Text Fwd: Media Coverage Of Waihopai Spybase Protest

* Text fwd from CAFCA on Jan. 25, 2011


http://www.3news.co.nz/Waihopai-protestors-use-WikiLeaks-info/tabid/370/articleID/195418/Default.aspx http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/4574016/Less-support-for-annual-anti-base-protest

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/4561346/Dome-slasher-to-speak-at-spy-base-protest

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/community-papers/4564697/SOAPBOX-Blood-on-our-hands

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/4561377/Man-to-oppose-spy-base-protesters


http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/4574038/Dome-slasher-handed-1-1m-bill


ABCAnti-Bases CampaignBox 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand

cafca@chch.planet.org.nzwww.converge.org.nz/abc

Text Fwd: Dome slasher to speak at spy base protest

* Text fwd from CAFCA on Jan. 20, 2011


Stuff.co.nz
Dome slasher to speak at spy base protest
BLAIR ENSOR
Last updated 12:00 20/01/2011


One of the three men who slashed a dome at the Waihopai Valley spy base will return to the controversial satellite communications station near Blenheim on Saturday for an annual protest.

Anti-bases Campaign spokesman, Christchurch-based Murray Horton, said Ploughshares peace activist and Dominican friar Peter Murnane would speak about what motivated the trio's protest in 2008.

Green MP Keith Locke and Global Peace and Justice Auckland spokesman John Minto would also speak at the event, Mr Horton said.

The repercussions of the spy base attack are ongoing, with the Crown seeking $1.2 million in damages from Mr Murnane, teacher Adrian Leason, and farmer Sam Land.

The three men broke into the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) on Waihopai Valley Rd on April 30, 2008, cutting through alarmed electric fences without setting off any audible alarms or getting electrocuted before reaching one of two inflatable domes and slashing and deflating it.

They were found not guilty by a jury in April last year on charges of burglary and wilful damage.

They successfully used the "claim of right" defence and said they were saving lives in Iraq by disrupting satellite trans-missions and were acting for the greater good.

Mr Horton said Mr Murnane's attendance at this weekend's rally would create greater public interest in the event.

He expected up to 30 people to assemble in Seymour Square at 11am before marching through the centre of Blenheim.

Protesters would drive to the Waihopai base about 2pm, he said.

"I think [Mr Murnane's] presence will add a great deal. He was one of three people prepared to stick his neck on the line.

"We are fully supportive of what those guys did although we had no prior knowledge of what they were going to do.

"It was a perfect demonstration of non-violent action. However, we have no plans to do anything similar," Mr Horton said.

Senior Sergeant Ciaran Sloan, of Blenheim, said police would be prepared for the demonstration this weekend.

Protests against the presence of the base have been held al-most every year since 1988.

READ MORE

.....................................

ABCAnti-Bases Campaign
Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/abc

Text Fwd: Anti-Bases Campaign Article For "Marlborough Express" For Day of Waihopai Spybase Protest (22/1)

*Text fwd from CAFCA on Jan. 18, 2011

CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE
& END NZ INVOLVEMENT IN US WARS

Murray Horton

Murray Horton is the spokesperson for the Anti-Bases Campaign. He has been organising protests at the Waihopai spybase since 1988.

People from all around New Zealand are protesting in Blenheim and at the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase today. The Wikileaks NZ cables reveal the central role that this spybase plays in the secret intelligence relationship between NZ and the US, proving what the Anti-Bases Campaign has been saying all along. Full US/NZ intelligence ties were secretly restored in 2009.

The war in Afghanistan, in which the NZ military is directly involved, has got dramatically worse. Simultaneously, the US is dangling a Free Trade Agreement, via the Trans Pacific Partnership as NZ’s “reward” – nothing has changed since Holyoake’s “guns for butter” catchcry of the Vietnam War years. Now it’s guns for milk.

The theme of our activities, both at the spybase and in Blenheim, is anti-war. The US says that Intelligence is the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight, throughout the world. The Anti-Bases Campaign (supported by the Wikileaks cables) points out that Waihopai, an important source of intelligence for the Pentagon, is New Zealand’s most important contribution to the American war machine and it means that we New Zealanders have blood on our hands.To symbolise that, our props include crosses, coffins and white masks. This is the first protest at the spybase since the March 2010 acquittal of the Ploughshares peace activists for the 2008 deflation of one of its domes. As part of our activities we will be celebrating that acquittal. The speakers, either in Blenheim and/or the spybase, are: Peter Murnane, one of the three acquitted Ploughshares peace activists; Keith Locke, Green MP; John Minto, of Global Peace and Justice Auckland; and myself, of theAnti-Bases Campaign.

