Assange’s father headlines major rally

The father of Julian Assange has headlined a major rally on the steps of Victoria’s parliament in support of Gaza, as activists call for thousands of prisoners taken during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to be released.

John Shipton was one of the key speakers at the International Day of Solidarity with Gaza and Prisoners rally in Melbourne on Saturday – marking the first time he had spoken on the conflict since his son’s release.

Mr Shipton has been a long-time supporter of ending the conflict, telling a crowd in February the offences committed against children in the war “cannot be forgiven”.

On Saturday, he warned the next job “might be a bit harder” as he thanked a large crowd of supporters for fighting for his son’s release from custody.

Julian Assange returned to Australia earlier this year after pleading guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information.

He was sentenced to 62 months in jail which was declared as time already served.

The organisers of Saturday’s rally have repeatedly called for the release of Gazan prisoners taken by Israel during the conflict, which erupted following attacks by the Islamist terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Hundreds of hostages were taken during the attacks and thousands of Israelis were killed.

Israel then launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip which has since killed nearly 39,500 Palestinians, according to the latest reports from the local health ministry.

The Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association estimates there are 9700 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel as of July 5.

Of these, 3380 are administrative detainees being held without a trial and 250 are children.

A recent report from the United Nation’s human rights office has found some of these prisoners may have been tortured – including being subjected to waterboarding, being held in cages and stripped naked for prolonged periods of time.

The rallies also follow outrage over allegations a Jewish customer was denied service by an Officeworks employee who said he was “pro-Palestine”.

The incident, which occurred in March, was only recently revealed in a video.

In response, Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter said: “Disciplinary measures were implemented, including a final warning, additional training and relocation to a different store.”