🚀 go-pugleaf

The following article was posted to the Student Journalists
mailing list (STUMEDIA@UABDPO.BITNET) by Malcolm Hutchinson
(malcolmh@waikato.ac.nz).

     This is an article that appears as the centre feature in
     our first issue for the year. as the token NZ representative
     on this list, i thought i would post it to show that the US is
     not the only country experiencing problems keeping their
     govt in line when it comes to digital privacy & secure comms.

     NZ is known around the world for it's anti-nuke stand in the mid-
     eighties, yet we allow this sort of thing to continue. the waihopai
     spy base feeds information *directly* to the NSA.

     it is because of the existance of installations like this that i encourage
     all my digital friends to take control of their own information 
     and start using strong cryptographic software. PGP is available
     from any number of anon FTP sites around the world. get it, use it.
    
     i apologise if posting an article like this is considered wasting
     bandwith on this list

        y'all stay safe
        mal

title: The Biggest Sour Grape in Marlborough

At a predetermined signal the two groups of protesters split apart. The group I
was in went round the fence to the main gates and started pushing them back
and forward making a hell of a racket. The gate was secured in three places. We
broke the top padlock and the steel rod holding the gate in the ground. We
heard a shout from the other group. They were through the fence. Nine people
arrested and many more if we didn't stop our vigorous attack on the main
gates.
This was it, we were there to do something radical, to make our protest well
and truly heard. No-one had breached the huge inner fence of the Waihopai
Spybase for years. It was my first protest at Waihopai but not the last.
The Waihopai protest just South of Blenheim is an annual event organised by
the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC). Ever since the first survey pegs were planted
in the ground in 1987, New Zealand women (originally) and men have
protested against the existence of the secretive Waihopai Spybase. Yet
despite its
colourful history the vast majority of people still don't know it exists.
Held from January 27-29 this year's protest was larger than usual. About 80
people (including an unspecified number of university students) from
Dunedin to Auckland converged on a makeshift campsite nestled beside the
Wairau River to plan what action they would take against the Spybase and all it
stands for.
The word "spybase" conjures images of undercover cops, secrecy, high security,
mystery and murder. While this is a bit dramatic there are similarities. The
Waihopai base is run by the Government Communications Security Bureau
(GCSB), a discrete organisation which only reports to the prime minister.
Hidden in a barren valley deep in the Marlborough outback, the Waihopai base
is not something the GCSB wants New Zealanders to know about. Workers at
the base aren't allowed to talk about what they do and even their spouses don't
know how much they earn. The base has a secret budget and secret objectives.
Secrecy is the aim and so far 'they' have been successful.
That is until 6.00pm Sunday night of the protest when on TV3 thousands of
viewers saw the Waihopai Spybase for the first time. The next day articles were
published in Sunday papers, with further articles in major daily papers on the
Monday. Supportive comments by Nelson MP John Blincoe added to the
debate on a topic usually considered closed. For the first time many New
Zealanders became aware that a government agency was spying on our
neighbours in the South Pacific and giving that information straight to the
United States.
What is a Spybase?
A more official name for the Spybase is Satellite Communications Station. This
sounds very innocent but there's no escaping the fact the base invades the
privacy of thousands of people, businesses governments and other
organisations throughout the South Pacific without their consent. The
information gleamed is not meant for the GCSB or the US, that's why it's called
spying.
The base consists of an 18 metre receiving dish covered by a huge white dome,
an operations building and workshop, all protected by a 14ft security fence
backed by another electric fence, security cameras and floodlights. The base
monitors communications transmitted via satellite: private and commercial
telephone, fax, e-mail, telex and telegrams. These messages are scanned for key
words by computer. The information collected is then relayed to the GCSB
headquarters in the Freyberg building in Wellington. Useful information is
then sent to the United States National Security Agency or the larger
Spybase in
Geraldton, Australia.
Why protest?