Waihopai, of course, is a “New Zealand” base – or so the Government says. The fact is, however, that in everything but name it is an outpost of American intelligence – paid for by the long suffering NZ taxpayer. Between $500 million and $1 billion of public money has been spent on the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (the agency which runs Waihopai) in the 23 years of Waihopai’s operation. That money could have been much better utilised on health and education, not spying on behalf of Uncle Sam.

Nor does it do anything to protect us from terrorists or foreign agents. Just seven years ago Israeli intelligence agents were caught in Auckland, fraudulently trying to obtain fake NZ passports. They were imprisoned and deported and there was a major row with Israel. But they were caught by an Internal Affairs officer who tipped off the Police. Waihopai played no role in protecting us from these foreign criminals operating in our country.

Waihopai does not operate in the national interest of New Zealand. Waihopai must be closed. (For details on Waihopai and what it does, go to our Website www.converge.org.nz/abc).

ABC
Anti-Bases Campaign
Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/abc

Text Fwd: Waihopai Spybase Protest Saturday January 22nd

* Text from CAFCA on Jan. 14, 2011

14 January 2011
Chief Reporter

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd
END NZ INVOLVEMENT IN US WARS

People from all around New Zealand will be converging on Blenheim and the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase, in Marlborough, on the weekend of January 21-23. The Wikileaks NZ cables reveal the central role that this spybase plays in the secret intelligence relationship between NZ and the US, proving what the Anti-Bases Campaign has been saying all along. Full US/NZ intelligence ties were secretly restored in 2009.

The war in Afghanistan, in which the NZ military is directly involved (with the SAS displaying the “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality favoured by the US military), has got dramatically worse. Simultaneously, the US is dangling a Free Trade Agreement, via the Trans Pacific Partnership as NZ’s “reward” – nothing has changed since Holyoake’s “guns for butter” catchcry of the Vietnam War years. Now it’s guns for milk.

The theme of our activities, both at the spybase and in Blenheim, will be anti-war. The US says that Intelligence is the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight, throughout the world. The Anti-Bases Campaign (supported by the Wikileaks cables) points out that Waihopai, an important source of intelligence for the Pentagon, is New Zealand’s most important contribution to the American war machine and it means that we New Zealanders have blood on our hands.To symbolise that, our props will include crosses, coffins and white masks. This will be the first protest at the spybase since the March 2010 acquittal of the Ploughshares peace activists for the 2008 deflation of one of its domes. As part of our activities we will be celebrating that acquittal.

Waihopai, of course, is a “New Zealand” base – or so the Government says. The fact is, however, that in everything but name it is an outpost of American intelligence – paid for by the long suffering NZ taxpayer. Between $500 million and $1 billion of public money has been spent on the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (the agency which runs Waihopai) in the 23 years of Waihopai’s operation. That money could have been much better utilised on health and education, not spying on behalf of Uncle Sam.

On Saturday 22nd we will meet in Blenheim’s Seymour Square at 11 am. From there we will march through central Blenheim, with speeches at the band rotunda in the Forum. This will be followed by a visit to the Waihopai spybase itself at 2 pm. Information will be provided on the function of the base and there will be a peaceful protest, calling for its closure. Speakers, either in Blenheim and/or the spybase, will be: Peter Murnane, one of the three acquitted Ploughshares peace activists; Keith Locke, Green MP; John Minto, of Global Peace and Justice Auckland; and Murray Horton of Anti-Bases Campaign.

Waihopai does not operate in the national interest of New Zealand. In all but name it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil, paid for with hundreds of millions of our tax dollars, and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed. (For details on Waihopai and what it does, go to our Website www.converge.org.nz/abc).

Murray Horton

ABC

Anti-Bases Campaign

Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand

cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

www.converge.org.nz/abc

Text Fwd: Waihopai Spybase Protest: January 21-23

* Text sent by Corazon Valdez Fabros on Jan. 4, 2010

Waihopai Spybase Protest: January 21-23

The Waihopai spybase was subjected to unprecedented public attention by the March 2010 trial and acquittal of the three Ploughshares peace activists who penetrated its high security in 2008 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, from start to finish.

