Julian Assange speech at WikiLeaks Public Meeting in Melbourne

A public meeting was held in Melbourne on Friday, February 4, at 6pm to hear speakers discuss Wikileaks and freedom of speech in the 21st century.

Speakers included: Julian Assange (via an exclusive address recorded for that meeting), as well as Jennifer Robinson (Assange's UK lawyer), Adam Bandt (Federal MP for Melbourne), Peter Gordon (Principal of Gordon Legal), Lizzie O'Shea, (Melbourne public interest solicitor) and Christopher Warren ( Federal Secretary of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance).

English subtitles & transcription available.
Disponibles subtítulos & transcripción en Español.

Thank you so much for coming to this rally.

Your presence here and your support, in homes,

workplaces, online and elsewhere

is exactly what is needed

to keep us strong.

I really wish I could be with you in person.

I can't wait to be back in Melbourne,

where I've fond memories of taking a tram up Swanson Street,

dropping in at Trades Hall

and having my favorite coffee at The New International Bookshop.

Although we are far apart at the moment,

I follow news from home regularly.

Iâve been heartened,

not just by the stories of support for our organization,

but the stories of courageous and kindness

that everyday Australians

have shown to one another during the floods.

That too is a matter of comfort

to all of us who believe

in basic human decency.

As a journalist I'm used to reporting the news

rather than addressing rallies,

but these are not ordinary times.

The times we are going through at the moment constitute

a generational challenge.

The US Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s

also constituted a generational challenge.

As did the Peace Movement of the late 1960s,

Feminist movements in different periods of the 20th century

and the awakening environmental consciousness that is taken hold in recent years.

For the internet generation

this is our challenge and this is our of time.

We support a cause

that is no more radical a proposition

than that the citizenry

has a right to scrutinize the State.

The State has asserted its authority by surveilling,

monitoring and regimenting all of us.

All the while hiding behind cloaks

of security

and opaqueness.

Surely it was only a matter of time

before citizens pushed back and we asserted our rights.

This brings me to another point.

We at WikiLeaks recognize the difference between secrecy and privacy.

Individuals,

not Governments,

have the right to privacy.

Strong powers must be held to account

while weak

must be protected.

We believe

in transparent power not in transparent people.

We publish material that is in the public interest.

For us, as the European Court of Human Rights and the British Court of Appeal have held,

the decisive factor in balancing the protection of private life

against freedom of expression should lie in the contribution

the material has to make to the debate of general interest.

It is surely

a matter of public interest

that Australian politicians

secretly brief foreign embassies,

in effect

providing them with political intelligence on the Australian government,

while concealing these vital facts

from those who actually elected them to office.

WikiLeaks has brought this

important information to the public.

It is surely a matter of public interest

that the US secretary of state

Hillary Clinton

has been running a secret intelligence campaign

directed

at the leadership on the United Nations demanding passwords, DNA,

personal encryption keys, credit card numbers, e-mail addresses and so on.

That targeting is illegal

under the 1946

UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities

and illegal under

the 1961

Vienna Convention

on Diplomatic Relations.

And it is surely a matter of public interest

that the labor government

has been secretly working to shield from prosecution

Indonesian military figures

who killed an Australian journalist in East Timor.

WikiLeaks brought this information out to the public as well.

It would appear the labor government today is doing what the labor government did in

1975 regarding East Timor -

- talking about human rights

while trying to downplay attacks on journalists.

Because you and I should be in no doubt on one thing,

we are a media organization,

I am a publisher and I am a journalist.

I've been a member of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance -

- Australia's big journalists union for years.

I published my first book when I was 25.

There has been outrageous

and illegal calls to have me and my staff killed,

clear cases

of incitement to violence -

- yet the Australian government has condoned this behavior

by its diplomatic silence.

I find it interesting

that some politicians

have no intention

of implying the precautionary principle

when it comes to the environment

but assert it

when it comes

to our reporting.

They conjure hypothetical scenarios

and claim that somehow someday

our stories might somehow harm someone somewhere.

But we have a four year publishing history -

- a history of not harming a single individual anywhere.

They provide no evidence of actual harm.

So I say to you: that which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without argument.

And it is interesting how some politicians

single out my staff and myself

for attack,

while saying nothing about the slaughter of thousands by the US military

or other dictatorships,

and saying nothing

about other much wealthier,

powerful news organizations

that publish material in partnership with us.

It is cowardly

to bully a small media organization -

- but that is what is happening here.

We are eternally grateful

to your strong support

in helping us stand up to the bullies.

Julia Gillard should be taking active steps

to bring me home and to protect our people.

She should be contacting the US embassy

and demanding that it back off.

As for the future, we are as determined as ever.

With your help and support

we'll make our way through this storm

and continue to publish

and hold powerful and abusive organizations to account.

I want to assure you

that we will not be mimic the timidity and subservience to power

that some other media organizations have.

If that is what it means to go to mainstream

then we are happy to stay where we are -

- at the front line of the truth.

We will, as Don Chipp dreamed,

try to keep the bastards honest.

We have been deeply moved by the concern

Australians have shown for us,

but I ask that you turn your concern into action.

Insist

the attacks on my staff

and organization stop.

Insist

that I be allowed to return home.

Insist

that the Australian government come clean

on all its interactions

with foreign powers

in relation to our organization.

Thank you for your good will.

We'll keep the faith with you and you'll keep us strong.