Assange will continue to receive usual consular support from Australian: FM

Australia said it would seek consular access to Queensland-born Julian Assange and expressed confidence he will get legal due process following his arrest in Britain on Thursday. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she was aware WikiLeaks founder Assange had been arrested in London under a 2012 warrant for failure to surrender to court. "Mr Assange will continue to receive the usual consular support from the Australian Government," she said in a statement.

"Consular officers will seek to visit Mr Assange at his place of detention." Payne added that she was "confident" that he "will receive due process in the legal proceedings he faces in the United Kingdom". "As the matter is the subject of law enforcement and legal proceedings we will not provide ongoing comment." Assange's case has been controversial in his native Australia, where supporters have launched a vocal and coordinated campaign to press successive governments to bring him home. He was born in the remote northeastern city of Townsville and set up WikiLeaks after studying mathematics at the University of Melbourne.