As he drove out of the air base, a few people shouted and waved.
However, there were no huge crowds or bubbly to be seen, so this was hardly a hero’s welcome.
If you look closely, though, you may discover evidence of Australia’s tremendous efforts to bring the creator of WikiLeaks home.
Kevin Rudd, the former prime minister of Australia and current ambassador to the US, and Stephen Smith, the country’s high commissioner to the UK (who, curiously, served as Rudd’s foreign minister from 2007 to 2010), trailed him off the plane.
Shortly after his arrival, Anthony Albanese gave a quiet greeting to the country in a speech.
“I am very pleased that this saga is over, and earlier tonight, I was pleased to speak with Mr Assange to welcome him home,” he stated.
This is a vast cry from the atmosphere that existed when Assange was initially in trouble back in 2010.
He had embarrassed Washington and allegedly put their spies and agents in risk by releasing hundreds of unredacted US papers on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, including film of a US helicopter firing on civilians.
Soon after, he was the target of Swedish police, who claimed he had sexually abused two women. He refuted these accusations, saying they were made for political reasons.
