Greens want to call Julian Assange and Edward Snowden to parliamentary surveillance inquiry

Updated

Edward Snowden and Julian Assange would not be protected by parliamentary privilege if they give evidence to a Senate committee about what they know about government snooping on Australian citizens, according to advice given to the ABC.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam is trying to have Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, and WikiLeaks founder Assange called before a parliamentary committee to give evidence into what they might know about mass surveillance of Australian citizens.

The move has caused a rift within Labor following the ABC's report that the Opposition was initially open to the idea.

Snowden has been charged with espionage by the Americans for leaking thousands of classified documents which have exposed the spying activities of countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Attorney-General George Brandis have labelled him a "traitor" for leaking the sensitive information – some of which included revelations Australia spied on Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

Snowden has been granted a temporary visa in Russia since leaking the classified documents.

Mr Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault charges.

It is thought that any successful attempts to have both men give evidence to the Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee would occur via video link.

If that were to happen, Snowden and Mr Assange would not be protected by privilege as it only applies when witnesses are physically in Australia.

Labor MP Michael Danby said he hoped Snowden and Mr Assange would have revelations about non-Western countries' spying activities to share.

"In the wake of the Russian seizure of Crimea, I hope the Greens aren't embarrassed by Snowden broadcasting from Russian territory in the Crimea or elsewhere," Mr Danby told the ABC.

"I'm looking forward to Mr Snowden and Mr Assange's view of Russian surveillance.

"It's strange that their only revelations appear to be about what we do, not what the Russians or Chinese do."

The ABC understands there is disquiet within senior Labor ranks about the party potentially supporting the Greens' bid, including the Opposition's decision to support the inquiry in the first place.

A source said Labor should not be siding with the Greens to create a "kangaroo court" to try Australia's intelligence agencies.

Senator Ludlam, who instigated the inquiry into the Telecommunications Act, told the ABC the committee's deliberations on scheduling were "confidential" and would not confirm that Mr Assange and Snowden would be asked to appear.

But he said a finalised witness list would be available shortly.

The committee has not begun hearings but has extended the deadline for written submissions. It is due to report by June.

Topics: security-intelligence, defence-and-national-security, human, federal-parliament, government-and-politics, greens, australia

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