Friends and family of Julian Assange are urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to publicly call for the WikiLeaks co-founder's extradition to the United States on espionage charges to be stopped.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel gave the green light at the weekend for Mr Assange to be sent to America, where he faces 18 charges related to his role in publishing classified cables and sensitive military material from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
7.30 has been told the federal government has raised the Australian citizen's plight behind the scenes with our close allies, and senior ministers have said publicly they won't conduct diplomacy via "megaphone".
But some of Mr Assange's closest allies fear quiet, behind-the-scenes representations to the US and UK might not be enough.
They claim there is a serious chance Mr Assange could be on a plane within weeks and are urging the PM to now make a public statement, clearly expressing Australia's displeasure.
"There will be some diplomacy behind the scenes, but publicly just make the position clear," Gabriel Shipton, Mr Assange's brother, urged Mr Albanese.
"Be clear what the Australian people are asking you to do, which is to bring Julian home.
"It puts them in a position where they have to say no to a strategic ally. I don't really see the Biden Administration turning around and saying no to one of its most strategic allies at this time."
Last year, Mr Albanese said he failed to see what purpose was being served by the ongoing incarceration of Mr Assange.
"There's been a heavy price paid," the then-opposition leader said.
"Now, I don't agree with a whole range of Julian Assange's views but there needs to be a point at which you say that enough is enough," he added.
On Monday, Mr Albanese declared he stood by his previous comments but did not repeat them.
"I'll make this point as well. There are some people who think that if you put things in capital letters on Twitter and put an exclamation mark that somehow makes it more important. It doesn't," he said.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has long advocated for the release of the WikiLeaks co-founder and believes support for him has grown substantially in the federal parliament.
He said the PM could rely on significant, cross-party support, if he does make a public statement.
"We've run out of time for polite backchannels and diplomatic manoeuvres. What we need now is the strongest possible action by the Australian government," Mr Wilkie said.
"I'm in no doubt if Anthony Albanese was to make a strong comment... it would make a difference.
"Now more than ever the Australian government has to stop mincing its words, hiding behind every excuse and take action."
Mr Assange's lawyers plan to appeal the UK Home Secretary's extradition decision within the next two weeks.
Mixed views within government over Assange's plight
Mr Assange's lawyers have always maintained he is a journalist, or publisher, who is being persecuted by America for embarrassing it by exposing military wrongdoing.
But the US Justice Department accuses him of being involved in illegal hacking and helping Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst, get the classified information.
There are a variety of views with the federal Labor Party about Mr Assange's plight and what should be done.
Backbencher Julian Hill labelled the extradition "appalling".
"[Chelsea] Manning, who leaked classified material exposing US war crimes, has been pardoned, yet Assange who published it (a journalistic activity) is facing an effective death sentence," he wrote in a tweet.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is among a group of MPs who seem less interested in intervening.
In a statement, a spokeswoman said "this is a matter for the United Kingdom", adding that Mr Assange could expect consular assistance like other Australians facing legal proceedings abroad.
Some Labor MPs dislike Mr Assange because he published unredacted documents. The US has long said that put some of its secret sources at risk.
Other MPs don't like that he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, an investigation that was discontinued several years ago.
Some share similar views to Democrat politicians in the United States. They suspect he damaged Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign when he published emails from the Democratic Party and her campaign chairman ahead of the 2016 election, which was ultimately won by Donald Trump.
"This case is not about the 2016 publications," Jennifer Robinson, one of Mr Assange's lawyers, explained.
"It is not in any way part of this case, so whatever your political views are... it is not the reason for which Julian faces his whole life in a US prison."
Assange accrues more high-profile allies
There has been a persistent campaign by Mr Assange's supporters to lobby politicians about his case.
A few MPs told 7.30 they have received a large number of phone calls since the federal election.
But in recent months, the Wikileaks cofounder has also received the backing of high-profile Australians outside politics.
"I might not agree with Assange and everything that he and Wikileaks have done in the past but I don't think he is a spy," said Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an academic and author who was detained in Iran, falsely accused of espionage.
She said being imprisoned with no clear end date is akin to torture and takes an enormous mental toll.
"If you're just being kept in such conditions with no hope of a reprieve and no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel, that's part of the torture," she said.
"You despair, you give up, perhaps you self-harm, perhaps you want to end it all and, you know, kill yourself.
"Reports about Assange suggest he is in that place right now. It is very, very disturbing to me."
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