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Julian Assange Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

'Australian men don't tell' says Julian Assange of Sweden sex allegations

“Unfortunately, to a degree, I am an Australian and therefore Australian men don’t like talking about their private lives”.

JULIAN ASSANGE SAYS he will not publicly address Swedish sex allegations before his bid for office in Australia because “Australian men don’t like to talk about their private lives”.

Assange, standing for election to the upper house in 7 September national polls, also said Australian men did not bad-mouth their lovers, when asked whether he would explain himself to voters on the sex crime claims that have seen him holed up in London’s Ecuadoran embassy for more than a year.

“Unfortunately, to a degree, I am an Australian and therefore Australian men don’t like talking about their private lives,” the former computer hacker said in an online election forum published by Fairfax Media on Thursday.

They don’t like saying bad things about their lovers. I’m not going to do that.

Assange has been living inside Ecuador’s embassy since June 2012 as he fights extradition from Britain to Sweden, where authorities want to question him over alleged sex crimes.

The activist has voiced fears that he will be sent on to the United States to be tried over huge leaks of sensitive diplomatic correspondence and material on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

He told the Fairfax forum, conducted on Wednesday, he had “nothing to hide” on the Sweden allegations and there was “extensive information about the case” available at the site justice4assange.com.

“I have not been charged. It’s an extraordinary situation that someone could be detained for three years without charge. That’s part of the abuses in this case,” he said.

Assange acknowledged that he is not a typical politician, with questions over whether he will even be able to assume his Senate seat if he wins given his status in the embassy, but said he still felt that he could connect with voters.

“As an individual I haven’t just been an activist… I understand what it’s like to be a father, to start small businesses, to have problems of many different kinds,” he said.

I think Australians can relate to that sort of character. Even though I’m in a very unusual position for sure, I’ve also had the life experiences that many Australians have had.

Assange is one of seven candidates running for election to the Senate for his WikiLeaks Party, which has vowed to be an “independent scrutineer of government activity” on a range of issues including tax reform, asylum-seekers and climate change policy.

The Australian whistleblower believes he stands a good chance of winning his seat, saying this week that polling numbers are positive.

- © AFP, 2013

Read: Julian Assange: Bradley Manning didn’t get a fair trial >

Read: Julian Assange launches political party from inside Ecuadorian embassy >

Read: Assange defends WikiLeaks two years after ‘cablegate’ >

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    Mute TheLoneHurler
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    Sep 8th 2014, 6:44 PM

    Great news, hopefully, most if not all former staff can be rehired.

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    Mute John Michael
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    Sep 8th 2014, 7:14 PM

    They’ve already been rehired by other hospitals. It’s amazing how the public service hired them when students have to go abroad for work because of the so called embargo. As ever in the public service, it’s who you know, not what you know.

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    Mute voice of raisin
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    Sep 9th 2014, 12:57 AM

    Well, seeing as they’re more experienced than students, then it is a case of what they know, isn’t it?

    I’d rather be treated by an experienced medical professional than a student.

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    Mute Tom Red
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    Sep 8th 2014, 6:23 PM

    Will Paddy the plasterer be doing some of the renovations?????……

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    Mute Richard Rodgers
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    Sep 8th 2014, 7:25 PM

    This is a sensible investment by the HSE and improves the opportunity to clear some of the blocked beds in the acute care Hospitals South of the Liffey.

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    Mute The Throwaway
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    Sep 8th 2014, 9:58 PM

    Indeed. I’ve been worried a long time now about the lack of services for people in South Dublin.

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    Mute David Thomas
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    Sep 8th 2014, 6:21 PM

    Confirmed after it was common knowledge

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    Mute David Thomas
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    Sep 8th 2014, 6:32 PM

    Can’t wait to see how much it will cost by the time the bureaucracy get involved. €11m might seem cheap!

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    Mute Joan Murphy
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    Sep 8th 2014, 7:27 PM

    Why the big secret in the first place ??

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    Mute Seany Hide
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    Sep 9th 2014, 2:29 AM

    Never fear, the priority of the HSE is to look after the special interest in the health service first, with the interests of the patients a distant second.

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    Mute Martin Donovan
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    Sep 8th 2014, 11:41 PM

    Ha, I was born in Mount Carmel

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    Mute Ernie Hendy
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    Sep 9th 2014, 6:38 AM

    The HSE to establish another gravy train.

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