Close Waihopai Spybase Now!
SUPPORT THE
DOMEBUSTERS!

The Waihopai spybase was dragged
into the public spotlight on April 30, 2008 when three
Ploughshares peace activists, Sam Land, Adrian Leason and
Peter Murnane, penetrated its high security and deflated one
of the two domes concealing its satellite dishes from the NZ
public. The Anti-Bases Campaign was happy to support this
non-violent direct action anti-war activity. The
Domebusters’ trial is in the Wellington District Court and
we invite you to join us in supporting them. See below
for list of activities.
• Waihopai is not
effectively accountable to Parliament or the people. It is
exempt from key provisions of the Privacy Act and Crimes
Act.
• To all intents and purposes, Waihopai is
a foreign spybase, working for, and providing raw
intelligence directly to, the US.
• Waihopai intercepts
and records your international phone calls and
e-mail.
• Waihopai is a waste of taxpayers’
money. In the 20+ years since it was announced, more than
$500 million has been spent on the agency which runs
it.
How does Waihopai involve us in America’s
wars?
The public face of New Zealand’s role as an
American ally is the NZ military presence in Afghanistan.
But New Zealand’s most significant contribution to that,
and other American wars, including the one in Iraq, is the
Waihopai electronic intelligence gathering base, located in
the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. It is controlled by the
US, with NZ (including Parliament and the Prime Minister)
having little or no idea what goes on there, let alone any
control.

First announced in 1987, Waihopai is
operated by New Zealand’s Government Communications
Security Bureau (GCSB) in the interests of the foreign
Powers grouped together in the super-secret UKUSA
Agreement (which shares global electronic and signals
intelligence among the intelligence agencies of the US, UK,
Canada, Australia and NZ). Its two satellite interception
dishes intercept a huge volume of civilian telephone calls,
telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. It
spies on our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards the
material on to the major partners in the UKUSA Agreement,
specifically the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Its targets are international civilian communications
involving New Zealanders, including the interception of
international phone calls. Post- 9/11 the GCSB and Waihopai
now spy further afield, to those regions where the US is
waging wars. The codename for this – Echelon – has
become notorious worldwide as the vast scope of its spying
has become public. New Zealand is an integral, albeit
junior part of a global spying network, a network that is
ultimately accountable only to its own constituent agencies,
not governments, not citizens.

Waihopai
does not operate in the national interests of New Zealand or
our neigh¬bours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ
soil and directly involves us in America’s wars.
Waihopai must be closed.

A WEEK OF
ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF THE DOMEBUSTERS


Solidarity activities will focus on: the District
Court; the headquarters of the spy agency, the Government
Communications Security Agency (GCSB); and the
embassies/high commissions of the four other countries who,
with NZ, comprise the top secret intelligence sharing UKUSA
Agreement – the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Plus a
public meeting; and a display about the Waihopai spybase.
Please join us!

Monday March 8 – 8.30
a.m., assemble at Cenotaph, silent procession to District
Court (43-49 Ballance St, off Lambton Quay) at 9
a.m. for a silent vigil. The trial starts at
10 a.m.

Monday March 8 1-2 p.m. Picket and
vigil at headquarters of GCSB, Freyberg House (enter
through St Paul’s Square next to National Library, 58
Molesworth St).

Tuesday March 9 1-2 p.m. picket
and vigil at US Embassy, (29 Fitzherbert Terrace, corner
of Murphy St. Parking on Fitzherbert Terrace; access via
Hobson St).

Wednesday March 10 1- 2 p.m. picket
and vigil at British High Commission (44 Hill St, off
Molesworth St)

Wednesday March 10 – 7 p.m.,
public meeting, St Johns Church Hall (corner of Willis &
Dixon Streets). “Waihopai: The Spybase; The Wars; The
Trial”. Speakers: Murray Horton of Anti-Bases Campaign;
Moana Cole of Ploughshares; Bryan Law, of Christians Against
All Terrorism (Australia).

Thursday March 11 –
1-2 p.m. picket and vigil at Australian High Commission
(72-76 Hobson St).

Friday March 12 – 1-2 p.m.
picket and vigil at Canadian High Commission (125 The
Terrace; Commission is on Level 11).

March 8-14
inclusive – Anti-Bases Campaign’s display on Waihopai
spy base in Wellington City Library, 65 Victoria
Street.

The rally at the court and the lunchtime
pickets/vigils are jointly organised by the Anti-Bases
Campaign, Wellington Ploughshares Support Group and Peace
Movement Aotearoa. For a full list of activities, check the
Peace Movement Aotearoa Website at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/pltrial.htm

© Scoop Media