IN THE MEDIA

Declassified Australia co-founder and co-editor, Antony Loewenstein, spoke to global broadcaster TRT World about the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on 13 June, 2023, and the role of Declassified Australia‘s contributing writer, Kellie Tranter, and her FOI work around Assange:

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Declassified Australia co-founders and co-editors Antony Loewenstein and Peter Cronau in conversation in Sydney, Australia on 20 May, 2023 discussing Antony’s new book, The Palestine Laboratory, and surveillance capitalism in the 21st century:

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The historic Belmarsh Tribunal came to Sydney, Australia on 4 March 2023 – bringing the fight for Julian Assange’s freedom back to his home country. It was presented by Progressive International and co-sponsored by Declassified Australia. More information here and here.


THE DISSENTER DISCUSSES DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA‘S KELLIE TRANTER’S EXCLUSIVE REPORTING ON WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE – 5 Jan 23

Could Julian Assange Be Released In Two Months? Previous reporting in July 2022 by Kellie Tranter for Declassified Australia featured documents obtained from the Australian Attorney General’s office that showed the Labor Party had not ruled out Assange’s extradition from the United Kingdom to the US. Talking points in the documents indicated that the Labor Party was prepared for a prisoner transfer of Assange. A prisoner transfer could only happen if Assange pled guilty to one or all of the offenses or if he was put on trial and sentenced in a US courtroom. 


CUBA DEBATE DISCUSSES DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA‘S EXCLUSIVE ON ANTI-RUSSIAN TWITTER ‘BOT ARMY’ – 17 Dec 22

The Press, Freedom of Expression and NATO’s Lies [translation: La prensa, la libertad de expresión y las mentiras de la OTAN]. A University of Adelaide study ‘Massive Anti-Russian ‘Bot Army’ Exposed By Australian Researchers’ reported by Declassified Australia on tweets from the war in Ukraine, confirms that we are mired in a massive disinformation campaign on social media. The study examined five million tweets generated in the first weeks of the Russian invasion and revealed that 80% of them were generated in “factories” for propaganda. 90% of those fabricated messages were launched from pro-Ukrainian accounts and only 7% from Russian factories.


FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING DISCUSSES PETER CRONAU’S DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA REPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA MANIPULATION – 1 Dec 22

NATO Narratives and Corporate Media Are Leading to ‘Doorstep of Doom’. Declassified Australia (22/9/22) detailed a “covert online propaganda operation” promoting “pro-Western narratives” for two decades, operating mostly out of the United States, and further revealed (3/11/22) that a team of researchers at the University of Adelaide unearthed millions of tweets by fake “bot” accounts pushing disinformation on the Ukraine war. The “anti-Russia propaganda campaign” of automated Twitter accounts flooded the internet at the start of the war. Of the more than 5 million tweets studied (both bot and non-bot), 90% came from accounts that were pro-Ukraine.


KELLIE TRANTER FOR DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA WAS ‘LIVE’ IN THE PRESS PACK AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB IN CANBERRA – 19 Oct 22

Our correspondent Kellie Tranter attended the National Press Club in Canberra on 19 October 2022, where Jennifer Robinson was addressing the luncheon. Robinson is a lawyer and a longtime member of the legal team acting for Julian Assange.

Here Kellie asks Robinson to respond to the findings of our FOIs on the new Labor Government’s manoeuvrings around the release of Assange. In July we published this exclusive story in Labor’s Assange Game Plan that found Australian authorities liaising with US authorities over bringing Assange back to Australia – but only after he has been extradited to the US from the UK, placed on trial, then sentenced.

Robinson replied: ‘Any kind of post-extradition agreement would be unacceptable as an outcome. It is no solution. We cannot allow Julian to be sent to the United States to face those prison conditions.’

Robinson also called on the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to agree to meet with members of the Assange family.

Jennifer Robinson responding to Declassified Australia‘s Kellie Tranter at the National Press Club, 19 October 2022. (Video: ABC TV)

Kellie Tranter, Declassified Australia:
You’ve said that you’ve been asking successive Australian governments for diplomatic assistance for Julian for over a decade, but successive Australian governments have done nothing. The Albanese government has said that ‘enough is enough’ and they refer to ‘quiet diplomacy’.

But FOI documents received by Declassified Aus from the Attorney-General’s office confirmed that a post-extradition plea deal is still being considered.  

Notwithstanding the dire personal consequences for Julian of landing on U S soil, and for journalists in this room and the world over, do you think quiet diplomacy is effective when Mr Assange’s position has not substantially changed in any way since the election in May [2022]? 

With over a decade of inaction by successive Australian governments, are you confident that representations are actually being made to the United States, that no extradition take place? 

And, should Mr Albanese meet with Mr Assange’s family?

Jennifer Robinson:
First, I do think that the Prime Minister should meet with Julian’s family. It would be a welcome gesture, and one that I think the Australian public would fully support.

In terms of, all I can say, is what I have been told: that private talks are underway.

For us, any kind of post-extradition agreement would be unacceptable as an outcome. It is as I have explained no solution.

We cannot allow Julian to be sent to the United States to face those prison conditions. We know that there’s this medical evidence to show that he will suicide if he’s placed in those conditions. And that is not an acceptable outcome for any Australian citizen.


