 journalists obtaining and publishing sensitive information is in the public interest is essential to democracy. Mr Assange's freedom will only come from political intervention. Will the government intervene to bring Mr Assange home? I some time ago made my point that enough is enough. It is time for this matter to be brought to a conclusion. Last few days alone multiple heads of government have called for freedom for Julian Assange. This includes Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who said that his government will continue to act in a diplomatic way. In his statement in the House of Representatives, he said he has personally raised the case of Assange who is an Australian citizen with representatives of the United States government. The statement is a significant revelation coming from Albanese. He has so far remained tight-lipped about his diplomatic efforts in the Assange case. The Prime Minister did not clarify which US official he had spoken to on the matter or how significant his government's intervention has been so far. Apart from Australia, Latin American countries are also speaking up for Assange. A delegation from WikiLeaks has been on a tour across the continent mobilizing support for Assange from various social movements and progressive governments in the region. The delegation consists of Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks Pristina Harafensen and Joseph Farrell who is a journalist and the WikiLeaks ambassador. Their first stop was Colombia where they met with the leftist President Gustavo Petro and Foreign Minister Alvaro Villabao Duran. We just finished a very successful meeting with President Petro and Foreign Minister Duran here in Colombia in Bogota where they expressed their commitment to our cause for the freedom of Julian Assange because of the acknowledgement of the implication of press freedom all around the world. So President Petro, who has been very supportive of Julian Assange in the past and his battle, is now fully committed in fighting for his freedom. Harafensen and Farrell also met with Brazilian President-elect Lula da Silva. Silva is already one of the most prominent political leaders to defend the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher. After the meeting he tweeted expressing solidarity with Assange and stated may Assange be released from his unjust prison. At the time of this meeting, Brazilian parliamentarians unanimously passed resolution urging US authorities to drop the charges against Assange. Most recently, the delegation met with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernandez committed to talking to Petro, Lula and Chilean President Gabriel Boric to support the release of Assange. Amid these developments on November 28, five major international news dailies published an open letter calling for an end to the year's prosecution of Assange. The Guardian of the New York Times, Le Monde, the Spiegel and El Pais posed his plans to charge Assange under the Espionage Act, a law which they stated was designed to prosecute potential spies during World War I. This open letter was published on the 12th anniversary of the Cablegate League. The five news outlets had worked in collaboration with WikiLeaks to highlight key findings in the classified Cablegate documents. The letter states, this indictment sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to undermine America's forced amendment and the freedom of the press. Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists. If that work is criminalized, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker. Assange is currently facing extradition to the US to stand trial before a federal grand jury on a total of 18 charges, 17 of which are under the Espionage Act. The charges carry a total maximum prison sentence of 175 years. Assange is being held under judicial remand at the High Security Belmont Prison in the United Kingdom. There he awaits the result of an appeal against the British Home Office's decision to allow for his extradition to the United States.