Waihopai, January 1996

SCRAP.
'WA\HOP'"
Spy g

Stan Hemsley and tj-iends with his inva

In this issue: page

• New Zealand spies 2

• ABC members testify on ISA Bill 3
• Hearings on the Bill - Latest news 5
• Submission on the ISA Bill by Warren Thomson 5
• Submission by Anthony Lealand 9
• "Hippie-type individuals" arrested at Waihopai 10
• Book Review: "Seeing Red - Undercover in 1950s New Zealand" 13
• UK ministry sned MI5 "waging war of Harassment" 14
• The fate of the Black Birch Naval Observatory 15
• Canberra change will affect Oz defence 15
• CIA File 16
• Internet has international intelligence value for US military 17
• Spooky Bits 17
• Uranium and thorium mining could happen in Aotearoa 19
• Edward Teller at his finest 20
 NZ SPIES
Spooks and spying don't figure hugely in the thinking
of this country. And the specially constituted
Intelligence Select Committee considering legislation
for our spies wants to keep it this way.
A Bill is being fast-tracked through Parliament to
provide oversight ofthe Security Intelligence Service
(SIS) responsible for domestic security and spying, and
the super-secret Government Communications Security
Bureau (GCSB) which is tasked to safeguard New
Zealand communications, hut also spies on infonnation
passing in and out of this country via satellite (faxes,
E.·Mail, telexes etc) and radio communications (ships,
military. diplomatic ete)
The legislation was introduced into Parliament only
hours before the House closed down for Christmas. The
public, most of whom were setting off for the summer
holidays, were given until the beginning of February
to respond to the B ill. After some pressure this was
extended to February 21, and a second round of public
hearings had to be scheduled. But the special Select
Committee - Bolger, MacKinnon, Graham, East, Clark,
Caygill and Matthewson, show little sign of wanting
to rein in the spooks,or even allowing a decent public
debate on the legislation.
Members of the Anti-Bases Campaign in Christchurch
have taken a leading part in promoting discussion on
the Bill. We have worked with others to prepare and
disseminate a kit that analysed the legislation, and gave
some general background information. We have been
very active in providing the media with information
and releases; we have cajoled and encouraged others
to make submissions. The editors of Peace Researcher
appeared at the first round of hearings in Wellington
to make slIbmissions. In the midst of all this we put
together the annual Waihopai protest and the editors
of Peace Researcher ended lip in the cells.
Our efforts are reflected in the contents of this issue of
the ABC journal. We've done what we can for the
moment. We hope that more people out there will be
adding their voices to the calls for full debate, for
legislation t h at i s deli berate, democratic, and
demonstrably effective. The activities of secret spy
organisations, and the extent they are under proper
control, are important measures of the health of
democracy in any country. We all need to get involved
to make sure that AotearoaJNZ will measure up.
The public are not given any information about what
spying the SIS and the GCSB do, and the parliamentary
Page 2
committee (the ISC) to be created to make sure they
behave themselves, won't either. In the legislation
presently before the House, "day to day" operations
are specifically exempt from examination. Furthennore
the ISC will be unable to access "sensitive infornlation"
- a phrase defined so widely that almost anything of
significance could be den ied to com m i ttee
investigation.
Under the Bill, the Prime Minister, who is currently
responsible for the SIS and GCSB, will continue to
have enormous power. He (or she?) determines who
will be on the ISC, determines when (or if?) it will
meet. decides what can be investigated and what can
be made public Similarly, the Directors of the SIS
and the GCSB can declare information sensitive and
refuse to allow the ISC access to it.
In the past the record of the SlS has been suspect -
failure in the cases of the Rainbow Warrior and the
Trades Hall bombing of Ernie Abbott, libellous
misinformation in the files of Don Carson, Tom Poata,
and others, accusations of sexism and "three year old"
behaviollf from ex-officers, and political manipulation
of SIS information by fonner Prime Minister Muldoon.
(Under the present Bill political misuse of files would
be very simple.)
For the first time the GCSB would come lInder statute
(but only to a limited extent). Not before time. But we
are going to learn nothing more about this mysterious
organisation, and its present operations will in no way
be inhibited by any democratic scrutiny. As most of
the espionage takes place in a close relationship with
Australian, British, American and Canadian snooping,
relevant material will all be "sensit ive" - any
information relating to overseas governments or
organ isations is a no-go area for Out elected
representatives.
It's a great idea to set up a parliamentary committee to
watch ollr watchers. But if it is going to be as blind,
toothless and spineless as the present Bill suggests, we
give a carte blanche to the agencies, and especially any
renegade or dissident elements within them, to interfere
in personal, political and commercial affairs in this
country as they see fit.
The legislation also sets up an Inspector-General to look
into personal complaints and matters where the law
has been contravened. Don't hold out too much hope
for the latter. But the provision to examine claims that
an individual has been adversely affected by some
Peace Researcher
action of the intelligence agencies could be a step
forward. Typically for this legislation however, there
is a snag. The Chief ofthe agency has to agree in writing
before the complaint can be investigated.
The Bill as presently constituted is a dead duck - shot
through with holes and barely worth retrieving. The
manner of its introduction and the process of hearings
tell us, however that we can't trust our present
parliamentary leaders to supervise the spooks. We need
to give the select committee hell. New Zealand
democracy deserves better than this.
At the time of writing, a second public hearing of
submissions was being held in Wellington. Public
interest has been higher than the politicians wanted,
and the movement of the B il l through the select
ABC members testi
committee on the Intelligence Bill
Warren Thomson and I travelled to Wellington for the
February 1 3 hearings on the Intelligence and Security
Agencies Bill (ISA). Along with several other people,
including David Lange, we appeared before the
committee chaired by Jim Bolger, and the leading lights
ofthe Labour and United parties, but with Jim Anderton
of the Alliance conspicuously missing. Of course, he
had never been invited to be a member of the
committee. Nor had Winston Peters, a maverick MP
who might be expected to have his own stimulating
ideas about oversight of spy agencies.
