Anthony Albanese speaks on Julian Assange's return to Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to Australia as a free man following his US plea deal. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke on his release at a press conference.

Transcript

00:00Earlier tonight, but you probably knew this, Julian Assange was reunited with his family

00:09here in Australia.

00:12His arrival home ends a long-running legal process.

00:17A plea agreement between Mr Assange and the United States Department of Justice was accepted

00:23by a US court in Saipan earlier today.

00:28I do want to express my appreciation to the United States and the United Kingdom for their

00:34efforts in making this possible.

00:37As Prime Minister, I have been very clear that regardless of what you think of his activities,

00:43Mr Assange's case had dragged on for far too long.

00:49I have clearly and consistently, at every opportunity and at every level, advocated

00:56for Mr Assange's case to be concluded.

01:00I am very pleased that this saga is over.

01:04And earlier tonight, I was pleased to speak with Mr Assange, to welcome him home and had

01:12the opportunity to ask about his health and to have my first discussion with him.

01:23His safe return to Australia, we know, means so much to his family, his wife Stella, his

01:30children who he is looking forward to playing with, like any dad, and his parents Christine

01:39and John.

01:40There are a range of views about the actions of Mr Assange.

01:45The Australian Government feels strongly that the proper protection of all national security

01:50information is vital for safety.

01:54As I have said, both as Labor Leader and as Prime Minister, there was nothing to be gained

02:00by the further incarceration of Mr Assange and we wanted him brought home.

02:06Tonight, that has happened.

02:09We have got this done.

02:12I also acknowledge the efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, my ministerial

02:18colleagues Penny Wong, the Attorney-General and others.

02:25Other Australian officials who have worked tirelessly on this case, particularly over

02:30the last couple of years.

02:33In particular, I want to thank Ambassador Rudd and High Commissioner Stephen Smith who

02:39travelled home to Australia with Mr Assange.

02:43We will have meetings about AUKUS and other arrangements over the coming days as well.

02:47They worked with his legal team to facilitate a very smooth journey.

02:54This is the culmination of careful, patient and determined advocacy, work that I am very

03:02proud of.

03:03It is yet another example of why mature, calibrated and consistent engagement with our partners

03:10is the best way to get results in Australia's national interest.

03:15Happy to take a couple of questions.

03:16There are many views about Julian Assange, as you said, some do not regard him as a hero.

03:17Do you think he was a journalist who was wrongfully pursued over what he did?

03:27I think that there will continue to be different views about Julian Assange and his activity.

03:36My role as Prime Minister has been to firmly say that whatever the views that people have,

03:46there was no purpose to be served by this ongoing incarceration.

03:52Can I say that when I spoke with Mr Assange tonight, he described it as a surreal and

03:59happy moment, his landing here in our national capital, Canberra.

04:06He expressed his thanks to what he described as the diplomatic A-team when I spoke about

04:14the role that Kevin and Stephen have been able to play.

04:19PM, you talked about your view that this had gone on for too long.

04:27Do you think previous Prime Ministers, previous governments have been negligent to allow it

04:31to drag on so long instead of advocating Australia as you have done?

04:36I'm responsible for my job.

04:40My job is to advocate for Australian citizens.

04:45Chang Lai is home.

04:47Sean Turnell is home.

04:49One of the things that my government does is, at times as well, we don't shout.

04:56We're not in a contest of machismo.

05:01What we do is we get things done.

05:04My government advocated strategically, patiently, in a calibrated way, and we achieved this outcome.

05:14Prime Minister, a couple of quick questions.

05:17Can you confirm that you expect to meet Mr Assange in the next day or so?

05:21And secondly, could you give us a sense of...

05:24Sorry, you expect?

05:26You didn't conclude.

05:27Will you be meeting him in the next day or so?

05:29And also, what point did you actually realise that this was going to happen?

05:34You'd been working on it for a couple of years.

05:36Was it a conversation with Joe Biden?

05:37Was a message sent from State Department of Foreign Affairs?

05:40How did that play out?

05:43Well, it played out over a long period of time.

05:48I've said that I have raised it at every opportunity at the highest level.

05:58I know that I've received a message from the US ambassador here that they are also

06:04pleased that this has been resolved.

06:08The first time I raised it was with President Biden at the NATO summit in Madrid.

06:17I raised it also with other senior members of the US administration.

06:24This was always the case, to be very clear, that because of the separation between the

06:33political representatives and the judiciary, this was always going to be something that

06:39required discussion, patient with the Department of Justice.

06:46And certainly over that period of time, there has been an issue as well.

06:51I've exchanged very directly with Mr. Assange's lawyers, as have our diplomatic representatives.

07:01And Mr. Assange's lawyers have been very determined to achieve an outcome.

07:06And of course, the nature of his incarceration in Belmarsh has meant that that then communication

07:14had to then be got through.

07:18Stephen Smith, our High Commissioner, has visited him on a number of occasions.

