FEDERAL authorities have failed to find any criminal laws that Julian Assange may have broken by publishing what has become a daily diplomatic scandal sheet for the Gillard Government.

The Australian Federal Police and the Attorney-General's Department admitted they had so far been unable to determine if there was any law under which he could be charged.

Pressure was mounting on the Federal Government to justify its claims against Assange following the leaking of new diplomatic cables involving another Gillard minister.

The latest release, on the back of the humiliating US assessment of former PM Kevin Rudd, suggested Mr Rudd's political executioner, the Labor powerbroker and Senator Mark Arbib, was a mole for US officials. Mr Arbib yesterday defended his role in providing information to US diplomats about the Labor Party's plans to topple Mr Rudd as early as 2009.

"I, like many members of the Federal Parliament, have regular discussions about the state of Australian and US politics with the US mission and consulate," he said.

Mr Arbib was also reported to have told consular staff in 2006, when he was the NSW Labor secretary, that Australia was in danger of being reduced to a "quarry for the Chinese and a tourist destination for the Japanese".

The US cables revealed America considered Mr Arbib was a valuable source who needed to be protected.

Despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard's claim that the "foundation" of WikiLeaks' embarrassing disclosures was based on an "illegal act" Attorney-General Robert McClelland's office confirmed it had yet to receive any advice on what Australian laws had been breached.

The AFP would not comment yesterday.

"The AFP will continue to work with the Attorney-General's Department as the lead agency in relation to this matter," a spokeswoman said.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie also accused Ms Gillard of ignoring Assange's presumption of innocence.

"She has shown contempt for Australia's sovereignty by defaulting to the interests of the United States of America above the interests of an Australian citizen," he said.

"She has also trashed the principle of freedom of speech because, although we might not agree with Assange's actions, we must always respect the right to speak out so long as lives and national security are not placed at risk."

With public support for WikiLeaks growing, grass roots political lobby group GetUp! now plans to publish petitions signed by Australians in American newspapers next week calling on US President Barrack Obama to leave Assange alone.

"A chorus of American politicians and commentators have been branding WikiLeaks a terrorist organisation and calling for its chief, Australian citizen Julian Assange, to be thrown in Guantanamo Bay or face the death penalty," GetUp! campaigns director Sam Mclean said.

"Our Government should stand up for the rights of citizens but because they haven't, we're inviting Australians to band together and do it ourselves."

Originally published as Secret leaker broke no law