One gentleman who testified in the afternoon labelled
the committee a bunch of "patsies", leading to a
complete loss of warmth in He/en C1ark's demeanour.
But given the overall attitude of the committee
throughout the day ("this is a good bill, but may need a
little fine-tuning"), the description seemed appropriate.
An Anderton or a Peters would have given the
committee a spot of spark. And those who testified
against the bill, or criticised it strongly, would have
had three or four sympathetic ears at the table. Instead
we were listened to politely but dismissively, except
for the occasional remark fi'om C lark that, hmm ..., we
might look into that point.
Almost every witness before the committee criticised
the expanded definition of security in the Bill (see Part
HI of the Bill). That is one area in which we might see
some "fine-tuning". But don't expect any substantial
changes. The Bill is quite deliberately broadening the
Peace Researcher
committee and the House may be slower than originally
anticipated. This gives an opportunity to get to MPs
and quiz them on what they know about the legislation,
and what they know about the spook agencies. Most
know virtually nothing. It is vital to shake them up on
the issues and ensure some sort of intelligent debate is
heard in the House. In particular, Labour MPs must be
told that acting in collusion with Bolger on this issue is
good for neither Labour nor the country.
If you can spare a little time, write a letter, make a
phone call, see an MP. Legislation like this only comes
up once in a decade.
ABC Christchurch will supply information ifrequested.
Phone (03) 337-3465, Fax (03) 366-3988,
or write to Box 2258, Christchurch.
before select
definition of security (see some of the submissions
elsewhere in this issue) as a response to the profound
changes that have occurred in the global strategic
picture (military, economic and political). The shift of
intelligence activities into protecting our "economic
well-being" opens a vast and ill-defined arena of spying,
including industrial espionage. This development is
totally consistent with expanded spying activities of
other UKUSA nations. It is particularly poignant in
the context of the so-called "free-market" - the
unfettered global trade mentality that our National and
Labour governments have bought into so thoroughly.
What is "free" about markets, what is "unfettered"
about international trade when governments see fit to
turn their publicly-funded spy agencies loose on each
other for purposes of gaining industrial, economic and
political advantage? But the business world h'Lsn't
seemed to pay much heed, or raise much of a fuss about
it. Perhaps that is because the real profits for the big
hoys, the transnationals, lie not in global free trade but
in the perpetuation of the massive inequities and
maldistributiol1 of wealth and power that exist today.
High tecll spying is one of the tools of that trade and
little NZ is keen to play the game.
But the committee was not sitting to hear that kind of
argument. Mr Bolger in particular seemed to be
resistant to hearing about any of the wider implications
of the Bill. The main thrust of Warren's submission
and testimony was how NZ was linked into the western
intelligence network and what that meant in tenus of
Page 3
lost independence and sovereignty. He asked at the
outset of his testimony to show about four minutes of
video tape from overseas sources - first hand accounts
of some of the really nasty business that overseas
intelligence agencies conduct. Bolger would not have
it. With no knowledge of the content of the tape, he
labelled it "hearsay" and refused permission to have it
played for the committee. Warren persisted and did
succeed in getting Bolger to accept the tape as part of
the committee's evidence. We do not yet know if
individual committee members have viewed or ever
will view the tape.
Warren then gave a brief summary of his submission
and answered some questions. I did the same. I
focussed on the legality of GCSB electronic spying.
Several knowledgeable people, including Ray Parker,
the director of the agency, had assured us that the GCSB
and its activities were perfectly legal. It appears,
however, that the "legality" is dependent on loopholes
deliberately written i n to international
telecommunications agreements by governments to
allow spying to go on, while giving the general populace
the impression that their private communications are
being protected. It's a cynical business. But what clse
is new? To his credit, David Caygill rose to the bait of
the claims of illegality in my submission. But he
seemed satisfied when I related the gist ofMr Parker's
reassurance about how the legal beagles made sure all
was neat and legal. Caygill did not notice my tongue
firmly planted in my cheek, nor did he comment when
I pointedly raised the issue of the morality of the
GCSB's electronic spying.
Both Messrs Parker (GCSB) and Mclvor, director of
the Security Intelligence Service, sat silently throughout
the hearings.
Our total elapsed time before the committee was about
30 minutes. We came away wondering if they had
absorbed and reflected on anything we had to say.
There was some telling and cogent testimony over the
course of the day by the likes of Calh Wallace, Huge
Price, Jack Shallcrass and Maxine Gaye. But in the
eyes ofthe committee and the media, the star witness
was David Lange, the invited speaker who led off the
festivities. I j o tted down a few fragments of his
ramblings, including: " . . . supremacy of those who
engage in security"; "paramilitary ethos" (in reference
to the SIS); "GCSB somehow had remained a secret
service"; "High threshold of suspicion of the SIS in
NZ"; "Distrust can never he removed"; 'This bill goes
a long way to providing 'justice' for people who work
,,
for the organisation [SIS] ; "The level of their
intelligence p e n etration was extremely low" [ i n
Page 4
reference to the SIS], and he said the "Fiji coup was a
classic example". It should be noted that covert
intelligence overseas is not a defined SIS role. Either
Mr Lange was wrong in his comment, or he knows
something we don 'I.
Mr Lange suggested that NZ needed more HUMINT
(human intelligence: real people spying on real people).
"NZ needs to have the capacity to deploy people in the
South Pacific." "We have been far too generous in
this country." He said there is subversion that should
be under surveillance. "You cannot expose the service
to a parliamentary committee." Only descriptions of
the direction or broad operations should be known to
parliament. Lange seems to be calling for a NZ service
parallel to the American CIA or British MI6.
Frequently during the day, there were references to the
difficulty of defining "subversion", and this included
statements by the Special Committee members. The
Aussies took the term "subversion" out of the act
creating its domestic spy agency (ASIO) because it was
deemed too difficult to interpret. But Lange stated,