THE JIMMY DORE SHOW REPORTS ON PETER CRONAU’S DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION, ‘COVERT PRO-WESTERN INFORMATION OPERATION’ – 1 Oct 22

Pentagon’s Bot Army Banned From Facebook & Twitter. “This is an amazing story. The US military can’t even win ‘Twitter wars’ anymore.” US comedian and commentator Jimmy Dore discusses Declassified Australia’s investigation of the US’s use of disinformation tactics on social media traditionally associated with ‘bad actors’ like Russia and China.


JOHN PILGER COMMENTS TO INDEPENDENT AUSTRALIA ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA‘S REPORT ON THE ASSANGE EXTRADITION CASE – 29 Jul 22

IA: Can you comment on the Declassified Australia report with internal briefings for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus which indicated that the only focus of the Labor Government is a hypothetical prison transfer after Assange has been extradited to the U.S. and convicted of Espionage Act charges there?

John Pilger: The Albanese Labor Government is as right-wing and compliant as any Australian Labor government — only the Whitlam Government in 1972-75 broke the mould, and it was got rid of. It was the Labor Government of Julia Gillard that initiated Australia’s collusion with the U.S. to silence Assange. The ‘prison transfer’ idea may be seen as a weasel way of satisfying support for Julian in his homeland. Whatever happens, the U.S. will decide and the Albanese Government will do as it’s told. 


SYDNEY CRIMINAL LAWYERS REPORTS ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA’S EXCLUSIVE ON DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE ASSANGE CASE – 27 Jul 22

Albanese’s Backdoor Diplomacy Could Spell Assange’s Death Knell. Government documents obtained via freedom of information by human rights lawyer Kellie Tranter suggest that the Labor government is negotiating on Assange in a manner that includes contemplation of his going before the US courts, prior to being repatriated to serve his time.

Writing in Declassified Australia on 16 July, Tranter explains that notes containing talking points for federal attorney general Mark Dreyfus focus on the mechanisms available to this nation and to Assange himself in seeking his transference to Australia post-conviction in the US.


SKY NEWS INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN OF DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA ON RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE AND THE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS – 10 Mar 22

“The question is can sanctions really crush Russia, and ultimately who actually suffers from that? It’s often the Russian people more than actual oligarchs.” 


ABC RADIO NATIONAL’S PACIFIC BEAT INTERVIEWS NICKY HAGER ON ‘EYES OVER THE PACIFIC, HIS DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA INVESTIGATION INTO AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND SPYING IN THE PACIFIC – 09.03.22

“If you’re working in the government of a Pacific nation, you’re being spied on quite likely all the time, by your supposed friends in Australia and New Zealand.” 


RADIO NEW ZEALAND’S PACIFIC WAVES INTERVIEWS NICKY HAGER AND DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA‘S ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ON HAGER’S INVESTIGATION ON SPYING IN THE PACIFIC1, 2, 3 Mar 22

Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.
Investigative journalist Nicky Hager is urging the New Zealand government to stop spying on its Pacific friends. In his latest article  “Eyes Over the Pacific” published on the website Declassified Australia a New Zealand military intelligence officer speaking on the condition of anonymity shares his views on the extensive spying that he has helped undertake. In this talanoa series I am joined by investigative journalists, author Nicky Hager and the co-founder of Declassified Australia, Antony Loewenstein.


BAD NEWS PODCAST INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ABOUT AFGHAN RESOURCES, DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA, AND INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM – 1 Mar 22

In this episode, we interview Antony Loewenstein, independent journalist, author, film-maker and co-founder of new media organisation Declassified Australia.


 

RT’s GOING UNDERGROUND INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA’S INVESTIGATION ON EXPLOITATION OF AFGHAN MINERAL RESOURCES – 28 Feb 22


SKY NEWS INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN OF DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA ON RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE – 25 Feb 22


TRIPLE-R RADIO IN MELBOURNE INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA’S INVESTIGATION INVESTIGATION ON EXPLOITATION OF AFGHAN MINERAL RESOURCES– 21 Feb 22


RADIO ISLAM IN SOUTH AFRICA INTERVIEWED ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA’S INVESTIGATION ON EXPLOITATION OF AFGHAN MINERAL RESOURCES – 18 Feb 22


MINT PRESS NEWS REPORTS ON MICHELE FAHY’S DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA’S REPORT ‘AUSTRALIA CAPTURED‘ – 20 Jan 22

ASPI: The Government Funded Conspiracist Think Tank Now Controlling Your Social Media Feed. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute describes itself  as an “independent, non-partisan think tank” whose mission is to “nourish public debate and understanding” and “better inform” the public, as well as to “produce expert and timely advice for Australian and global leaders.” Michelle Fahy noted in an article in Declassified Australiamany former ASPI council members had questionable connections to the arms industry…


TRIPLE R RADIO IN MELBOURNE INTERVIEWS ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN ON DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA – 17 Jan 22

Loewenstein told Triple-R how late last year he co-launched with colleague Peter Cronau, Australia’s newest strategic policy analysis and investigative journalism online outlet Declassified Australia.