Julian Assange’s chances to snatch a seat in the Australian Senate are pretty high, his campaign manager Greg Barns told RT, adding that the WikiLeaks founder would force the country’s government run their policies more honestly if that happens.
Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK
for the past nine months, but that hasn't dampened his political
aspirations.
The whistleblower has just appointed high-profile campaigner Greg
Barns to manage his bid for the Australian Senate in September’s
election.
Barns, a former Australian Republican Movement head and barrister,
says his employer enjoys wide public support in his homeland, with
the possible success in the vote increasing his chances of
returning home to Australia.
RT:What made you take up Assange's
campaign?
Greg Barns: Well, I had a longstanding interest in Julian
Assange’s campaign from a legal perspective because of the way
which he’s been appallingly treated by the Australian government.
And I’ve also had an interest in the sorts of values that Julian
Assange brings to the Australian political landscape. That is
greater transparency in decision making and an examination of the
way which the state in Australia is encroaching on the rights of
individuals.
These are the sorts of issues which do concern Australians. And the
current political parties in Australia don’t address either of
those issues. Julian Assange certainly does. And he’s got runs on
the board when it comes to walking the walk and talking the talk
through WikiLeaks.
RT:And who’s bankrolling this campaign?
GB: Well they’re matters for the WikiLeaks party, which is
currently being established, but what I can say to you is that
there are no multimillionaires bankrolling this campaign to my
knowledge. This is a campaign that’ll be put together by those who
are enthusiastically volunteering their time. We’ll be using a lot
of volunteers on the campaign. It’ll be a very small-paid campaign
team and we’ll also be having greater access to the internet, which
of course – particularly, for younger voters in Australia – is a
primary way, in which they obtain information about the political
process in Australia.
RT:Given Assange's difficult legal situation, what do you
think his chances are of winning his bid for the senate?
GB: The policies are going to be determined over the next
few months by Julian and the party and we’ll be rolling those out.
But what I can say at this point is that he certainly stands for –
in the Australian senate, which is effectively the house of review
in the Australian parliamentary system - is using it more
effectively to keep the government honest about what they are
doing.
So not simply rubber-stamping government policies, but using the
senate as a house of review to ensure that all available
documentation in relation to policies is tabled in the parliament.
That we see when the government appointments are made that they are
scrutinized properly. But also ensuring that we start to roll back
some of the security measures that have been brought in in
Australia in the post 9/11 environment. There are major
invasions by the security services in Australia into the lives of
ordinary Australians.
RT:What do you think are Julian Assange’s chances of
winning the bid for the Australian senate?
GB: I think he’s got a very good chance. There are six
senators who’ll be elected out of Victoria, one of the states in
Australia. He’s gotta get 14.29 per cent of the vote in order to
get elected. Now, with a preferential system, which is other
parties preferencing Julian Assange, if he gets 6 to 7 per cent of
the raw vote he’s going to get elected. At the moment, he’s polling
around about 25 to 27 per cent. That is 25 to 27 per cent of
Australians say they would vote for Assange. So he’s starting from
a very high base, which is going to come down a bit in the context
of the campaign. But it’s a very good place to start.
RT:If Assange is successful, could that eventually help
him receive some kind of legal protection?
GB: It’s hoped that it would, but certainly that’s not his
motivation. However, the Australian government would be left in a
position after the September election here where it had a person
who’d been elected to the senate by the people of Victoria and the
Australian government is not lifting a finger to help that person
to come back to Australia.
I think that would be incumbent on the Australian government to
exercise diplomatic and political capital that it has got with
Stockholm, with London and with Washington to ensure that Julian
Assange can rightfully return home and take his place in the
senate.