"Subversion is easy. Any fool can determine what is
subversive."
It seems Mr Lange would have us leave the detection
of subversion to the "fools" ill the intelligence agencies,
and deprive the wise parliamentarians on the oversight
committee of any details about the tools and tactics of
the fools. That's effective oversight, in the eyes of ex··
Prime Minister Lange, the man who presided over both
Tangimoana and Waihopai but was quite happy to
admit that he never really understood the details of what
they did.
All in aiL it was an interesting day. It isn't often that
two hippy protesters gel to spend a day in the presence
of the Wellington power elite. We learned a lot. But
did the committee?
Bob Leonard
BASE DECEPTION:
The US Military at Airport
A new ABC violeo now available
Copies of "Base Deception" can be purchased
from ABC for $15 including postage. Send
cheques to ABC, Box 22.58, Christchurch.
Peace Researcher
 HEARINGS ON THE BILL .. LATEST NEWS
The second round of hearings on the ISA B i l l was held
on 14 March in Wellington. A third hearing was to be
held a week later. Originally only one day of hearings
was planned, so at least some message has been given
to the committee on the numbers of people determined
to get to Wellington and give voice to their disapproval
of the Bill. Over 90 submissions were received.
At the second hearing the negative attitudes ofBolger
and Helen Clark continued to be evident, with the Prime
Minister in particular rude and dismissive to those
pointing out the vast shortcomings in his Bill. Although
the committee have promised to look at rewording the
clauses on economic well-being, substantive changes
in any part of the B i l l look unlikely.
Nicky Hager' s submission pointed out to the weakness
ofthe proposed New Zealand legislation in comparison
with overseas legislation, where oversight and
accountability are much better defined. Kevin Hackwell
told the committee that the GCSB should be properly
legislated for, and that there could be no proper auditing
SUBMISSION TO THE COMMITTEE ON
THE INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY
AGENCIES BILL, FEBRUARY, 1996
Submitted by Warren Thomson
Main points in this submission
I. Given that secret intelligence and security operations
present acute dilemmas for democratic societies there
should be fu l l debate on the activities of such
organisations. The undue haste with which the
legislation is proceeding is no credit to its promoters
and a serious disservice to democratic values in this
country. Time for submissions, and for general public
debate, must be extended.
"The time is long overdue for an informed public debate
on the UKUSA security and intelligence arrangements
and for the bases and parameters of UKUSA security
and intelligence operations to be established through
open democratic processes." [Desmond Ball, former
Director of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre
in Canberra1
2. It is absurd that the general principles of the UKUSA
Agreement are kept secret from the NZ public, and in
peacetime it is not acceptab l e that the w ider
Peace Researcher
of its effectiveness unless it was spelt out what it
actually was targetted to do. A submission by the
Auckland Civil Liberties Council was presented by
Rodney Harrison, suggesting that the Bill was bad law
and should not be passed in its present form. lane
K elsey b l asted the comm ittee further on the
impl ications of allowing surveillance under the
economic well-being clauses, and the bitterness in
current party politics was obvious when Jim Anderton
said the legislation was designed to preclude certain
parties who opposed the activities of the spy agencies.
Once again the session was attended by Mclvor and
Parker - the heads of the S I S and the GC S B ,
respectively. In spite o fthe fact that suhmissions have
publicised the grave deficiencies in the proposed
legislation, these two will be happy. There is no
indication that the select committee will deviate from
its prejudged positions. As Anderton said, a B i l l
purporting to bring security services under greater
parliamentary scrutiny in fact decreases the likelihood
of their public accountability.
implications of the intelligence relationsbips are not
subject to debate. The agreement locks this country into
systems and postures that stem from the interests of
bigger partners.
3. There is little evidence that the expensive data
collection operations of covert organisations such as
the Government Communications Security Bureau are
better than open collection of information by otber
properly resourced analysts. On tbe other hand covert
operations have an enormous potential to trespass
against long-establ ished rights to privacy of
communication and general rights of citizens.
4. The western intelligence agencies that NZ works
closely with, and who set the patterns for the whole
UKUSA network, have consistently displayed
incompetence, criminality, deceit, and impropriety.
While New Zealand intelligence agencies operate on a
level tiny by comparison with overseas western
organisations it should not be assumed that the major
Page 5
problems exposed in tbe bigger partners are absent from
NZ.
5. Most of the publicly available information on the
Security Intelligence Service reflects badly on that
organisation. While it is true that the SIS will have
successes unknown to the public, it is also probable
that there are many cases of failure or incompetence
which have not become public. The current Bill gives
no assurance that this will change, nor that intelligence
agencies will not be used covertly for domestic political
ends.
6. The routine activities of the SIS should be handled
by other organisations which are more open to proper
scrutiny - the Police, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade, and so on.
7. With all due respect to busy and usually competent
ministers and senior politicians, their public comments
on intelligence agencies demonstrate little knowledge
about the organisations they are planning to legislate
for.
8. lfthe SIS and GCSB are given a mandate to operate
then they must be made properly accountable. The
proposed law w i l l not do this and requires far more
examination and debate.
WHY BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE
OPERATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE
ORGANISATiONS?
The Overseas Experience:
(a) Frequent Failures: Intelligence organisations have
failed to give warning of most of the major events of
the last forty years.
(b) Worthless information. Information collected by
c landestine m eans i s notoriously d i fficult to
authenticate and/or interpret. (Between 1990 and 1 993
the CIA fed dozens of misleading reports to the
President) It is difficult to find examples where material
collected by secret operations made a significant
contribution to govemmcnts.
(c) Occasional double-agents (e.g., Philby, Prime,
Ames) have not only destroyed sections of the
