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Opinion | Can Australia persuade the US to drop bid to extradite WikiLeaks founder Assange?
- Antony Albanese, prime minister for around 15 months, has met US President Joe Biden many times, for formal and informal discussions
- So far, though, the US-Australia official friendship has not stretched to Assange, who is in a UK prison and still fighting against extradition
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Anthony Albanese only became Australia’s prime minister in May last year but has already had very extensive contact with US President Joe Biden.
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According to the prime minister’s office, Albanese has had four formal meetings with him, plus two Quad (US, Japan, Australia and India) meetings, and several other less formal discussions.
They were due to rub shoulders again over the weekend, at the G20 in India, and Biden will also host Albanese for a state visit to Washington next month.
The relationship between the Labor government and the US is close, as is that, it seems, between the two leaders. But one, relatively modest (in Australian eyes), Albanese request – for the Americans to drop their bid to extradite Julian Assange – has fallen on firmly blocked ears.
Later this month, a delegation of parliamentarians is to travel to Washington to lobby, ahead of the Albanese visit. Its composition reflects how the issue spans the political spectrum.
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Family and supporters of Julian Assange rally for his release in Sydney
Family and supporters of Julian Assange rally for his release in Sydney
It includes former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Tony Zappia (Labor), Alex Antic (Liberal), Monique Ryan (independent), and Peter Whish-Wilson and David Shoebridge, both from the Greens.
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