“Wikileaks Party is a party of accountability, it’s not a party of government,” said Assange at the Melbourne announcement via a webcam.
“It’s a party to put into the Senate, to make sure whoever is put into the government does their job. It’s an insurance against the election.”
Assange himself is looking to represent stand as a senator in Victoria “Hopefully, the situation with the US and UK will have resolved by the time I would have to take up the seat in July,” he said in the video announcement from a Melbourne library.
The Wikileaks Party logo
Representing Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales, the Wikileaks Party is putting forwards seven candidates. However, according to the Wikileaks party twitter feed, the site was subject to a DDoS attack preventing it from being viewed.
They include human rights activist and lawyer Kellie Tranter and Alison Broinowski, a journalist and academic. Both are standing in New South Wales.
In Western Australia journalist Gerry Georgatos and economist Suresh Rajan will stand.
Alongside Assange in the state of Victoria will be ethicist Dr Leslie Cannold and Dr Binoy Kampmark, an RMIT University legal expert.
Describing the candidates, Assange said “These people aren’t political people. They are academics. They are the people we need to keep the bastards honest.”
ABC’s political commentator Antony Green said in an election blog “I think Julian Assange has next to no chance of being elected to the Senate at next year’s election.”
“If he were elected he may have difficulty ever taking his seat.”
“He’s basically a nuisance candidate who may attract a bit of attention, because he’s not really about governing and sitting in Parliament,” political science professor John Wanna of the Australian National University told The New York Times.
“He’s not standing to do the work, he’s standing for the nuisance value.”
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