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 New Zealand (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.

Join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for roughing it and camping out. We provide the food (we cater for vegetarians but vegans will have to bring their own). Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, and $40 (or $20 unwaged) to cover costs. No open fires.

How to find our camp at Whites Bay : turn off SH1 at Tuamarina (9km north of Blenheim or 20 km south of Picton) and drive to Rarangi on the coast. Follow the steep Port Underwood Road over the hilltop before descending to the Whites Bay turnoff. There is a DoC public camp at the bay with basic facilities. ABC has to pay a fixed charge per head.

This will be the first Waihopai spybase protest since the Domebusters’ acquittal on all charges arising from their courageous citizens’ deflation action.

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

CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW!
Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, P.O. Box 2258 , Christchurch .
E-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz www.converge.org.nz/abc
Make all cheques to ABC

Text Fwd: HILLARY CLINTON COMES BEARING A POISONED CHALICE FOR NZ 클린턴, 뉴질랜드에 독이 든 잔- FTA 협상-을 갖고 온다

* Text sent from CAFCA and Corzon Valdez Fabros on Nov. 1, 2010

Chief Reporter
HILLARY CLINTON COMES BEARING A POISONED CHALICE FOR NZ

As if 2,000 earthquakes haven’t been enough punishment for Christchurch , now we’re going to have Hillary Clinton visiting us (and Wellington ) this week.

A major focus for her NZ visit will be the negotiations which are well underway for the US and a number of other countries to join an expanded Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership(currently comprising NZ, Chile, Brunei, and Singapore, and known as the P4 Agreement), with 2011 as the target to seal the deal. This will be used as the backdoor means to secure a US/NZ Free Trade Agreement.

That would be catastrophic for any remaining economic sovereignty that New Zealand has. CAFCA says this not because we are “anti-American”. All such FTAs – such as with the existing P4 partners, or the more recent ones with Malaysia, the Gulf States and Hong Kong – pose the same threat to a greater or lesser degree. And our opposition to them is not because of “xenophobia” but for well founded grounds that they simply enmesh NZ more and more tightly in a cobweb of transnational corporate control.

So it's a recipe for disaster to enter into an FTA with the biggest economy in the world, headed by a Government that aggressively pushes the interests of American Big Business (there is a seamless flow between the US Government and US Big Business, as is evidenced by the trillion dollar bailout of the mega-greedy financial sector, a textbook example of socialism for the rich).

A full blown US FTA will:
· Remove any remaining “restrictions” on foreign investment, as the US regards NZ's (purely token) oversight regime as “discriminating” against US transnational corporations. The extraordinary spectacle of the Government grovelling to Warner Brothers last week – a textbook example of corporate welfare and feudal forelock tugging – shows what the future holds in relation to the bullyboy brinkmanship of US Big Business when dealing with NZ.

· push up the price of medicines by potentially hundreds of millions of dollars a year by attacking Pharmac;
· make access to digital recordings more expensive, and copying more restricted;
· attack our GE controls and food labelling,
· weaken our controls on food imports where they might carry diseases.

It is always presented as a means of getting NZ agricultural products into the US market. Ask Australian sugar cane growers how successful they were in getting their product into the US under the US/Australia FTA. The Americans have a simple policy when it comes to “free trade” – do as they say, not as they do. In other words, they want the world's markets opened up to their products, while keeping their own heavily subsidised agribusiness sector fully or heavily protected from outside competitors.

Both National and Labour myopically see a US FTA as being the Holy Grail of their adherence to the cargo cult of “free trade”. It's actually a poisoned chalice and it will be New Zealand which will be poisoned by it.

The other side of the coin is that Clinton will be asking NZ to take a bigger role in the American war in Afghanistan . Older New Zealanders will remember the infamous “guns for butter” phrase of Sir Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister during our involvement in the Vietnam War. It means sending our soldiers to fight in US wars in order to, theoretically, gain trade access. Nothing much seems to have changed in the ensuing 40 years (except now it is “guns for milk”, as the Government's trade policy is driven by a single minded focus on serving Fonterra's interests). Already we have troops there and the Pentagon went to great lengths recently to buy up and destroy the American book “Operation Dark Heart” which, among things, revealed the full extent of the hands on role being played in Afghanistan by NZ military and intelligence personnel. And, of course, the Waihopai spybase, an American intelligence facility in all but name, is NZ’s single most important contribution to the US warfighting machine 24/7/365.

