27 Aug 2013

Assange stars in 80s pop election pitch

What will win votes in Australia’s election? Dressing up as 80s pop star John Farnham and donning a mullet, if Julian Assange is to be believed. Watch his starring role in an election YouTube spoof.

Now we know what WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been doing while holed up in London’s Ecuadorean embassy.

Mr Assange is running for the Australian senate as a member of the WikiLeaks party, and decided to take part in a spoof election bid video, produced by Juice Rap News, as pop star John Farnham.

Wearing a denim jacket and blond mullet wig, Mr Assange mimes the lyrics of the popular You’re the Voice, which have been given a WikLleaks-inspired twist: “We have the chance to turn the pages over,” he sings. “We can write what we want to write. We gotta make things leak so we can get much bolder…

“We’re all wiretapped now. We’re all being fed lies…”

A WikiLeaks spokesman told Australian newspapers that the video was “a lot of fun”.

However the complete video (see below) also includes offensive caricatures of former prime minister Julia Gillard, current prime minister Kevin Rudd and leader of the opposition Tony Abbott, who may not agree.