WikiLeaks creator's mum in hiding

This Aug. 14, 2010 photo shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Stockholm, Sweden. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 spoke with the Chinese government about the expected release of classified cables by the Wikileaks website. The release of hundreds of thousands of cables is expected this weekend, though Wikileaks has not specified the timing.

Bertil Ericson

THE Sunshine Coast has become the refuge for the mother of Julian Assange, the mastermind behind one of the largest leaks of confidential documents in history.

Christine Assange told the Daily yesterday she had recently moved to the Coast to escape media scrutiny in Melbourne.

Her son has gone underground after his website, WikiLeaks, controversially started publishing more than 250,000 previously secret United States government documents. Mr Assange, an Australian citizen, is accused of breaching international security and has come under fire from several nations, especially the US.

International agencies, including Australian Federal Police, are investigating if he has broken laws.

Mrs Assange, who runs a puppet theatre, spoke briefly about her 39-year-old son to the Daily.

She said she had not read much about the latest WikiLeaks controversy.

In an interview in August, Mrs Assange defended her son's controversial website.

“My son is a good person who is doing good for others,” she told London's Mail on Sunday.

“He wants people to know the truth. He's a hero to some people, a villain to others.

“Which one do you think I believe?”

WikiLeaks, which has 251,287 confidential United States documents, continued to drip-release them yesterday.

US military intelligence officer Bradley Manning is being investigated over the leaks.

The Australian Government has refused to provide a safe haven for Mr Assange, who is reported to be hiding in London.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland refused to rule out terminating his passport while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the international condemnation.

“The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information,” she said.

“It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems.”

A statement on the WikiLeaks site promised to continue releasing documents.

“The embassy cables will be released in stages over the next few months,” the statement said. “The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice.”

Of the small portion of documents that have already been made public, only a few mention Australia.

Among the 250,000-odd documents, WikiLeaks said almost 1500 mentioned Australia.

A team of Australian officials will examine many of the leaked documents for anything which could harm Australia's interests.

The Federal Government has established a government committee to check the leaks.

“Officials need to go painstakingly through each of the cables,” Defence Minister Stephen Smith said.