People who kid themselves that “we” stand to gain from a Free Trade Agreement with the US would be wise to reflect on the rueful words of Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain 's Ambassador to the US in the runup to the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq . Speaking to the current public Inquiry into Britain 's part in that invasion and war: “Meyer expressed frustration that Britain was unable to gain much diplomatic leverage from its position as the US ' chief ally. Britain failed to persuade the US to liberalise trans-Atlantic air travel and, almost on the day when British commandoes joined the fighting in Afghanistan , the US imposed tariffs on imports of specialised British steel” (Press , 28/11/09). If this is the way that the US treats its “chief ally” (or poodle, in the case of Tony Blair) when it comes to protecting its own trade and economic interests, how do you think little old NZ will get on?

For full details see the New Zealand Not For Sale Website www.nznotforsale.org . There you will find a wealth of information about just why this proposed Free Trade Agreement is such a bad thing. We particularly recommend that you read Bill Rosenberg 's excellent article “Who Wins If We Get A Free Trade Deal With The US ?” http://www.nznotforsale.org/who-wins-if-we-get-a-free-trade-with-the-us/

Murray Horton
Secretary/Organiser

CAFCA
Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa
Box 2258, Christchurch , New Zealand
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.cafca.org.nz

Text Fwd: ASEAN leaders dared to tackle issue of unwanted US military troops, bases in Asia-Pacific [필리핀과 뉴질랜드] 아태 지역에서 기지 반대 목소리 높이기

* Image source: Click the below
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
[국문 번역] Text Fwd: WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST, January 22-24, 2010
와이호파이 스파이 기지 폐쇄를 위한 시위, 2010년 1월 22~24일

___________________________________________________
* Text Fwd from CAFCA and Phil Solidarity through NoUS bases
Oct. 29, 2010
___________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE
29 October 2010

Besides Spratly Islands dispute: ASEAN leaders dared to raise issue of unwanted US military troops, bases in ASEAN Summit

"Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III's call for peaceful sharing of Spratly Islands' resources is important, but the unwanted presence of US military troops and facilities in Asia-Pacific must also be raised by Aquino and other heads of state at the on-going ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. The hundreds of US troops in the
Philippines under the unconstitutional US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement, the US military bases and its 47,000 troops in Okinawa, thousands of troops in Korea, and the Waihopai spybase on New Zealand soil are equally important issues affecting territorial sovereignty, peace and security in the region that must be challenged. The rape and prostitution of women, death of civilians and destruction of environment where US war games and exercises are being held must be stopped."

This was the challenge issued by peace advocates and anti-bases activist groups in New Zealand as they host Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Negotiating Panel in a series of public meetings around NZ to
promote support for peace process the Philippines.

At the meetings in Christchurch, Blenheim and Wellington, Jalandoni and Ledesma talked about continuing US economic domination and military intervention in the Philippines as major obstacles to peace in the Philippines. "The Waihopai spybase in New Zealand is used by the US to spy on countries like the Philippines. We support the struggle to have this closed down. National sovereignty must be upheld to achieve lasting peace in the Philippines. Foreign troops and bases must not be allowed on Philippine soil just as the Waihopai spybase in NZ and US bases in Okinawa must be closed down," Jalandoni stated.

According to Murray Horton, main host of the peace tour and Secretary of Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA), "Waihopai does not operate in the interests of New Zealanders or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in US wars. Although officially a 'New Zealand' facility, Waihopai is an American spybase in everything but name."

The Waihopai spybase was subjected to unprecedented public attention by the March 2010 trial and acquittal of the three Ploughshares peace activists who penetrated its high security in 2008 and deflated one of the two domes concealing its satellite dishes from the NZ public.

At the US-ASEAN leaders meeting last September 24, US Pres. Barack Obama stated: "Through the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) forum and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), we're pursuing trade relationships that benefit all our countries.The United States also wants to focus on deepening its political and security cooperation with the region."

"By all indications, the US is poised to strengthen military presence in Asia-Pacific to protect its economic interests in the name of 'free trade' that ensures massive profits for giant US corporations and local elite. The US, which benefits from unrestricted trade in labour
and capital investment in Asia-Pacific, is actually causing massive social inequities which are root causes of armed conflict in the Philippines. ''Free trade' fuels war," Rod Prosser,
convenor of Wellington Kiwi Pinoy, another group hosting the NDFP peace tour, added.

