His remarks, which coincided with Assange’s 1199th day inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, came after the release of Assange's new book titled The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire.
"The capital of Australia is [in fact] Washington DC," Assange said, in a clear reference to surveillance cooperation between the two countries.
He also claimed that in this regard, it is already irrelevant to speak of Australia's sovereignty.
"All sorts of strange things happen in politics, but I think Australia is a lost cause as a sovereign state," Assange said.
He added that "halting increasing surveillance in Australia is [also] a lost cause."
"Anything to Say?": bronze sculpture representing Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning. By Davide Dormino http://t.co/9Vy2Vg3EBc
— Marco Mancuso (@digicult) 22 сентября 2015
Additionally, he said that "Australia is notorious for abandoning its citizens, not just me."
Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16, 2012, helping him to avoid prosecution in the United States, where he could face multiple espionage charges for leaking classified US documents, if extradited.
Assange played a key role in uncovering a global surveillance network, in which the communications of high-level politicians, diplomatic missions, businesses and ordinary citizens were intercepted by US and UK intelligence services.