organisations but have actually given the advantage to
perceived "enemies".
(cl) Covert operations, which are unknown to the
government, which go against pronounced govemment
policy, or sometimes even the government itself (e.g.,
PMs Wilson and Whitlam) have frequently been
carried out by elements ofinteiligence agencies. These
Page 6
bave periodically involved interference in domestic
politics.
(e) Failure of Oversight. While oversight by elected
representatives has provided some controls over
intelligence practices the evidence is that day to day
operations proceed pretty much regardless. Often the
politicians put on committees move on before they
develop any real understanding of the covert systems;
relationships with other countries are used as an excuse
for not revealing infonnation; the threat of real control
can result in the emergence of "deniable" operations
involving "former" officers, mercenaries, co-operative
business executives, or private investigators etc.
In New Zealand:
I. The Security Intelligence Service
(a) The public record of the SIS is poor.
(b) In the cases of Don Carson, Tom Poata, and the list
of SUP mem bers released by PM M uldoon in
Parliament, there were gross and maligning errors. This
incompetent and/or partial selection of data was only
discovered because the Prime Minister of the day tried
to use SIS information in Parliament for political
advantage.
(c) No satisfactory explanation has been made of the
failure to protect the Rainbow Warrior from terrorism
unleashed by an "allied" secret service, nor ofthe failure
to apprehend the perpetrators (which the police
managed to do).
(d) There is no reason to disbelieve the statements of
the two ex-officers who said in 1 994 that in the late
eighties/early nineties they were being detailed to put
surveillance on university lecturers and trade union
officials as well as diplomats. Such operations should
be closely investigated. The statements of these ex­
officers did no! inlhe slightest threaten national security
and the law must allow comments such as theirs to be
made public.
(c) The recent "Paradise Conspiracy" by a reputable
TV j o urnalist points to worrying activities by
intelligence-related personnel in relation to events in
Auckland and the Wine-box Inquiry, and warrant
investigation.
2. The Government Communications Security Bureau:
(a) The hidden signals intelligence operations ofthis
agency - separate from its function of protecting New
Zealand Government Communications - are not open
to scrutiny by politicians and will proceed untouched
by the proposed parliamentary oversight.
(b) Politicians have no independent sources capable
of auditing the GCSB operations - a unique situation,
and an exceedingly dangerous one. Only in the area of
intelligence operations are governments totally and
utterly reliant for advice on the people who carry out
Peace Researcher
that policy.
(c) All available information shows that Tangimoana
and Waihopai are part of a huge international effort
(under the UKUSA Agreement) to gather information
for the benefit of the major western powers. It is by no
means clear that the benefits to New Zealand outweigh
the disadvantages of being a tiny cog in this immense
machine yet there has never been any public debate of
this issue.
(d) While by law the SIS has to get a warrant before
being permitted to intercept communications, the
technology of the G C S B a l lows it to intercept
international communications with no reference to
political or judicial authorities - in blatant disregard to
one of the most basic rights. Any oversight would have
to ensure that collection of "foreign intelligence" means
only communications with neither sender nor receiver
in New Zealand. Oversight would have to allow for
monitoring the likely development of computer
technology to develop and record individual phone
calls. Furthermore, it would also have to ensure that a
sister organisation, e.g., the DSD, were not tasked to
collect New Zealand communications and pass them
back to the NZ agencies in a way that allows NZ spies
to deny domestic interceptions.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES
I. Four Corners: Code Name Man!ra. Australian TV
Documentary - interviews with two former ASIS
Officers, February 1 994.
[Narrator, Ross Coulthart) The interviews show
"".Australians are being poorly served by their secret
service. Their allegations raise serious questions about
the operations and accountability of ASIS."
"Those operations they detail are sometimes of dubious
benefit to Australia's national interest." "When ASIS
bngging experts do work for the British or Americans,
they're often ordered not to tell Australia about their
activities."
The story of 'Officer Two' "raises real concerns that,
in its zeal to be a major player in the intelligence club
with Britain and America, A SlS sometimes
compromises Australia's national interest."
Officer One: "I was puzzled when [Bill Hayden) said
'What the hell is ASIS doing in this bloody part of the
world?' And I said 'Well, don't really ask me. " it's not
very reassuring to have your minister come through -
because the M i nister for Foreign Affairs is in charge
of ASIS - to come through and ask you that question.'"
Officer Two: "I think i t ' s simply because the
intelligence service, for many decades - namely, four­
has not been subject to the sort of scrutiny that an
intelligence service must be subjected to and, along
the way, things have gone wrong, as they will in any
human organisation. The instinctive reaction of
Peace Researcher
management has been to cover up and almost always
to find one or more scapegoats."
Officer One: "These people know that they'll never
be scrutinised, they'll never be disciplined and that's
the risk."
[Note: NZ does not have an equivalent of ASIS, but
the remarks have some relevance for all intelligence
organisations.)
2. Knightley, Phillip: Journalist for the Sunday Times
with a special interest in intelligence issues. "The
Second Oldest Profession", Pan Books, 1 986:
"There might, just might, be some justification for the
intelligence community if it did what it claimed to do:
provide timely warnings ofthreats to national existence.
But, as we have seen, this claim is exaggerated even in
wartime, and in peaclime, intelligence agencies seem
to have spent more time trying to score off each other,
protecting their budgets and their establishments, and
inventing new justifications for their existence, than in
gathering intel ligence." (p392)
3. Murray, Gary: Journalist and founder of a successful
private investigation company that was employed by
British Intelligence for various surveillance operations:
"Enemies of the State", Simon and Schuster, 1 993, "".
a number of illegal acts, including violence and murder,
have been committed by agents of British Intelligence,
in some cases, with the connivance of Her Majesty's
Government." "". members of our so-called elite
services are capable of any i l legal act, including