"We are aware that Mr. Aquino courted US support for Philippines' bid to become a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership during his meeting with Obama. Just like APEC, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - World Trade Organisation (GATT-WTO) and other US-designed trade deals, TPP spells more profits for big business and nothing but losses for
ordinary people in the Philippines, New Zealand and other countries," Horton noted.

Horton, who is also the Spokesperson of 'New Zealand Not for Sale' campaign, concluded, "Filipinos and New Zealanders have had enough of unrestrained trade liberalisation that destroyed local agriculture and industries. Thus the TPP issue is a common ground for us to oppose what is essentially a back door way of achieving another free trade agreement that will mainly benefit the US. #

Reference:
Murray Horton
Secretary, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA)
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

Text Fwd: Filipino Progressive Leaders Visiting Waihopai Spy base October 27th 필리핀 진보 지도자들, [뉴질랜드] 와이오파이 미 첩보 기지, 10월 27일 방문

* Sent from CAFCA through nousbases on Oct. 22, 2010

Chief Reporter

The Waihopai spybase is currently in the news because the media shy agency which runs it, the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau, is suing for more than $1m damages the three Christian peace activists who were acquitted of criminal charges for their 2008 deflation of one its giant domes. They did that in protest at Waihopai’s vital role in the global network of spybases operating as the ears and eyes of the US war machine.

Waihopai’s primary role is to spy on our neighbours, particularly political groups which are deemed inimical to US interests. On the afternoon of Wednesday October 27th two leading figures of one such political movement in a neighbouring country will be visiting the Waihopai spybase (viewing it from the public road) to see for themselves New Zealand’s most important contribution to any and all American-led wars.

See below for details on Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma and their NZ tour. For details on the Waihopai spybase see http://www.converge.org.nz/abc/waihopai09.html

Murray Horton
Secretary
PSNA
Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa
Box 2450, Christchurch, New Zealand
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/psna

__________________________________________________________

JUSTICE AND LIBERATION: THE ROAD TO PEACE

FILIPINO PROGRESSIVE LEADERS TOURING NZ
OCTOBER 24 – NOVEMBER 14

Luis Jalandoni is the International Representative of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF, www.ndfp.net), a post that he has held since 1977, and since 1994 he has been the Chairperson of the NDF’s Negotiating Panel for peace talks with the Government of the Philippines. The NDF is the coalition of several underground groups, including the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army, which has been waging a war of liberation throughout the Philippines for more than 40 years, making it one of the longest running armed struggles in the world. The country desperately needs peace with justice and security, so resolving this people’s war is central to that.

Luis (who previously toured New Zealand in 1987) will undertake a national speaking tour between October 24 and November 14. His tour is being collectively organised and hosted by the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Wellington Kiwi Pinoy. His topic will be: Justice And Liberation: The Road To Peace In The Philippines. He will visit: Christchurch, Blenheim, Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Hamilton, Auckland and Whangarei.

Luis will be accompanied by his wife Coni Ledesma, who will also be speaking. She is a member of the NDF Negotiating Panel for peace talks; and is the International Spokesperson of MAKIBAKA, a revolutionary women’s group which belongs to the NDF.

Luis and Coni are both veteran leading figures in the Philippine revolutionary Left. He was a Catholic priest in the 1960s and she was a nun. Both were founders of Christians for National Liberation, a member group of the NDF. When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, both went underground. They were both arrested and spent time as political prisoners. They left the clergy, and got married in 1974. They have lived in The Netherlands since 1976; they were the first Filipinos to apply for and receive political asylum there. They hold Dutch passports and travel extensively as NDF representatives.

Luis Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma’s tour presents a unique opportunity to hear firsthand about a four decades long war, and accompanying peace process, in our own backyard that is almost totally unknown to New Zealanders. As more and more Filipinos come to NZ to live and work, it is important that Kiwis learn the full story about one of our closest Asian neighbours.

