CANBERRA   -   WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned home to Australia to start life as a free man Wednesday after admitting he revealed US defence secrets in a deal that unlocked the door to his London prison cell.

Assange landed on a chilly Canberra evening in a private jet, the final act of an international drama that led him from a five-year stretch in the high-security Belmarsh prison in Britain to a courtroom in a US Pacific island territory and, finally, home.

His white hair swept back, the Australian raised a fist as he emerged from the plane door, striding across the tarmac to meet his wife Stella and then to embrace his father.

Dozens of television journalists, photographers and reporters peered through the airport fencing to see Assange, who wore a dark suit, white shirt and brown tie.

WikiLeaks said on X that it would hold a press conference in the Australian capital at 9:15 pm (1115 GMT) on Wednesday, but did not say if Assange would be present. “He will be able to spend quality time with his wife Stella, and his two children, be able to walk up and down on the beach and feel the sand through his toes in winter -- that lovely chill,” said Assange’s  father, John Shipton.

Assange’s long battle with US prosecutors came to an unexpected end in the Northern Mariana Islands where a judge accepted his guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information.

The remote courtroom was chosen because of the 52-year-old’s unwillingness to go to the continental United States and because of its proximity to Australia.

Australian PM says ‘very pleased’ by end to Assange ‘saga’

Australia’s prime minister said Wednesday he was “very pleased” by the plea deal that ended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s long legal “saga”.

Assange is on a flight home to Australia after spending more than five years in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison fighting extradition to the United States for revealing US state secrets.

“I am very pleased that on this occasion, this has been a successful outcome that I believe overwhelmingly Australians did want to see,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament in Canberra.

“They will have different views about the engagement and the activities of Mr Assange but they will be pleased that the saga has been brought to an end and that he will be able to reunite with his family.”

Under the plea agreement, the 52-year-old Australian citizen pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate defence information and was sentenced to time already served.

The legal drama unfolded in a courtroom in the Northern Mariana Islands, a Pacific US territory.

Albanese said the resolution of Assange’s case was the result of “careful, patient and determined work -- work I am very proud of”.

“I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration, and I am pleased that he is on his way home to Australia,” he said.

“Regardless of your views about his activities, and they will be varied, Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long.”

The prime minister confirmed that the Australian ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, and Australia’s high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, were both accompanying Assange on his flight home.