"The Waihopai Spybase uses your money to invade your privacy for other
countries' benefit?" This statement taken from an Anti-Bases Campaign
pamphlet about the base sums up the general reason why people are motivated
enough to protest, and to be arrested.
In the past, politicians like David Lange claimed the Waihopai base will give
New Zealand more independence in intelligence matters and that the
information would be under New Zealand control. However a document
obtained from the US Navy by peace researchers last year has confirmed long
held suspicions that the GCSB passes the intelligence collected at Waihopai to
the powerful US National Security Agency. This evidence completely
contradicts the claims made by New Zealand politicians. What's more,
according to British investigative journalist, Duncan Campbell, the Waihopai
Spybase is part of a world wide network of spybases monitoring satellite
communications for the benefit of the NSA.
What really sticks in the throats of those who know about the Waihopai
Spybase is that despite the fact that the information is given to the US, New
Zealand pays for it. Based on the costs of similar bases in other
countries, the
Anti-Bases Campaign estimates that the base cost $20 million to set up and up
to $100 million so far. Protesters ask why should we be paying for this
'service'
especially when we weren't even told about it.
The Waihopai Spybase was established without the consent of the New
Zealand people and operates without the permission of the Pacific countries
who's sovereignty it intrudes on. The Spybase is part of a reliance on military
power and cold war politics which reinforces the nuclear powers domination of
the globe. Instead of building relationships with our neighbours based on
trust,
cooperation and peace we are furthering the interests of oppressive military
alliances by the world super powers.
Under international law it is in fact illegal to intercept international
communications. The activities of the Waihopai Spybase contravene the
International Tele-Communications Convention to which NZ has agreed. It is
also illegal under NZ law to act on such information.
The question we must ask ourselves is "Do we want New Zealand to
participate in this misuse of technology?" "Do we want to be consulted before
we enter into secret military alliances with the super powers? Would we rather
the money spent on spying was spent on education or health?
Protesters at Waihopai demand a Parliamentary inquiry into the activities of
the GCSB, and that the activities of this organisation be subject to review
by the
judicial system. We also demand the closure of the Waihopai Spybase and the
redirection of the money spent on its operations to be put toward a peaceful
future. Until this happens we will continue to protest at Waihopai.
I didn't try to be unbiased in this article. For a start I was actively
protesting the
base myself. It is also difficult to get another side to the story when
politicians
won't talk about it. The head of the GCSB even refused to answer MP's
questions in Parliament about the Spybase. But secrets never last forever and
thanks to the New Zealand peace movement at least some of the truth is
becoming public.
The more people who demand knowledge of the Spybase and accountability for
its operations, the more likely politicians will take notice. Already Nelson MP
John Blincoe (Labour) has come out in support of the Waihopai protest. In the
Christchurch Press Blincoe said international circumstances had changed and it
was time for the "cloud of secrecy" over the base to be lifted.
"The public is entitled to know what is being done from its own soil," said
Blincoe. "At the very least there should be Parliamentary scrutiny of Waihopai
and the other listening station, Tangimoana, near Palmerston North."
Yes there are other spybases, of different sorts, but did you know about
them? I
find it unnerving to think people could be listening to my phone
conversations, that foreign spy networks are operating through New Zealand
and I am helping finance something I don't believe in. But then we don't have
to like it and nor do we have to accept it. It is our right to question and
protest.
To find out more information about Waihopai and other bases in New
Zealand write to the Anti-Bases Campaign, PO Box 9314, Wellington. [NEW ZEALAND]
Paul Smith              wc 1345

   *********************************************************
  Malcolm Hutchinson         internet: malcolmh@waikato.ac.nz

   Editor: NEXUS 1994           The Waikato Students' Union
                                Te Wharae Wananga O Waikato
                                 Hamilton, New Zealand
                PGP Public Key available on request
   *********************************************************


--
Nigel Allen                     ae446@freenet.carleton.ca