Australian MPs vote to urge the US & UK to free Julian Assange from prison

Australian MPs, and importantly, the Prime Minister and cabinet members, have voted to urge the US and the UK to allow Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to return to Australia, and be freed from Belmarsh prison.

86 voted in favour, with 42 against, as independent MP Andrew Wilkie hailed the passing of the motion as “an unprecedented show of political support for Mr Assange by the Australian parliament”.

Opposition leader, Petter Dutton, opposed the motion on Wednesday, alongside Coalition colleagues, although Bridget Archer, crossed the floor to back the pro-Assange motion.

This vote comes after the Australian attorney general confirmed that the subject of Julian Assange was raised when he met his US counterpart, Merrick Garland, in Washington a couple of weeks ago.

At the time, Dreyfus told The Guardian that although it was "a private discussion", the Australian government's "position on Mr Assange is very clear, and has not changed". He added: "It is time this matter is brought to an end".

Assange is currently in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him from the UK to face charges, including under the Espionage Act. The UK high court is due to hold a two-day hearing next week.

The charges are in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables, in 2010 and 2011.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has previously pushed back at the Australian government’s complaints that the pursuit of Assange had dragged on too long. After talks in Brisbane, he said it was "very important" for "our friends" in Australia to understand the US concerns about Assange’s “alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country”.