Commentators may not think Julian Assange has much chance of
winning a Senate seat in the upcoming Australian election but
one European bookmaker thinks he's in with a shot.
Paddy Power, known for offering controversial markets to
garner publicity, has opened a book on the WikiLeaks
founder's bid for an upper house seat.
Mr Assange is a four-to-one shot to win.
"They are pretty skimpy odds," spokesman Rory Scott told AAP.
"He's obviously got a lot of support back home and if he was
to get out of his current pickle we think he could mount a
serious charge."
However, while giving the 41-year-old Australian a 17.5 per
cent chance of winning, Mr Assange's odds of losing are much
shorter at one-to-seven on.
Punters can also bet on how Mr Assange will leave the
Ecuadorean embassy, where he's holed up avoiding extradition
to Sweden.
He's wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual
assault but has been granted asylum by the Latin American
nation.
The odds of Mr Assange leaving the embassy by "jet pack" are
100/1 with the bookies suggesting the most likely method is a
police or embassy vehicle.
"We've had a couple of quid on the jet pack, a bit of money
on a helicopter and a few people placing money on him
tunnelling his way out," Mr Scott said.
The books on how long Mr Assange could remain in the embassy
and his exit strategy total STG3000 ($A4600) to date.
This week WikiLeaks confirmed Mr Assange would "run on a
WikiLeaks party ticket" after Prime Minister Julia Gillard
announced the federal election will be held on September 14.
The secrets-leaking organisation said if he was unable to
take his place in the Senate it would be filled by a running
mate.
Mr Assange in mid-December said he'd be a candidate in either
NSW or Victoria.
Plans to register an Australian WikiLeaks party were
"significantly advanced", he said.
At the time ABC election analyst Antony Green argued the
Wikileaks founder couldn't get up.
Green said Mr Assange would need to secure five per cent of
the primary vote and get both Labor and Green preferences
which was unlikely.
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