'Welcome home': Emotional scenes as Assange touches down

Mr Assange stepped down on the tarmac at Canberra's RAAF Fairbarn base just before 8pm, where a group of journalists and supporters gathered to capture the moment he returned to home soil.

He had just arrived from Saipan after accepting a plea deal that secured his freedom.

A call of "welcome home" rang out from the group, as the WikiLeaks founder emerged the aircraft, waving towards those gathered.

As he walked over to the terminal, he was greeted by his wife Stella, who he embraced lovingly, and his father, John Shipton. Mr Assange gave a thumbs up to the press gathered at the RAAF base.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed reporters at Parliament House just minutes after Mr Assange landed on the tarmac, saying he had spoken with him "immediately upon the wheels touching the ground".

"I was quite pleased to be the first person he spoke to," Mr Albanese said. However, he dodged questions on whether he would meet Mr Assange in coming days.

"I've never met with Mr Assange, I had a very warm conversation with him," the Prime Minister said of the phone call on the tarmac.

Mr Albanese did not pinpoint a "turning point" in the case to free Mr Assange, saying it had been a stepped process over years.

"I believe in standing up for Australian citizens and I make that very clear, I've made it clear from the beginning. I had the same position as opposition leader on all of these issues as I've had as prime minister," he said.

It is still not clear whether Mr Assange will meet with the Prime Minister in coming days, with his wife and Mr Albanese both avoiding the question in separate appearances.

Ms Assange spoke to the media at East Hotel in Kingston, just two hours after her husband arrived in Canberra.

She appeared alongside lawyer Jennifer Robinson, but told a crowd of about 100, packed into the foyer of the hotel, that her husband needed time to recover.

Ms Robinson echoed comments from Mr Albanese that the phone call had been a warm one, telling the crowd that Mr Assange had "told the Prime Minister that he had saved his life and I don't think that's an exaggeration".

Mr Assange appeared before a US district court in the remote Pacific island of Saipan early on Wednesday, where he exited as a free man after his lawyers struck a deal with US authorities ending a 14-year-long legal saga.

He was sentenced to time already served in prison. His lawyer Jennifer Robinson spoke about the "historic day" outside the court before Mr Assange left on his way home to Australia.

Upon leaving the courtroom the 52-year-old boarded a flight to Canberra Airport, where a swarm of photographers and TV crews gathered to await his arrival.

Supporters raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help cover the costs of the $778,000 private jet chartered to fly Mr Assange back to Australia after an emergency appeal was launched on social media.

The VistaJet was the same aircraft Taylor Swift chartered when she flew from a concert in Japan to attend the Super Bowl in February.

According to Ms Assange, her husband was not permitted to travel on a commercial flight route which led to an "enormous" debt being owed to the federal government.

She shared a picture of Mr Assange walking out of court on X and wrote: "Julian walks out of Saipan federal court a free man. I can't stop crying."

Meanwhile, news of Mr Assange's successful plea bargain rang across the country as a league of supporters and family members spoke out ahead of his arrival.

Addressing reporters ahead of a family reunion, his father John Shipton, said he hoped for a normal life for his son.

"I hope he does ordinary things," Mr Shipton said.

"That's what I hope. To live the beauty of an ordinary life before time has all gone with the little kids."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, co-chair of the "bring Julian Assange home parliamentary group", said details of Mr Assange's movements after his landing was a "mystery" given his condition.

"I know WikiLeaks and their lawyers will be fronting the media." Wilkie told ABC.

Coalition MP Barnaby Joyce, who long campaigned for Mr Assange's release, said the legal outcome was encouraging for Australia's diplomatic relations with the US.

"It puts us in an incredibly good position. If you asked me do I think what he did was morally correct? No, it wasn't," he said. "This is an Australian citizen. He was not a citizen of the United States."

Longtime friend and academic Dr Suelette Dreyfus said she hoped Mr Assange would go on to "new and interesting" endeavours in the years to come.

"A lot of his supporters and his old friends and his family are elated," Dr Dreyfus said. "I think what Julian [now] needs is some headline time with his family and extended family and his kids."

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