‘Senator Julian Assange’ Would Bat for an Open Govt, Free Speech
Julian Assange has described his planned Senate run as a corrective measure that would deal with the 'flawed political environment' in Australia.
The WikiLeaks founder in firmly convinced that his candidacy would offer a viable alternative for Australian voters since not much difference can be gleaned between the major parties contesting the country's government powers.
Mr Assange told the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia's existing political parties offer no relief for the ordinary Aussies as both Labor and the Liberals gravitate towards interest groups.
The party headlined by Prime Minister Julia Gillard traditionally hands out favours to privileged entities while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott clearly takes the cudgels for corporate interests, Mr Assange claimed.
"(There was) very little difference between Liberal and Labor, especially once they get into government. Labor suffers more from cronyism, while the Liberals care more for big business," the former computer hacker was quoted by The Herald as saying on Tuesday.
On that note, Mr Assange said that he is likely to run as independent though his options remain open for possible coalition with existing political parties or he would form his own one, which he said will operate on the platform of an open government.
In the event he would coalesce with a party, the most logical choice would be the Australian Green Party, which has emerged as the third force in Australian politics basing on the series of surveys released in the past few months.
Mr Assange, however, is under the impression that his support among Australians was solid enough to support a Senate run, which WikiLeaks said last week was its founder's main motivation in pushing for a career in politics.
Should voters would trust him, Mr Assange told The Herald that his basic policy would revolve in the upholding of free speech, stressing too that he would employ every legal means that would allow everyone to enjoy free access on information.
That privilege is directly attached on "the right of citizens ... to live lives free from state interference," Mr Assange said.
He also gave assurance that his domestic and international advocacy would be marked by coherent understanding on what best would serve Australia.
Mr Assange told The Herald that he would call for increased regional engagement for Australia, en route to its weaning away from the United States, which he added would lose much of its clout over the next two decades.
At the same time, the Australian government needs to rationalise its police power to better focus its energy on neutralising real terror threats instead of wasting resources on targeting celebrated individuals, who pose no danger to the society.
Mr Assange himself has been fending off legal pressures from a number of countries and has complained of not getting legal support from the Australian government, which even conducted a probe on his activities.
The Australian police, however, eventually declared that Mr Assange did not violate any existing laws, in Australia at least.
WikiLeaks has indicated that Mr Assange will have to run his campaign behind bars should his legal battles with the governments of the United States and United Kingdom would be protracted all the way through the 2013 national elections.