https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/assange-i-can-rule-from-... Mr Assange also railed against the opposition's plan to appoint a three star general to lead its charge against people smugglers. ‘[The military] protects the sovereignty of Australia. It protects the independence of Australia.' ‘It must not be diverted to create some cartoon movie that Tony Abbott wants to use, some kind of Platoon 3 where a failed priest is a leader of the navy going out and patrolling the seas.’ But despite having leaked large amounts of military secrets through his WikiLeaks project, Mr Assange agreed that some level of privacy was necessary for the successful operation of the military. ‘[The military] must operate with as much transparency as is possible—that does not put those important operations at risk,’ he said. ‘WikiLeaks is an organisation that specialises in transparency. On the other hand, we are an organisation also that protects the identity of our forces. We specialise, in fact, also in privacy.' ‘It's this balance between secrecy and privacy that can draw out the best in different groups.’