Barnaby Joyce returns from US visit to free Assange

"[Some] were oblivious to it, to be quite frank, they were like; 'is that still going on?'" Mr Joyce told the Leader.

"And that's why it's so important to go there and say, 'yeah, it's going on'."

Mr Joyce and a delegation of five others from across the Australian political divide visited the US on September 20 and 21, in a show of unity to campaign for the release of Mr Assange who is locked-up in the UK's high-security Belmarsh prison.

Mr Assange's brother Julian Shipton told the Leader his brother was "running out of options in terms of legal avenues to stop the extradition", having only one final appeal in the UK courts.

"That's an application he's put in, he had one rejected in writing just recently, and because of the way that was rejected in writing, he can submit a second application to be heard by two separate judges," Mr Shipton said.

"We're just waiting on a date for that in-person hearing to be set."

If found guilty, Mr Assange, who has spent about four years in Belmarsh following his arrest in 2019 when the Australian national's asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy was revoked after seven years, could be extradited to the US where he is likely to face 175 years in jail for revealing evidence of US war crimes under the Espionage Act.

Mr Joyce has not met Mr Assange but has supported the cause for many years, saying the fact that an Australian citizen can be extradited to a third country for something that was not illegal in Australia at the time "sets a dangerous precedent".

"The reason it's a dangerous precedent is, what happens when another country such as China, says, 'Oh, if you can extradite people to the United States for crimes in the United States, then you better extradite people to China for crimes in China".

"I personally believe that what he did was wrong but it wasn't illegal [in Australia] and there's a huge difference. Also, if he goes to jail for being a journalist, there's going to be a lot of journalists in jail."

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The Wikileaks founder is alleged to have published a series of classified diplomatic cables and military files in 2010, which related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and reportedly revealed the US had killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan, and killed and tortured thousands in Iraq.

The cables and military files were stolen by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea (nee Bradley) Manning who was pardoned by then-US president Barack Obama in 2017, about four years after being found guilty in 2010.

Mr Joyce said the case against Assange has "just gone on for too long and it has got to be brought to a conclusion".

He said congressmen Jim McGovern from Massachusetts and Thomas Massie from Kentucky said they would be signing a joint letter and bringing the issue up in Congress.

"So people are moving on this issue and that's what we want," Mr Joyce said.

Mr Shipton said Mr Joyce was "a real asset to the delegation" in Washington DC due to his ability "to connect with people across the political spectrum".

"The US congressmen and lawmakers that received the delegation, I think they found it inspiring that there was such cooperation and representation among the delegation from all political walks of life," Mr Shipton said.

But Mr Shipton said it has been a "nightmare" for his family and for Julian to have to go through...he has been detained one way or another for the past 13 years in the United Kingdom".

"I've been taken aback by his capacity, and his inner strength. But I think what keeps him going is all the support that he gets from around the world and that gets fed back to him by Stella his wife."

The delegation also included Labor's Tony Zapia, Liberal senator Alex Antic, Greens senators Peter Whish-Wilson and David Shoebridge, and independent MP Monique Ryan.

The Australian delegation met with various US Congress members and senior officials from the US State and Justice departments during the two-day trip.

It comes shortly before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first official visit to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington DC from October 23 to 26, with the official state dinner on October 25.

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