ITINERARY

Tuesday October 26 – Christchurch
Public Meeting - 7.30 p.m. Knox Presbyterian Church Lounge, 28 Bealey Avenue.
Contact: Murray Horton, 0274 307742 cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

Wednesday October 27 – Blenheim
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Nativity Centre Lounge, cnr Alfred & Henry Streets
Contact: Steffan Browning, 021 725655 greeny25@xtra.co.nz

Thursday October 28 & Friday 29 – Wellington
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m. Thursday 28, St John’s Hall, corner Willis & Dixon Streets
Contact: Rod Prosser 021 0744992 communitymedia@paradise.net.nz

Monday November 1 – Palmerston North
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Catholic Diocesan Centre (t Rau Aroha), 33 Amesbury Street
Contact: Dion Martin (06) 3569658 (w), 021 776029 Dion.Martin@ndu.org.nz

Tuesday November 2 & Wednesday 3 – New Plymouth
Public Meeting – 6 p.m. Wednesday 3rd, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, 42 Queen Street
Contact: Fiona Clark (06) 7547014; fionaclark@clear.net.nz

Thursday November 4 – Hamilton
Public Meeting – 7.30 p.m., Waikato Trade Union Centre, 34 Harwood Street.
Contact: Bob Anderson, (07) 8297882, 021 776023; ban@xtra.co.nz

Friday November 5 - Whangarei
Public Meeting – 7 p.m., Manaia PHO Rooms, Rust Ave, central Whangarei.
Contact: Tim Howard 027 3089216 the-farm@ihug.co.nz

Tuesday November 9 – Auckland
Public Meeting – 7 p.m. Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn
Wednesday 10 – 9a.m. - 12 noon, Auckland University, Maori Studies, Women’s Forum with Coni Ledesma. RSVP to Helen Te Hira (09) 2803372 (w); 0272 888894 helent@nzctu.org.nz

Friday 12 – 7 p.m. Solidarity Dinner, Civic Building, Strata 17, Mayoral Drive, Auckland. Tickets $30 (dinner, entertainment, cash bar). Contact Luke Coxon for tickets
Contact: Luke Coxon (09) 8276059, 028 25893203 luke_coxon@yahoo.com

This tour is collectively organised by Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA),
Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Wellington Kiwi-Pinoy

Text Fwd: [nousbases] Spy agency taking on Waihopai protesters

* Text fwd from Peace Movement Aotearoa on Oct. 6, 2010

Spy agency taking on protesters

6/10/2010 11:20:00

Three protesters who damaged the Waihopai base satellite facilities in 2008 are facing a $1million damage suit brought by Gvt spy agency

A Government spy agency is taking a damages claim against the protesters who damaged satellite facilities at the Waihopai base near Blenheim.

Peter Murnane, Adrian Leason, and Sam Land successfully defended criminal charges in March after they damaged a plastic dome at Waihopai during a protest in 2008.

Sources have told Newstalk ZB the Government Communications Security Bureau, which is responsible for the Waihopai base, has decided to take a $1 million damages suit against the trio.

The move comes as the Government also considers amending or repealing the claim of right defence, that the men used to defend the willful damage charges originally brought against them. - http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=183548

Text Fwd: WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST SATURDAY JANUARY 23rd:

* Image source/caption: www.converge.org.nz/abc/

'The Waihopai satellite spy station near Blenheim, New Zealand.

On April 30, 2008, three Ploughshares activists gained access to the base
and slashed one of the rubber protective domes with a sickle.

The giant balloon deflated slowly and draped over the satellite dish.

The rubber has since been removed and the dish is is now exposed,
directed at an Intelsat satellite and intercepting international communications.'

____________________________________________________________________

* Text from cafca (at) chch.planet.org.nz through NoUS Bases on Jan. 11, 2009

Chief Reporter

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST SATURDAY JANUARY 23rd:
END NZ INVOLVEMENT IN US WARS

People from all around New Zealand will be converging on Blenheim and the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase, in Marlborough, on the weekend of January 22-24. The war in Afghanistan, in which the NZ military is directly involved, has got dramatically worse and President Obama’s surge of 30,000 extra US troops will escalate it further. Already it has spread across the border into Pakistan. Hillary Clinton’s NZ visit this week is aimed at whipping America’s allies into shape and to get more troops out of the Key government, whilst simultaneously dangling a Free Trade Agreement as the “reward” – nothing has changed since Holyoake’s “guns for butter” catch cry of the Vietnam War years.