07:23The details of the plea deal were worked through over a period of time.

07:31But what we have been focused on very clearly, and for some of the issues that have raised

07:38with me, it was the case that this was the only way that I could see a resolution being

07:48achieved.

07:50And the objective here was to conclude these matters.

07:56They have been concluded.

07:58They've been concluded in a way that has achieved the outcome that was sought, which is Julian

08:06Assange is now home here in Australia.

08:09Just following up on James's question, do you plan to meet with Mr. Assange in coming days?

08:16I've got Parliament tomorrow.

08:19So I'll be here tomorrow.

08:23I'm not going to assist.

08:25I'm aware of Mr. Assange's movements in coming days.

08:30But I'm not about to...

08:33That's a matter for his personal privacy, obviously.

08:37He's been through a considerable ordeal.

08:41It's up to him when he makes a statement.

08:47I was pleased to speak with him immediately upon the wheels touching the ground.

08:56I was quite pleased to be the first person here who he spoke with, which was mutually

09:03worked out that that would occur.

09:05And while we're in this press conference, while some people are watching the plane and

09:14whether Mr. Assange has exited the plane, other people will be focused on kickoff.

09:20Have you spoken to the US President since there was a breakthrough?

09:25How do you think this result will shape the US-Australia relationship going forward?

09:30They are our closest ally.

09:31We have a very positive relationship with the United States.

09:36I regard President Biden as a friend.

09:40I regard the relationship as being absolutely central, one of the three pillars of our foreign

09:46policy here, along with our relationship in the region and our support for multilateral

09:54forums, including the United Nations.

09:58I engage one of the things that I do, one of the reasons why you get outcomes, is that

10:06I come into press conferences and talk about the personal details of discussions I have.

10:12I was going to ask whether there was a breakthrough moment or a particular

10:15turning point in this negotiation at the moment when you realised that it would be

10:19possible?

10:20I think there were probably a range, a number of steps along the way, to be frank.

10:26Can you tell us anything about them?

10:27There were moments when this required a range of decisions to be made by the Department

10:36of Justice in the United States, which of course is not subject to political influence

10:44there.

10:46Independent, if you look at the whole range of people who've been to the United States,

10:55I'm surprised that some of it was missed by the people in this room, some of the visits,

11:00but not up to me to indicate that.

11:04Go back and have a look at some diaries and who's travelled to the United States in recent

11:08months.

11:09We wanted to be focused on an outcome and these things don't come together until they

11:19all come together.

11:21You know, there are steps it required.

11:25A plea deal requires a two-sided agreement between the Department of Justice and Julian

11:31Assange.

11:32It requires, in this case, Mr Assange to receive advice from his legal team and we have been

11:41in contact with his legal team over a period.

11:47He had a legal team in the UK, led by his longest legal advisor, Jen Robinson, who was

11:58the conduit for direct discussions with Mr Assange, but he also had a very good legal

12:02team in the United States.

12:05Kevin Rudd worked very hard, as did Stephen Smith, as did the Department of Foreign Affairs

12:12and Trade, as did the Attorney-General, as did others as well, to achieve parity.

12:17Prime Minister, the point's been made that your predecessors did not advocate for this

12:21outcome and that you have chosen to do so and you've talked a bit about why you did

12:25that, but you've personally been very engaged since before you were even opposition leader

12:30with this, so can you tell us why you have chosen to stake so much on this, given the

12:35US relationship is so important and it must have put things under pressure at times?

12:39Why go so hard for this outcome, for someone who, as you have made the point, divides the

12:45population in terms of what it did?

12:47I believe in standing up for Australian citizens and I make that very clear.

12:53I made it clear from the beginning I had the same position as opposition leader on all

12:59of these issues as I've had as Prime Minister, and as Prime Minister of Australia, you have

13:07an opportunity to make a difference.

13:10I've said repeatedly across a range of areas, I'm not here to occupy the space.

13:15I'm not here necessarily to ensure that people will always be supportive by going

13:27through the details of what we are doing, as we are doing them, and some people have

13:34been very critical that we weren't doing enough.

13:38What we were doing was exactly the right thing to achieve an outcome.

13:42I'm an outcomes-based politician.

13:46I believe in making a difference.

13:48We can make a difference.

13:50The United States are our friends.

13:53The United States was, of course, in a position, though, where because of the separation of

14:02powers, I believe in that as well and have always understood that due to their system.

14:09So it wasn't as simple as me sitting down with President Biden or any other US elected

14:19representative and achieving this outcome.

14:23Diplomacy is something that must be patient, something that must be built on trust, something

14:32that works through stages.

14:34We have done that, and Mr Assange and I this evening, as I said, I've never met Mr Assange.

14:45I had a very warm discussion with him this evening, though.

14:51He was very generous in his praise of the Australian Government's efforts.

14:59The Australian Government stands up for Australian citizens.

15:03That's what we do.

15:04Thanks very much.

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