Australian of the Year: Julian Assange

It is hoped that Assange will soon extend his innovation of an electronic drop box to courageous men and women in other nations, both Western and Eastern as well as to non-state actors, such as the Taliban, the Palestinian Authority, al-Qaeda, Lakshar-e-Taiba and Abu Bakr Bashir’s Jemaah Islamiyah. By doing so, Assange will remove the “anti-American” pejorative prefix that is currently perhaps unfairly ascribed to him.

While to date he hasn’t completely changed journalism, he has made a magnificent start. His goal has been noble and his efforts victorious.

Australians now know truths about their world that their elected leaders would prefer were kept hidden. For instance, we now know that former Prime Minister Rudd told us one thing about China and told United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton quite another. So was he lying to us, or was he lying to her?

The wicked forces assembled against Mr Assange, both at home and abroad, may slow him down but they cannot stop him. Moreover, they must not stop him.

The perpetuation of deceit by democratically elected representatives is a danger to the health of democracies worldwide. It is a depressing comment on the character of men, that so many repulsive characters in a range of cities from Canberra to Riyadh to Washington D.C. are willing and eager to put their personal interest ahead of their public commitments. After all, if these characters were not duplicitous, then WikiLeaks would have unearthed no deceit.

This coming 26 January when deciding on the Australian of the Year, the management and staff at Rupert Murdoch’s the Australian have a choice.

For the sake of democracy, let’s hope the Australian makes the right choice.