The theme of our activities, both at the spybase and in Blenheim, will be anti-war. The US says that Intelligence is the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight, throughout the world (Yemen is the latest target in this endless war). The Anti-Bases Campaign points out that Waihopai, an important source of intelligence for the Pentagon, is New Zealand’s most important contribution to the American war machine and it means that we New Zealanders have blood on our hands. To symbolise that, our props will include crosses, coffins and white masks.

This will be the first protest at the spybase since the April 2008 deflation of one of its domes by the Ploughshares peace activists. In solidarity with them, we will be popping white balloons at the base (and we will be at their Wellington trial, for the week starting March 8).

Waihopai, of course, is a “New Zealand” base – or so the Government says. The fact is, however, that in everything but name it is an outpost of American Intelligence – paid for by the long suffering NZ taxpayer. More than $500 million of public money has been spent on the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (the agency which runs Waihopai) in the 22 years of Waihopai’s operation. That money could have been much better utilised on health and education, not spying on behalf of Uncle Sam.

On Saturday 23rd we will meet in Blenheim’s Seymour Square at 11 am. From there we will march through central Blenheim, with speeches at the band rotunda in the Forum.

This will be followed by a visit to the Waihopai spybase itself at 2 pm. Information will be provided on the function of the base and there will be a peaceful protest, calling for its closure. Speakers, either in Blenheim and/or the spybase, will be: Keith Locke, Green MP; John Minto, of Global Peace and Justice Auckland; and Murray Horton of ABC.

Waihopai does not operate in the national interest of New Zealand. In all but name it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil, paid for with hundreds of millions of our tax dollars, and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed. (For details on Waihopai and what it does, go to our Website www.converge.org.nz/abc).

Murray Horton,
for ABC

Anti-Bases Campaign
Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/abc


* related blog

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2010/01/text-fwd-waihopai-spybase-january-22-24.html
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
[국문 번역] Text Fwd: WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST, January 22-24, 2010
와이호파이 스파이 기지 폐쇄를 위한 시위, 2010년 1월 22~24일

[국문 번역] Text Fwd: WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST, January 22-24, 2010 와이호파이 스파이 기지 폐쇄를 위한 시위, 2010년 1월 22~24일

* Image source: Wikipedia
One of the spy domes was collapsed after the Ploughshares' action in 2008.
2개의 스파이 돔중 하나는 2008년 플라우셰어 행동에 의해 무너졌다.

* Image source: Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
'The Waihopai spy base is 'located at the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim'
'와이호파이 첩보 기지는 블렌힘 근처 와이호파이 게곡에 위치한다. '


미 제국의 전쟁을 위한 첩보 위성 주요 기지들
* Image source: Citizens for Peace in Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.
* 이미지 소스: 우주 평화를 위한 시민 모임, 미국 콜로라도, 콜로라도 스프링스)

* Text Fwd: cafca (at) chch.planet.org.nz thru. No US Bases on Jan. 6, 2009.

Also at the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space site

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE

PROTEST

January 22-24

와이호파이 스파이 기지 폐쇄를 위한 시위, 2010년 1월 22~24일

The Waihopai spybase was dragged into the public spotlight in April 2008 when three Ploughshares peace activists penetrated its high security and deflated one of the two domes concealing its satellite dishes from the NZ public [photo]. The Anti-Bases Campaign was happy to support this non-violent direct action anti-war activity (which is yet to come to trial).

와이호파이 스파이 기지는 2008년 4월 세 명의 Ploughshare (*농기구 일종 ‘보습’이란 뜻) 활동가들이 높은 보안망을 뚫고 들어가 뉴질랜드 인들에게 [안에 들어있는] 위성 접시를 속인 두 개의 돔중 하나의 공기를 빼면서 대중의 촛점을 끌게 되었읍니다[사진]. 기지 반대 캠페인은 비폭력 직접적 행동인 이 전쟁 반대 활동을 기쁘게 지지했읍니다. (재판은 아직 끝나지 않았읍니다. )

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 New Zealand (including Parliament and the Prime Minister) having little or no idea what goes on there, let alone any control.

대중에게 알려져 있는 미국의 동맹국으로서의 뉴질랜드의 역활은 아프가니스탄에서의 뉴질랜드 군대 존재입니다. 그러나 [아프가니스탄에 대한], 그리고 미국의 다른 전쟁들에 대한 뉴질랜드의 가장 주요한 공헌은 블렌힘 근처, 와이호파이 계곡 에 있는 와이호파이 전자 첩보 수집 기지입니다. 그것은 미국과 뉴질랜드( 국회와 수상 포함)에 의해 통제되는데 그 곳에서 무슨 일이 일어나는지 감독은 고사하고 거의 또는 전혀 알려지지 않은 가운데 [진행됩니다.]