blackmail, telephone and mail interception, burglary -
and even assassination." (pvii, pI 03)
4. Richelson, Jeffrey: Consultant on Intelligence
matters in the US, author of a number of related books,
leading commentator on inte l l igence activities.
Interview for British TV's 'Despatches' Documentary
"The Hill" , 6 September 1 993:
"Well, NSA, the National Security Agency, reports to
a variety of units within the US Government, both in
the executive branch and the congressional
branch""NSA intercepts an enormous volume of
signals on a day to day basis. And no agency outside of
the National Security Agency can exercise the sort of
micro management that would be necessary to oversee
every one of its operations ... every aspect of its listening
operations""So on the onc hand there are a variety of
mechanisms by which the NSA is controlled by the
executive branch and the Congress, at the same time
NSA is harder to m icro manage and supervise on a
really detailed level than some other agencies."
"NSA has won a case in court which makes it possible
for it to intercept any communications that have one
Page 7
foreign terminaL.which means NSA can target a
conversation that has one of the ends in a foreign
country..."
5. Richelson, Jeffrey, and Ball, Desmond: "Tbe Ties
That Bind: Intelligence Cooperation between the
UKUSA Countries". Unwin Hymen, 2nd Edition,
1989. (Ball was for several years the Director of the
eminent Australian National University's Strategic and
Defence Studies Centre in Canberra):
"The UKUSA security and intelligence community,
.with more than a quarter of a million full..time personnel
and a total budget of $US 16 .. 18 billion, [ 1985]
constitutes one of the largest bureaucracies in the world.
As such, it not only wields enormous political power
and influence, but also exhibits most of the typical
attributes oHarge bureaucratic organizations, including
a tcndency to define and pursue bureaucratic political
objectives which are not necessarily in complete
concordance with the national interests of the five
UKUSA countries themselves. (p30 1)
"". it is bound together an extraordinary network of
written and un.written agreements, working practices
ano personal relationships",,i! is able to shroud itself
in secrecy and to invoke the mantle of 'national security'
to all extent unmatched by evell national defence
establishments,", many of its elements have executive
and coercive powers, including the right to indulge in
extreme and violent practices (such as assassination
and 'special political activities') which are generally
prohibited in national and illternational laws." (p30 1)
" ...undeniable benefits which flow from intelligence
co"operatioll muj exchange must be balanced against
the costs, risks, and constraints whicb are imposed by
the UKUSA security arId intelligence arrangements,
These impositions are particularly significant in the case
of the smaller UKUSA couotries." (p303)
"no matter how friendly two coulltries may be ..
national i n t e rests will r a r e l y be i n complete
concordance." (p303)
[Priorities of the UKUSA community] ." "can lead to
a distortion "fth" defence postures and foreign policies
of the smaller UKUSA coulItries"J! is also likely that
the degree of independence enjoyed by the smaller
parties in their policy making can be t.xmstrained
hy the existence ,,[such dose relationships
with powers with more global interests." "In
times of war or the demands and obligations of
secrer and tend readily
to conflict with avowed " (p304)
"One of the fealures of the lUKUSA]
relationship and one· ofits strengths
- is that demen!s of it come to perceive their
ultill1ate a, more with the UKUSA
community than with tlrCll' own governments." (p305)
Page 8
"Some elements of the UKUSA community have also
Ilsed the ties , obligations and allegiances of the
UKUSA relationship to frustrate the intentions and
explicit policies of their own governments and
sometimes even to assist in the breach of their own
national laws." (p305)
6. Robison, Robin: Until 1990 a middle ranking officer
in Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, which is
responsible for co-ordination of intelligence. From
Grenada TV's World In Action, shown in Abridged
version TVI, 29/8/9\:
"In practice the security and intelligence services were
operating in a way which was deceitful at times, and at
best creating a fog around the whole situation so that
ministers knew as little as possibIe and the public knows
next to nothing, and MPs knew little more than people
in the street"
"In my experience ministers would never set foot in
the llC and we never ever received requests from
ministers for information " [Narrator 1 "Suppose,
hypothetically, a minister got himself busy and came
to JlC and said he wanted to see the following files to
make sure things are being run properly?" "It wouldn't
happen!" [Narrator] "How do you know that wouldn't
h a p p e n?" "Because we h a d f i l e s which were
specifically marked 'not forminister's eyes'" [Narrator]
"You mean they were spedHcally marked 'not for
minister's eyes'!'" "Yes" [Narrator] "How did that strike
you at the time?" "It cut across any pretence of
democratic accountability."
The narrator, Nick Davics. states that "...more than 30
former officers. many of senior rank and long service,
have told us of their concerns" [about lack of controls].
One former intelligence officer told Davies 'The only
law at GCHQ is to do what you are told. IfM!5 or M!6
wan! something. GCHQ provides it. The law just isn't
discussed. ))
7. Wrigley, Alan: Former head of ASIO and former
deputy secretary of the Department of Defence.
Repotted ill The Press, 27 November, 1993:
Mr Wrigley "has made a scathing assessment of
Australia's intelligence and called for a full
review of fmure funding, He also claimed spies played
up to the 'gullibility' of politicians who over-rated the
value of their assessments. Mr Wrigley told a national
security conference ill Canberra that over the last two
decades the contribution of secret intelligence from
overseas sources to the devdopment of Australia's
defence policy had only beell slight 'In my exposure,
over 10 years in defence, to increasingly sensitive
classified information, I can think of no major policy
position or decision that was influenced significantly
by secret intelligc1lce' he said. 'Changes in Australia's
Peace Researcher
strategic environment made it difficult to justifY the
high cost of technical intelligence collection in the
region, a job undertaken by Australia's most secret
agency, the DSD,' said Mr Wrigley. The most costly
intelligence and processing programmes Australia
conducted were initiated because of our role as a minor
party in the Western alliance.' ... He found it 'alarming'
so many politicians had 'such blind faith' in the value
and importance of intelligence.... The current concern
was that the gathering and analysis of intelligence was
no longer as independent and objective as it needed to
be,"

