Arabic version: مئات يتجمعون في أليس سبرينغز للاحتجاج على توسعة باين غاب
Hundreds of activists and academics have converged on Alice Springs ahead of a planned protest targeting the joint Australian‑US Defence facility at Pine Gap.
According to ABC News, more than 500 people gathered at a desert research institute for the “Close Pine Gap” convergence, where Arrernte traditional owners welcomed participants with a smoking ceremony that lasted almost an hour.
Attendees included Arrernte elders who say they can no longer visit sacred sites and rock art within Pine Gap’s boundaries, and members of the Women for Survival camp that protested at Pine Gap in 1983. Lies and Els Paijmans travelled from regional New South Wales and recalled camping at Pine Gap during the 1983 action, when about 100 women were arrested after protesters gathered at the gates.
Organisers said many participants were driven by frustration, confusion and grief about the facility’s role, noting concerns about escalations involving the United States and the possibility that Pine Gap could make Australians living in Alice Springs a target. Pine Gap was built almost 60 years ago, originally presented to the public as a space base, and has since expanded into a major intelligence and surveillance facility with increasing numbers and capacity of its domes. Its mission and secrecy have long made it the target of protests.
Arrernte elder Felicity Hayes told the gathering that her family wants access to check and look after rock art and sacred country inside the facility but that federal police presence and access restrictions prevent visits. She said her grandfather, who was involved in early negotiations over the land, did not fully understand English and she believed he did not know what was being proposed. Hayes also said many of her family live in makeshift cabins and tents at the Whitegate town camp in Alice Springs, where water must be trucked in, and that they want compensation and housing.
The Defence Department declined to comment on protesters’ concerns, reiterating longstanding practice that the government does not comment on intelligence matters or the operation of joint facilities, including Pine Gap. What happens next: the group’s protest action is planned for tomorrow.
This story matters because the facility’s expanded intelligence and surveillance role affects local traditional owners’ access to ancestral lands and has prompted nationwide mobilisation of activists and academics to question the base’s operations and local safety implications for Alice Springs residents.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Australian Capital Territory | Northern Territory | General | Social/إجتماعية
