No breach by WikiLeaks under Australian laws, says police

"The AFP (Australian Federal Police) has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction," the police agency said.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who had initially condemned the actions of the website, today maintained that she still believed the leaks of the diplomatic messages was "grossly irresponsible," though she acknowledged AFP's conclusion.

"Where additional cables are published and criminal offences are suspected, these matters should be referred to the AFP for evaluation," the AFP said in a statement.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said it was "prudent" for the government to have referred the matter to the AFP, media reports said.

Earlier, Gillard had condemned Assange's actions, calling them "illegal". Later on, she moderated her statement by saying it was the theft of the US cables that was the illegal act, while Assange's role was "grossly irresponsible".

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said a Defence taskforce has found WikiLeaks cables about Iraq released earlier in the year did not damage the national security interest.

According to 'The Australian' daily, Gillard reiterated that the act was irresponsible but said there was no intention to change the law to cover any future mass leaks.

"There are some people who are fans of this conduct. I most certainly am not," Gillard said, adding the initial taking of the documents - what she called "the foundation stone of WikiLeaks" - had breached US laws.

Gillard also clarified her previous statement where she referred to the act as illegal, saying she was actually referring to the theft of the cables from secret files.

"This is a grossly irresponsible matter in my view. The release of all of this documentation has been grossly irresponsible," she said.

She said that she supported whistleblowers who alerted the public to cases when things had gone wrong, but "that is not the circumstance here with WikiLeaks, in my view".
"This has been a wholesale release of information without regard to national interest questions," she said.

She, however, said WikiLeaks founder Assange would get consular assistance.
"Obviously, as an Australian citizen, Assange is entitled to the consular assistance we provide to Australian citizens around the world when they find themselves in legal circumstances," Gillard said.

However, Gillard maintained that the theft of documents, the foundation of WikiLeaks, is an illegal act.

"That's properly in the hands of the US authorities to deal with," she said. She said the government believed it was appropriate to refer the matter to the AFP to see if there had been any breaches of Australian law.

"We have done that, we have received the advice, and the advice is there have been no breaches of Australian law," she said.

The act, she said, was not done by a journalist but by an individual with access to the confidential material.

"I believe it is appropriate when people are reporting on WikiLeaks, that they do not make the slip of suggesting that because something is written in a cable, it is fact," she said.

"Cables are recording of views of the individuals writing the cables and so that should be clear on all occasions. While this process has its fans, the other side needs to be put. I do believe this conduct is irresponsible," she said.

Gillard said confidential cables could identify people living under repressive regimes who were providing information to the US and that could have consequences.
"I don't allege that this has occurred," she said.