Professionals Limited

TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCIES BILL

SUBMISSION FROM ANTHONY LEALAND OF FIREWORK PROFESSIONALS LIMITED,

FORMERLY THE FIREWORKS COMPANY

My submission relates in particular to an incident which occurred in 1994 with the Ihen Security
Intelligence Service.

In Christchurch on 20-25 February 1994, The Firoworks Company hosted the 19trllnternational
Pyrotechnics Society Conference. The list of attendees from countries such as Brilaln, Canada,
Sweden, the United States, Australia, Brazil, France, China and Japan included many high
ranking people from industrial, military and research institutions and governmenl officiels.

We were approached by the Security intelligence Service shortly before the start of the
Conference and asked why Russian scientISts were attending. We were amazed to discover
that the Russian scientists were considered some threat to New Zealand, despite the fact that
the Conference was a frank and open seminar with published Proceedings available worldwide
and a mamber of the New Zealand military attending.

tt was with some considerable asperity that I refused to grAnt the Security Intelligence Service
an interview after the Conference. I pOinted out Ihat they were welcome to attend the
Conference by paying the appropriale fees. Further, if they wished 10 interview Ihe Russien
scientist in question, Or Tatyana Pivina, she was lecturing in the Chemistry Department al
Canterbury Universily.

The Socurity Intelligence Service did not have the technical facilities 10 avail begin an analYSIS
of what the Conference was about The gentlemen sonl 10 interview me had absolutely no
technical knO'wledge whatsoever and referred vaguely to "drawing a ring around New Zealand
information".