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.

1987년에 처음 발표된 와이호파이는 뉴질랜드의 정부 통신 안보부에 의해 운영되는데 영국과 미국간 (양국은 미국, 영국, 캐나다, 호주, 뉴질랜드 첩보기관들의 전지구적 전자와 암호 첩보들을 공유하는) 초비밀 협정 으로 묶여져 외세의 이익에 봉사합니다. 그곳의 두 위성 차단 접시들은 시민들의 전화 , 텔렉스, 팩스, 이-메일 그리고 컴퓨타 데이타 통신의 거대한 양을 차단합니다. 그것은 아시아 태평양 지역의 우리 이웃들을 도청하고 영-미 협정의 주요 협력국들에 자료들을 전송합니다. 그것의 대상은 뉴질랜드인들을 포함, 국제 시민 통신들인데 국제 전화 차단등을 포함합니다. 9/11 사후, 뉴질랜드의 정부 통신 안보부와 와이호파이 기지는 현재 미국이 전쟁들을 벌이는 더 먼 지역들을 도청합니다. 이를 위한 부호 이름, 에셜런 Echelon (*체제라는 뜻) 은 그것의 넓은 영역에 걸친 도청이 대중적으로 알려지며 전 세계적으로 악명높게 되었읍니다. 뉴질랜드는 전지구적 도청 넷워크의 하부이긴 해도 통합의 일부이며 그 넷워크는 궁국적으로 정부도 시민도 아닌 그 자신의 구성 기관들에게만 책임을 물을 수 있읍니다.

Join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for roughing it and camping out. We provide the food (we cater for vegetarians but vegans will have to bring their own). Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, and $40 (or $20 unwaged) to cover costs. No open fires.

주말 이 도청 기지에서 열리는 반전 시위에 참가하길 바랍니다. 대략 계획을 세우고 캠프할 준비를 헤오시길 바립니다. 음식이 제공될 것입니다. (채식자들을 위해서 야채들이 준비될 것이나 엄격한 채식주의자들은 스스로 준비하시길.) 침낭, 깔개, 텐트, 회중 전등, 물병, 취사도구 , 모든 기후에 대처할 수 있는 옷들, 그리고 비용에 쓰기 위한 40 달러 (무임금자는 20달러)등을 갖고 오시길 바랍니다. 밖에서 불을 피우는 일은 없을 것입니다.

How to find our camp at Whites Bay: turn off SH1 at Tuamarina (9km north of Blenheim or 20 km south of Picton) and drive to Rarangi on the coast. Follow the steep Port Underwood Road over the hilltop before descending to the Whites Bay turnoff. There is a DoC public camp at the bay with basic facilities. ABC has to pay a fixed charge per head.

화이트 베이에 있는 우리의 캠프를 이렇게 찾으세요: 투아마리나 SH1 (블렌힘에서 9km 북쪽 또는 픽톤에서 20 km 남쪽) 에서 꺾어 해안의 라랑기로 운전합니다. 화이트 베이로 꺾어지지 전까지 언더우드 로우드 항구의 가파른 길을 따라가세요. 만에 기본 시설물들이 있는 DoC 대중 캠프가 있읍니다. ABC 는 머릿수당 고정 부담을 물어야 합니다.

This will be the first Waihopai spybase protest since the Domebusters’ courageous 2008 citizens’ deflation action. Waihopai does not operate in the interests of New Zealanders or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars.

이는 돔파괴자들의 2008년 용기있는 시민들에 의한 공기빼내기 행동 이후 첫 와이호파이 첩보 기지 시위가 될 것입니다. 와이호파이는 뉴질랜드인들이나 우리 이웃들의 이익을 위하여 운영되지 않습니다. 기본적으로 그것은 뉴질랜드 영토의 외국 첩보 기지이며 미국의 전쟁들에 우리를 직접적으로 참여하게 합니다.

CLOSE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE!

와이호파이 기지를 폐쇄하라!


ABC

Anti-Bases Campaign 기지 반대 캠페인

Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand 뉴질랜드 크리스트쳐치 Box 2258

cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

www.converge.org.nz/abc