The Wikileaks Party was damaged recently by the resignation of Senate candidate Dr Leslie Cannold, four of eleven National Council members and other senior volunteers. The split came after its National Council decided to strike a deal with the Greens in New South Wales and Western Australia, which was first undermined by a group including party Secretary John Shipton and Campaign Director Greg Barns, and then openly defied by Julian Assange and Western Australia Senate candidate Gerry Georgatos.
Why on earth would Mr Assange do such a thing? The Greens have been the only Australian political force to offer a full-throated defence of his right to due process over allegations of sexual assault and the overtures of Swedish authorities. And time and time again, it has been the Greens who have spoken out against the suspicion that US authorities seek to exploit these allegations to extradite and try Mr Assange
To understand why Assange would rat out his most vocal supporters, we must first accept that he has nothing in common with most Australian green, progressive, socialist or anarchist activists - except perhaps for a distrust of the government of the United States.
Only a fornight ago, the Wikileaks founder praised US libertarian politicians Ron Paul and Senator Rand Paul. Libertarianism, declared Mr Assange, "is presently the only useful political voice in the US Congress. It will be the driver that shifts the United States around."
While libertarians have stood against US military interventions, and opposed the anti-African American undercurrent present in the War on Drugs, Mr Assange has also praised them for their non-violent opposition to abortion rights and Federal taxes. But US libertarians would certainly think Australia's public health insurance system is socialist welfare costing tens of billions of dollars a year - something that needs to be dismantled as soon as possible.
It would also appear that the Wikileaks Party has tried to appeal to the Australian Vaccination Network - an anti-vaccination lobby group - which stated on its Facebook page that it had been informed the Wikileaks Party is against compulsory vaccination.
[Ed: a spokesperson for The Wikileaks Party says that the government should not seek to legally compel vaccinations in circumstances where there are legitimate and rational concerns on the part of parents, guardians or families.]
This explains why the Wikileaks Party thinks it can afford to alienate the Greens and their supporters, who up to now have exhibited goodwill towards Mr Assange. They never wanted support from them in the first place if it meant giving up their political beliefs.
It seems the core group trying to retain control the Wikileaks Party instead wants to appeal to the sort of right-wing anti-Americanism I saw two years ago at Occupy Brisbane. That's people who oppose compulsory vaccination and flouridation of water, people who think a central bank and "fiat money" must be abolished, and people who speak of a conspiracy behind the New World Order.
These people are usually hostile to the idea of studying the structures of white male supremacy and class domination, and tend towards magical thinking of the type seen in works like "The Secret" and "Zeitgeist".
They're certainly no fans of the Greens.
David Jackmanson is a blogger and activist in Brisbane who wants the Left to adopt a conquering spirit.
