THE Australian Federal Police has not found breaches of Australian law by the release of documents through WikiLeaks, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
Prime Minister Gillard said today she continued to believe the distribution of the diplomatic messages was "grossly irresponsible" but acknowledged no Australian laws had been broken so far.She 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," Ms Gillard said in Sydney.
She said the initial taking of the documents - what she called "the foundation stone of Wikileaks" - had breached US laws. US Army Private Bradley Manning is now under arrest in America in relation to the removal of confidential files.
Ms Guillard denied she had originally branded Wikileaks itself illegal when she said two weeks ago: "I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the Wikileaks website. It's a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do."
Ms Gillard said today she was referring to the theft of the cables from secret files.
"Now," she said today, "I know there are a lot of people who are fans of Wikileaks. Let me make it very, very clear: I am not.
"This is a grossly irresponsible matter in my view. The release of all of this documentation has ben grossly irresponsible."
She said 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 said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently on bail in the UK to fight his extradition to Sweden where he faces allegations of sexual misconduct, will get consular assistance.
"Obviously, as an Australian citizen, Mr Assange is entitled to the consular assistance we provide to Australians citizens around the world when they find themselves in legal circumstances," Ms Gillard said in Sydney.
But she said 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.
Ms Gillard said there were occasions when whistleblowers disclosed information of some wrongdoing after taking all reasonable steps to achieve action.
Ms Gillard said she didn't believe this had raised any issue about changing Australian laws.
She said the foundation stone of this was an illegal act, the initial taking of the documents in breach of US law.
That was not done by a journalist but by an individual with access to that confidential material, she said.
"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."
Ms Gillard said confidential cables could identify people living under repressive who were providing information to the US and that could have consequences.
"I don't allege that this has occurred," she said.
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