Assange: what I'll do in the Senate

Julian Assange. Photo: Reuters

JULIAN Assange says he wants to bring liberty back to the centre of Australian politics, using his Senate candidacy to defend free speech and the ''right of citizens to live their lives free from state interference''.

The WikiLeaks founder also plans to be a ''fierce defender of free media'' if elected to the Senate, using parliamentary privilege to break court suppression orders and other ''excessive constraints'' on free access to information.

In his first interview since declaring his intention to run for the Senate in the next federal election, Mr Assange said he ''could be described as a libertarian'' and nominated Australian Democrats founder Don Chipp and former prime minister Malcolm Fraser as political figures he admired.

Advertisement: Story continues below

Mr Assange declared his priority was to campaign for greater openness in government, what he termed ''the politics of understanding before acting''.

He criticised Australian politics for the ''increasing levels of cronyism'' and ''the betrayal of the rights and interests of people by political insiders, operating in their own interests''.

Mr Assange confirmed to The Age that Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attacks on WikiLeaks, in particular labelling its actions as ''illegal'' - contrary to advice from the Australian Federal Police - directly contributed to his decision to embark on a Senate campaign.

WikiLeaks announced last week that Assange had decided to run for the Senate after it discovered that his detention on sexual assault allegations was not an impediment.

He has been under house arrest in the United Kingdom while he awaits a British Supreme Court decision on his appeal against extradition to Sweden to be questioned in relation to sexual assault allegations.

View post:
Assange: what I'll do in the Senate