WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:09.000 Thank you so much for coming to this rally. Your presence here and your support in homes, workplaces, online and elsewhere 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:16.000 is exactly what is needed to keep us strong. I really wish I could be with you in person. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:22.000 I can't wait to be back in Melbourne, where I have fond memories of taking a tram up Swansea street, 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:28.000 dropping in at Trade's Hall, and having my favorite coffee at the new International bookshop. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Though we are far apart at the moment, I follow news from home regularly. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:42.000 I've been heartened, not just by the stories of support for our organization, but the stories of courage and kindness 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.000 every day Australians are showing to one another during the floods. That too is a matter of confort 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.000 to all of us who believe in basic human decency. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:01.000 As a journalist, I am used to reporting the news, rather than addressing rallies. But these are not ordinary times. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.000 The times we are going through at the moment constitute a generational challenge 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.000 The US civil rights struggles of the 1950's also constituted a generational challenge, 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:20.000 as did the peace movement of the late 1960's, autonomous (?) movements in different periods of the 20th century, 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:25.000 and the awakening of environmental consciousness that has taken hold in recent years. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:31.000 For the internet generation, this is our challenge, and this is our time. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:39.000 We support a cause that is no more radical a proposition than that the citizenry has a right to scrutinize the state. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:45.000 The state has asserted its authority by surveilling, monitoring and regimenting all of us, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.000 all the while hiding behind cloaks of security and opaqueness. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 Surely, it was only a matter of time before citizens pushed back and we asserted our rights. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:07.000 This brings me to another point. We at Wikileaks recognize the difference between secrecy and privacy. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.000 Individuals, not governments, have the right to privacy. Strong powers must be held to account 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:23.000 while the weak must be protected. We believe in transparent power, not in transparent people. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:29.000 We publish material that is in the public interest. For us, as the European Court of Human Rights 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:35.000 and the British Court of Appeals has held, the decisive factor in balancing the protection of private life 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:44.000 against freedom of expression should lie in the contribution the material has to make to the debate of general interest. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:51.000 It is surely a matter of public interest that Australian politicians secretly briefed foreign embassies, 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:59.000 in effect providing them with political intelligence on the Australian government, while concealing these vital facts 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.000 from those who actually elected them to office. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Wikileaks has brought this important information to the public. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.000 It is surely a matter of public interest that the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:19.000 has been running a secret intelligence campaign directed at the leadership of the United Nations, 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:24.000 demanding passwords, DNA, personal encryption keys, credit card numbers, 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:32.000 e-mail addresses and so on. That targeting is illegal under the 1946 UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities, 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:38.000 and illegal under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:45.000 And it is surely a matter of public interest that the Labour government has been secretly working 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:52.000 to shield from prosecution Indonesian military figures who killed strangers (?) in East Timor. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:56.000 Wikileaks brought this information out to the public as well. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:03.000 It would appear that the Labour government today is doing what Labour did in 1975 regarding East Timor: 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:08.000 talking about human rights while trying to downplay a tax on journalists. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Because you and I should be in no doubt of one thing: we are a media organization, 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.000 I am a publisher, I am a publisher and I am a journalist. I've been a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:27.000 Australia's peak journalist's union, for years. I published my first book when I was 25. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:36.000 There has been outrageous and illegal calls to have me and my staff killed, clear cases of incitement to violence. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.000 And the Australian government has condoned this behavior by its diplomatic silence. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:50.000 I find it interesting that some politicians have no intention of applying the precautionary principle 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:57.000 when it comes to the environment, but assert it when it comes to our reporting. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:05.000 They conjure up hypothetical scenarios, claim that somehow, some day, our stories might somehow harm someone somewhere. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:13.000 But we have a 4-year publishing history, a history of not harming a single individual anywhere. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:20.000 They provide no evidence of actual harm. So I say to you: that which is asserted without evidence 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:30.000 can be dismissed without argument. And it is interesting how some politicians single out my staff and myself for attack 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:38.000 while saying nothing about the slaughter of thousands by the US military or rather dictatorships, 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:47.000 and saying nothing about other, much wealthier, powerful news organizations that published material in partnership with us. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.000 It is cowardly to bully a small media organization, but that is what is happening here. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000 We are eternally grateful to your strong support in helping us stand up to the bullies. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Julia Gillard should be taking active steps to bring me home and to protect our people. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:14.000 She should be contacting the US embassy and demanding that it back off. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:23.000 As for the future, we are as determined as ever. With your help and support, we will make our way through this storm 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 and continue to publish and hold powerful and abusive organizations to account. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:35.000 I want to assure you that we will not mimic the timidity and subservience to power 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.000 that some other media organizations have. If that is what it means to go mainstream, 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.000 then we are happy staying where we are, at the front line of the truth. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.000 We will, as Don Chipp dreamed, "try to keep the bastards honest." 00:06:53.000 --> 00:07:01.000 We have been deeply moved by the concern Australians have shown for us. But I ask that you turn your concern into action. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:11.000 Insist that the attacks on my staff and organization stop. Insist that I be allowed to return home. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:20.000 Insist that the Australian government come clean on all its interactions with foreign powers in relation to our organization. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Thank you for your good will. We will keep the faith with you, and you will keep us strong. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:36.000 [silence]