It is clear from this that thH processes by which the Security Intelligence Service determine thelf
policies and priorities need to be ciAariy available for public scrutiny and debale

The thoughl Ihat in 1994 a "ring" would heve [0 be drawn around New Zealand pyrotechnic
knowledge is so ludicrous that one wonders whot instruction the Department really received
from the Prime Minister Was he aware of their archaIC policies which appoared to be so at
odds with Goverrlm(001 attitudes al thalllme? The list of people attending the seminar from a
w i d e range of military and research establishments throughout the world indicates that the
Security Intelligence Service was unable to grasp the nature of thiS event and by nol a\lendlng
missed El wonderful opportunity to acquaint themselves with a wide rango of enlightening
matters.

I submit that the Bill should have a section drafted in it which clearly lays open to publiC scrutiny
and debate Ihe determining policies ot the Security Intelligence Service's thrust

Anthony Lealend

In a letter to Peace Researcher Anthony Lealand asks that his personal point of view be acknowledged. He
states that "a s ecret service with an archaic agenda of cold war, and not subject to scrutiny could well be a
national liability. I support a strong open intelligence service with access to information for interested parties ".

Peace Researcher Page 9

 "Hippie-Type Individuals"
Arrested at Waihopai
The following passages were reported i n t h e
Marlborough Express, 2 9 January 1996, the weekend
after the annual protest at the Waihopai spy satellite
installation near Blenheim.
Six people, arrested during a protest at the Waihopai
satellite station on Saturday, were dealt with in the
B lenheim District Court this morning. The three men
'and three women, described by Blenheim Police
Sergeant Ken R i gby as "hippie-type individuals" all
denied charges of trespass.
Five of them were arrested as they walked along the
driveway which crosses defence department land
between a public road an inner security fence. The sixth
was arrested nearby.
The article goes on to quote the voluble Sergeant
Rigby...
"Sergeant Rigby said trouble emerged this year because
police refused to enter an agreement with the protesters
over where could go. 'They have never kept their
word before. We told them to stay off defence land but
they didn't.' In the past protesters had agreed to stay
away from the fence but had then attacked it with
cutters, he said. Police were tired of the protesters'
underhand tactics."
Our friend Sergeant Rigby goes on to say ...
"Blenheim people's attitude towards Waihopai is that
it provides employment and brings dollars into the
town. Most people don 't give a toss over what goes on
out there"
And his final words ...
"These hippie..type individuals come to town and expect
to impress Blenheim people. but it doesn'l work," said
Mr Rigby.
The annual pilgrimage of the Anti,Bases Campaign to
the Waihopai satellite spy-base near B lenheim in
January of thi, year produced some surprising results.
Not least of these surprising results was the strong
reaction in the media to some of the comments made
by Rigby. As a consequence, there has recently been
great debate (both for and against) occurring in the
Marlborough lcxpress regarding the appropriateness of
Sgt Rigby's comments. Many have even managed to
write fairly fervent letters in opposition to the spybase
itself.
Some excerpt'§ from letters to the Marlborough Express
are quoted here:
In support of the protesters:
"I, for one, do not l ike its [the spybase1 presence in our
Page 10
province and am impressed that people would bother
to travel here to raise our awareness of the base and the
provisions of t h e n e w internal secuntles
legislation....... When Sgt Rigby reverts to his head in
the sand attitude of labelling protesters as 'hippie type
individuals', he leaves himself open to be labelled a
'small town redneck policeman'." J. Ryan.
"Sgt Ken Rigby' s remarks about the Waihopai
protesters are way out of court. They are prejudicial to
the proper course of j ustice and inflammatory. They
engender fear in those who disagree with his extreme
political views.... " Norman Fletcher
"Sgt Ken Rigby - saviour of Marlborough, social
commentator, and conductor of social surveys .... He
describes 'hippie type' persons. What are they? ... Scary
stuff Sgt Rigby - what's next? Talkback or should we
go straight to the public flogging of people you fail to
tolerate .... " Liz Michaels
Against the protesters
"I'm not concerned with the infantile antics of half a
dozen publicity seeking malcontents ....." Tom Fletcher,
NZ First Candidate in 1993 Election
"But democracy accords rights to all of us. Not only
the decent, intelligent and hardworking contributors to
our community, but also to the disenchanted and
embittered, the social misfits and the dropouts, even
the miserable few who proceeded with their pathetic
annual ritual at Waihopai.. .... " John Adeane
In the main, what this media debate served to do, was
to put the issue of the spybase firm ly back into the
minds of the Blenheim people.
So... what actually happened?
On the Friday afternoon/evening of the 26th of January,
the scene at the camp was genial disorder as usual.
Everyone was arriving for what has become the annual
Waihopai demonstration. People running to and fro,
debating the suitability of the river campsite, the
struggle to set up the hired marquee, the picking up of
the Port-a-Ioos, the collection of people from the ferry
(too many people, too little transportation), and the
buying up of sustenance to feed hungry protesters were
all signs that the weekend was beginning well. After
dark had fallen and the soup had heen served, we called
the first action planning meeting for the weekend and
Peace Researcher
some of us decided to visit the base that night to
'surprise' whomever was there.
Some surprise .... We managed to pile into 2 cars and
headed out to the base. We hadn't gone very far when
someone spotted a white car with impressive looking
red and blue l i ghts on top ofit turning around to follow
us. We continued driving out to the base and had just
passed the Waihopai Valley turnoffwhen suddenly we
were accompanied by 2 more of tllese fancy cars, and
a little further on they started to flash their pretty lights
(a better light show than the base itself as it turned out)
and pulled both of our cars over to the side ohhe road.
They asked to see the warrants, registrations, and the
licences of the car drivers. Okay.. no problem, all fully
legal and roadworthy. Then the crunch issue. The boys
in blue (and yes they were all male!) asked for the
names, addresses, phone numbers. and ages ofall those
in the Kombi van. If we refused we would be arrested.
Heavy. Given that it was a dark night on a secluded
stretch of road, the passengers thought that it might be
wise to give in this time, although some were clearly
not happy with the precedent. So we reluctantly gave
in to this intimidation, and continued on our merry way
to the base under police escort.
The rest of the evening wasn't terribly eventful - just
some meaningful gazes at the base off in the distant
farmland once we reached our destination. Some of us
were officially warned about the trespass law, and
Warren Thomson and myself, being under trespass
orders, were warned hy name. We had hoped that the
spies in the base would provide us with their usual light
show (reminiscent of the movie Close Encounters of
the Third Kind), but alas,
we had to be content with
the police cars flash ing
again. So, about half an
hour after we arrived, we
left for the camp.
and veterans ofWaihopai demos got fairly incensed at
this notion; in previous years, protesters had been
allowed up to the perimeter fence to have a closer look
at the base itself. Therefore there was a very strong
feeling in the camp that the new police 'line' was 110t
acceptable and that we would challenge their assertions.
We decided on activities for the day - the first a picnic
lunch out at the hase. According to those who attended
the picnic, all went we l l (although some serious
reconstruction work needs to he done if we arc to
continue to use the surface of the road as a cricket pitch).
A further action, challenging the line drawn on crossing
the farm gate, was organised. Some people who felt
able to accept the possibility of getting arrested,
volunteered themselves for this task. The rest of the
group prepared to support the action, some by crossing
the farm fence, with the remaining people staying as
support at the front gate - and thus the plan was made.
We leapt into cars (a tight squeeze given the lack of
transport) and headed out to the base. Almost as soon
as we arrived there, people spread themselves out along
the feoceline and the attempt to approach the perimeter
fence began. For those who confronted the main road
gate, the activity was almost over before it had begun.
As soon as the five who led the way jumped over the
gate, the police nabbed them. The five all said that they
were going to walk to the perimeter fence, an idea tbat
didn't find favour with the police, so instead they got
(0 ride in the back of a police van.
One of the police persons had a nice doggy with him,
and at that stage the policeman decided to take his

