On the same day many ns worried about the latest inflation data which revealed an increasing likelihood of a rate rise come August, the Prime Minister welcomed convicted felon and one-time fugitive Julian Assange home.
Later that evening, when many of us were glued to our television screens watching the State of Origin contest between NSW and Queensland – trying to put ‘s worryingly high and rising inflation out of our minds for some sporting respite – the PM was declaring victory having orchestrated Assange’s return.
‘We have got this done,’ he proudly declared.
Anthony Albanese put the first call through to Assange. U.S. ambassador Kevin Rudd and British high commissioner Stephen Smith – both former Labor pollies – joined Assange on his flight back to .
Neither minded their return to the limelight.
The spectacle was replete with the strategic release of images of the men enjoying the catering on the private jet used to get Assange home. As though the average Aussie looks at it all with a sense of relief in these difficult times.
While most ns probably didn’t notice the whole saga unfold yesterday and last night, those who took a more active interest might have wondered about the sniff of hypocrisy attached to the PM gloating about the release and return home of Assange.
Particularly in the context of that other n whistleblower recently sent to jail for leaking information about the allegations of war crimes committed by the n SAS.
Former army lawyer David McBride was sentenced to a five-year jail term just a month ago for blowing the whistle on the goings-on within the SAS.
The Labor government had the opportunity to intervene but it chose not to, letting McBride get hauled off to jail in handcuffs in the nation’s capital.
Many of the same people who supported the release and return of Assange have been advocating for a government pardon for McBride – including the Wikileaks’ founder’s wife, Stella. The pleas fell on deaf ears.
Perhaps the photo opportunities for McBride wouldn’t have been what they were for helping out Assange.
Having spruiked the virtue of standing up for ns in securing the release of Assange, the PM wouldn’t answer questions at his media conference about whether he considered Assange a journalist or not.
Most journalists do not see him that way, even if they think Assange’s treatment has been an abomination.
If Assange wasn’t a journalist, the parallels to McBride’s role in leaking confidential information in the public interest only become stronger. In fact, McBride is the more virtuous of the two by a long way.
You have to wonder what the future will look like now that Assange is home. His wife says they want to embark on a quiet life, at least for the foreseeable future.
The PM echoed that sentiment – demanding journalists to give the man ‘privacy’ as he re-establishes himself within n society – before Albo wrapped up his media conference, having cashed in on the optics of successfully organising Assange’s return.
The danger Albo runs, having now tightly wrapped himself and Assange together in the n flag for a united victory lap on his return home, is that the activist (in time) chooses to lend his voice to causes that run contrary to this government’s preferred positions.
Perhaps on Palestine for example, but who knows what other causes Assange might embrace. Perhaps ones that more neatly align with the Greens than the Labor government or the mainstream.
You can see some awkward moments up over the horizon.
After all, much of what Assange said and did which led to his troubles on the world stage involved anti-western and pro-Russian views and attitudes.
Does Albo think those sentiments have changed? Does he not care, happy to seek acclaim for ‘getting the job done’ and getting him home anyway?
Or has the PM simply not thought beyond the end of his nose about how such moments might play out in the future? Having sought to generate as much attention as possible to Assange’s return in the wake of what has otherwise been a tough time politically for this government.