possibly comment. Ultimately, it was a matter for the parties.”

Assange’s lawyers have credited Albanese and Rudd with playing a pivotal role in securing their client’s release.

Rudd said he acted as the principal point of contact between the US Justice Department and Assange’s legal team after becoming ambassador in early 2023, adding it was crucial that Albanese had granted him a “clear prime ministerial mandate” to pursue the matter with the Biden administration.

Asked if he acted as a linchpin in the negotiations, he replied: “That’s your term, not mine.”

Rudd said he feared the Assange case would have become a “long-term irritant” in the US-Australia relationship if it continued to drag out through the courts.

Earlier in the day, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said Albanese had failed a test of judgment by speaking by telephone to Assange after his arrival in Australia.

“I don’t think it’s at all appropriate that Anthony Albanese picked up the phone to Julian Assange,” Birmingham told reporters.

“Yesterday, Julian Assange pleaded guilty in a United States court to charges under the US Espionage Act, and by nightfall, he was welcomed home by the Australian prime minister.

“That just sends all of the wrong signals and is irresponsible and inappropriate of Anthony Albanese to welcome home Julian Assange on the same day he’s pleaded guilty to US charges related to espionage.”

The US Department of Justice maintains that the 2010 release of thousands of classified US military documents put lives at risk as names were not redacted. Assange was indicted during the Trump administration and faced 18 charges carrying a total sentence of up to 175 years.

Birmingham said Assange should not be classified as a political prisoner and should not be treated as a hero for publishing sensitive US national security secrets.

Anthony Albanese on the phone to Julian Assange, who arrived in Australia on Wednesday night.Credit: X/Twitter, James Brickwood

“Julian Assange is not Cheng Lei, he’s not Sean Turnell, he’s not Kylie Moore-Gilbert,” he said, referring to other Australians who have recently returned from imprisonment overseas.

“He was not held in a Chinese jail or an Iranian jail or a jail in Myanmar against his will, without access to a court, legal representatives or a system of justice.”

Albanese posted a photo on social media platform X of him talking to Assange on the phone on Wednesday night.

“As prime minister, I have been clear – regardless of what you think of his activities, Mr Assange’s case had dragged on for too long,” Albanese said.

He has not met with Assange face-to-face.

Nationals MP Michael McCormack said the government was behaving “disgracefully” by welcoming Assange to Australia.

“What Mr Assange did was unforgivable – shamelessly publishing and handing our enemies uncensored information of actively serving defence personnel on a platter,” he said.

US judge Ramona Manglona said there was “no personal victim here” as a result of the information published by WikiLeaks, and Assange’s lawyers have insisted no human sources were harmed as a result of the website’s disclosures.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Assange spent so long in confinement because he evaded lawful extradition requests and had pleaded guilty to “very serious national security offences”.

“They’re offences against the Five Eyes intelligence gathering alliance, including Australia, because they put the sources of that alliance at grave risk,” he said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said she believed most Australians welcomed Assange’s return to Australia.

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