Julian Assange’s supporters call on Australian government to provide update on talks with US

Julian Assange's supporters have called on the Australian government to reveal whether it is making progress in talks with the US to secure the release of the WikiLeaks co-founder if his extradition from the UK goes ahead.

The request comes after the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the case against the Australian citizen had "gone on long enough" but cited private talks with the Biden administration as a reason for not commenting further.

Assange remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him to face charges in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as diplomatic cables.

Greg Barns SC, a legal adviser to the Australian Assange campaign, said he was "heartened" by Dreyfus's comments but believed it was time for the Australian government to give the public a broad update on any progress.

Barns said the longer the government went without giving an update, the more Assange's supporters would "feel as though they're treading water, and that the government is treading water".

"We're not asking for chapter and verse, we're not asking for cables, we're not asking for emails or briefing notes or memos," Barns said.

"We're simply saying it would be very useful to the great many Assange supporters in Australia and to his family for there to be some update on the part of the Australian government about progress that's being made."