Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlum has condemned the hostility of both the Coalition government and Labor towards Australian WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange who on Friday marks the third anniversary of his entry into Ecuador's embassy in London.



"Since WikiLeaks' first publication of damning primary evidence of war crimes and corruption, the Liberal, National and Labor parties have maintained their hostility to the work of Mr Assange and his colleagues," Senator Ludlam said.



"Australian politicians maintained their silence as WikiLeaks was subjected to a financial blockade by Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others, and did nothing to contest pre-emptive declarations of guilt by senior politicians in the US, UK and Sweden.



"No Australian officials have sought to query or contest the increasingly erratic and indefensible behaviour of Swedish prosecutors who have again delayed questioning Mr Assange over serious, unrelated allegations dating back more than five years."



Assange has lived at Ecuador's London embassy since June 2012 when the South American country granted him asylum on the grounds that he is at risk of extradition to the United States to face espionage and conspiracy charges arising from the leaking of thousands of secret documents by US Army private Chelsea Manning.



In March, a US court confirmed that Assange and WikiLeaks are still being targeted in a long-running investigation by the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation.



British police are on guard outside the Ecuadorian embassy, waiting to arrest Assange so he can be extradited to Sweden under an arrest warrant for questioning about sexual assault allegations that were raised by two Swedish women in August 2010. Assange denies the allegations and his lawyers have advised that he is at risk of extradition to the US from both Sweden or the United Kingdom.



In May, Sweden's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Assange to revoke the arrest warrant. Assange had challenged the warrant in the context of a longstanding refusal by Swedish prosecutors to interview him in London, however in an abrupt U-turn prosecutor Marianne Nye agreed to do so.



However Ms Nye this week cancelled arrangements to interview Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy. Assange said that while a date and time for the interview had been agreed, he had learned that the much delayed Swedish legal application to Ecuador to conduct the interview at the embassy had only been submitted two days earlier and had not yet been processed by the Ecuadorian authorities.



"To behave in such a way seems reckless and it is hard to imagine that it was more than a public relations exercise," Assange said. "It is impossible to maintain confidence in this prosecutor under such circumstances."



A spokesperson for the prosecutor said "we will do everything to get this interview done before the end of July".



Even if Sweden eventually drops the investigation, Mr Assange faces arrest by British police for jumping bail granted while the British courts considered the European arrest warrant issued by Sweden.



In February 2013, former foreign minister Bob Carr said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would not "over-service" Assange's consular case, because it "doesn't affect Australian interests".



Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has since said she believes Australia has provided sufficient consular support to Assange.



The Department has declined to say whether Australian officials have had any consular contact with Assange since February 2013.



Senator Ludlam who has long expressed support for Assange said WikiLeaks has "continuing value" as a publisher prepared to reveal information that governments and politicians would much prefer be kept secret.



Over the past three years WikiLeaks has continued to publish a wide range of sensitive information including leaked texts of the secret Trans Pacific Partnership and Trade in Services Agreement trade negotiations, and details of an Australia-wide court suppression order relating to a serious corporate corruption case involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.



In mid-2013, WikiLeaks facilitated the safe passage of former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden following his revelations of mass surveillance programs in the US and allied countries including Australia.



"Publishers, journalists and sources sometimes pay a high price for public interest disclosures of truths that powerful people would prefer remain secret," Senator Ludlam said.

"The current government has continued the former government's practice of excruciating subservience to the US government's policy of vilification, intimidation and eventually it is assumed, grand jury indictments brought against WikiLeaks staff."

