“The prime minister makes big promises on integrity and secrecy, but sits on his hands as our nation’s whistleblowers face the full brunt of the law.”<\/strong><\/em> – Rex Patrick<\/strong>
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Rex-Patrick-McBride-and-Assange-collage.webp?resize=740%2C400&ssl=1\")
Former independent senator Rex Patrick, David McBride, and Julian Assange (Images: AAP)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
He\u2019s an Australian who blew the whistle on war crimes committed in the Middle East, a man before a judicial system with little chance of freedom in the years ahead.<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not talking about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, although I could be. I\u2019m talking about David McBride, who blew the whistle on war crimes committed by a small cohort of Australian troops in Afghanistan by leaking classified military documents to the ABC.<\/span><\/p>\nOn March 12, McBride will walk into the ACT Supreme Court where he faces sentencing for telling the truth. He likely won\u2019t walk away from the court \u2014 instead, he\u2019ll be driven to a new home: jail. The prosecutor, on behalf of the security establishment he blew the whistle on, is seeking for McBride a lengthy custodial sentence.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter reading the above introduction, it\u2019s reasonable to have presumed I was discussing Julian Assange. He\u2019s currently petitioning the High Court in the United Kingdom to prevent his extradition to the United States, where he\u2019s set to face time in a supermax prison and a lengthy trial for being a journalist.<\/span><\/p>\nLast week the House of Representatives passed a motion, moved by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, that called on the House to note that the situation as it stands \u201cunderlines the importance of the UK and USA bringing the matter to a close so that Mr Assange can return home to his family in Australia\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Albanese government voted for the motion; falling popularity among Labor\u2019s support base demanded it did so. But it\u2019s not as though the motion involved substantive action. While Wilkie did well to press for the motion \u2014 and it does assist as a point of pressure in the public\u2019s fight for Assange\u2019s release – Labor\u2019s vote can only be seen as just another part of the disingenuousness that has covered its non-advocacy for Assange.<\/span><\/p>\nThe prime minister doesn\u2019t have direct control over the release of Assange. But he does have the ability to press strongly with US President Joe Biden for his release. America regularly releases people from its custody for reasons of national interest. Most recently it released a number of Iranian prisoners in exchange for five Americans<\/span><\/a> imprisoned in Iran and for US$6 billion that had been frozen in South Korean banks.<\/span><\/p>\nAlbanese just doesn\u2019t have the moral courage to insist on Assange\u2019s release. Last week he went into Parliament and gave it all he seemed capable of: sitting down on the \u201cYes\u201d side of the chamber for the motion before then leaving to go about doing nothing substantive to actually support Assange. That\u2019s not being harsh \u2014 freedom of information documents show<\/a><\/span> he has not written to Biden about Assange, and that Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus have not written to their US counterparts either.<\/span><\/p>\nThat leads us back to David McBride. Albanese, through his attorney-general, has direct control over dropping the charges against this whistleblower in our own country. No action has occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n
Former independent senator Rex Patrick, David McBride, and Julian Assange (Images: AAP)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
He\u2019s an Australian who blew the whistle on war crimes committed in the Middle East, a man before a judicial system with little chance of freedom in the years ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m not talking about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, although I could be. I\u2019m talking about David McBride, who blew the whistle on war crimes committed by a small cohort of Australian troops in Afghanistan by leaking classified military documents to the ABC.<\/span><\/p>\n On March 12, McBride will walk into the ACT Supreme Court where he faces sentencing for telling the truth. He likely won\u2019t walk away from the court \u2014 instead, he\u2019ll be driven to a new home: jail. The prosecutor, on behalf of the security establishment he blew the whistle on, is seeking for McBride a lengthy custodial sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n After reading the above introduction, it\u2019s reasonable to have presumed I was discussing Julian Assange. He\u2019s currently petitioning the High Court in the United Kingdom to prevent his extradition to the United States, where he\u2019s set to face time in a supermax prison and a lengthy trial for being a journalist.<\/span><\/p>\n Last week the House of Representatives passed a motion, moved by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, that called on the House to note that the situation as it stands \u201cunderlines the importance of the UK and USA bringing the matter to a close so that Mr Assange can return home to his family in Australia\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The Albanese government voted for the motion; falling popularity among Labor\u2019s support base demanded it did so. But it\u2019s not as though the motion involved substantive action. While Wilkie did well to press for the motion \u2014 and it does assist as a point of pressure in the public\u2019s fight for Assange\u2019s release – Labor\u2019s vote can only be seen as just another part of the disingenuousness that has covered its non-advocacy for Assange.<\/span><\/p>\n The prime minister doesn\u2019t have direct control over the release of Assange. But he does have the ability to press strongly with US President Joe Biden for his release. America regularly releases people from its custody for reasons of national interest. Most recently it released a number of Iranian prisoners in exchange for five Americans<\/span><\/a> imprisoned in Iran and for US$6 billion that had been frozen in South Korean banks.<\/span><\/p>\n Albanese just doesn\u2019t have the moral courage to insist on Assange\u2019s release. Last week he went into Parliament and gave it all he seemed capable of: sitting down on the \u201cYes\u201d side of the chamber for the motion before then leaving to go about doing nothing substantive to actually support Assange. That\u2019s not being harsh \u2014 freedom of information documents show<\/a><\/span> he has not written to Biden about Assange, and that Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus have not written to their US counterparts either.<\/span><\/p>\n That leads us back to David McBride. Albanese, through his attorney-general, has direct control over dropping the charges against this whistleblower in our own country. No action has occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n