Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is a step closer to contesting a Senate seat in the federal election, with an application made to put him on the electoral roll in Victoria. WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance (WACA) spokeswoman Sam Castro said Assange’s application for electoral enrollment was made to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in Melbourne today. “It was lodged on Julian’s behalf with his signature,” Ms Castro told AAP. Ms Castro also confirmed the address nominated in Assange’s application was his mother’s house in Mentone, in the federal electorate of Isaacs.
Assange has been holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where authorities want to question him over allegations of sex crimes.
Ms Castro said a newly formed WikiLeaks party, consisting of a 10-member national council, would be convened within a week. The council would then start collecting members to register the party. “They are people who are close associates, academics, specialists in their field and activists as well,” she said.
Ms Castro said if Assange was elected and unable to fill his Senate seat, another nominated member would be chosen to fill the vacancy. “My understanding is … the party can nominate another person if a candidate is unable to take their seat,” she said.
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