Waihopai Spybase Protest January 24-26

KEY TIMES & EVENTS

SATURDAY 25. 11 A.M., SEYMOUR SQUARE, BLENHEIM & 2.30 P.M. AT THE BASE (WAIHOPAI VALLEY ROAD)

THEME: ANTI-WAR

The world has changed since the last Waihopai protest (2001). Reflecting that, this year’s one will have an explicitly anti-war theme. It will be serious, not lighthearted like some of the more recent ones. The timing is coincidental, but this protest is taking place just before key decisions are made in the US-led drive to invade Iraq. Waihopai is NZ’s key contribution to all American wars, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else. It is basically a US spybase operating on NZ soil, a vital outpost of the American Empire. ABC will bring a limited number of placards and banners. Please bring your own, relevant to the anti-war theme, linking Waihopai to the US war on Iraq, and elsewhere.

Why Waihopai should be closed

Waihopai is New Zealand’s biggest contribution to America’s wars, most notably in Afghanistan and the coming war on Iraq.

Waihopai does not operate in the interests of NZ or our neighbours.

It 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, it 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 and blatant misuse of taxpayers’ money. What does Waihopai actually do?

The electronic intelligence gathering base is located in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. First announced in 1987, it 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 (shielded by giant domes) intercept a huge volume of satellite phone calls, including New Zealanders’ international calls, plus telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. It gathers this data from our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards it on to the major partners in the UKUSA Agreement, specifically the US National Security Agency. Its targets include international communications involving New Zealanders. The codename for this – Echelon – has become notorious worldwide. New Zealand is an integral, albeit junior, part of a global spying network, one that is ultimately accountable only to its own constituent agencies, not governments, and certainly not to citizens.

How does Waihopai involve us in America’s wars?

Waihopai’s "Big Ears" cover a vast area of the Pacific. Although Iraq is on the other side of the world, the US military/intelligence network that is planning that war is global and depends on global facilities. Waihopai is strategically situated in the Pacific for spying on several countries, such as Indonesia, that do not support US war plans or the so-called "war on terror". If New Zealanders disagree with US policies and warmongering, then Waihopai is located right here to monitor our own international e-mails and phone calls and report directly to Big Brother at our expense - because we pay for Waihopai with millions of our tax dollars every year. The Bush Administration has pronounced Intelligence to be the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight, throughout the world. Thus, much more so than any token commitment of the SAS or a frigate, the Waihopai spybase is New Zealand’s key contribution to all these American wars.

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

Join us for the weekend of protest!

*We invite people from around the country to join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for roughing it and camping out. We’ve hired portaloos and a marquee. We provide the food. Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, and $30 ($15 unwaged) to cover costs. Absolutely no open fires or smoking in the camp.

*How to find our camp. Take Highway 6 out of Blenheim (the Nelson road); just before Renwick, turn left onto to Highway 63 (the Nelson Lakes road). A few kms down that, turn left down the Waihopai Valley road (winery on corner). The spybase is about 10 kms up the valley (you can’t miss it - 2 huge white domes). Our camp is about 1.5 kms past the base on the left. Look for the Pleiades Vineyard sign.

We need people, money, and publicity.

I want to take part in the weekend of protest

Name --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Address -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phone/Fax/E-mail ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I enclose $30 ($15 unwaged) per person registration to cover costs -------

I want to make a donation to the Waihopai campaign ---------------------------

I can help with publicity in my area or network Yes/No ------------------------

I want to join the Anti-Bases Campaign. Annual membership is $20 -------

CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW!

Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, Box 2258, Christchurch.

E-mail mailto:cafca@chch.planet.org.nz Make all cheques to ABC. ABC
Anti-Bases Campaign
Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand
mailto: mailto:cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/abc

Ends

Contact: Garry Ottmann, Executive Director. 025 2218337 Garry Ottmann
Executive Director
Game and Forest Foundation
P. O. Box 27 069
Wellington
Tel 025 221-8337 G. Ottmann@gameandforest.co.nz
www.gameandforest.co.nz

© Scoop Media