The next morning it was

quite a rev e l at i o n to
actually see who was at
camp (the hlackness of the
previous n i gh t d i d not
make it easy t o identify
people). We breakfasted,
then quickly got i n to
meeting mode to make the
necessary arrangements
for the weekend. Police had
ear l i e r warne d us that
anyone who crossed the
farm gate would be arrested
for trespass. The old-timers

Peace Researcher Page 11

doggy for a very quick walk to arrest another passing
protester who was ambling along on the farm land.
He was handcuffed to the fence with plastic handcuffs,
alongside one of the women who was arrested earlier.
Meanwhile some ofthe other protesters had gone on
a little jaunt around the perimeter of the farm fence to
keep the GCSB surveillance equipment on its toes.
Those who went on the escapade jumped continually
over the fence onto defence land, and then back again
when the police came too near. This game of cat and
mouse went on on both sides of the GCSB property
.for about half an hour after the van of protesters had
been taken away.
However, the two protesters tied to the fence actually
achieved one of the aims of the protest. They got a
ticki tour inside the base enclosure itself when the
police car they were in got lost driving around inside.
So much for relying on directions from the police!
So the arrested protesters were eventually taken back
to Blenheim with the usual threat made about keeping
them in until Monday. Some people fol lowed them
in to Blenheim later (after a brief debriefing) to find
out what was going on. A few stayed behind to do
media work, legal work, and to cook some food. Those
who went to Blenheim had a check-in at the Police
Station to find out what was happening, and then went
off to the local watering hole for a quick stop. Then it
(/1 p�O(EmNCt 6ECPd15E I'll 'lICK
at 6GIN4 Sffl!D OU t
'\.
The acutely devastating humour of Marlborou[?h Express cartoonist Mark Dower
Page 12
was back to camp for a report and to decide what to
do next. A decision was taken by default not to do
any more actions that night (something that some were
not too happy about).
The next day time was spent packing up the camp,
before taking another trip out to say goodbye to the
base and picking up those bailed out of the cells. We
had heard that the Greens were going to pay a surprise
visit to the base on Monday night, and were quite
pleased, because the police had been harassing us all
weekend (following us around Blenheim to see where
we went) - setting new precedents for Blenheim
Police, and they would be quite annoyed if they had
to go to the base on the Monday night as well. So, a
debriefing was held at the house of Evin Wood (a
long time protest supporter and all round good guy),
where we discussed the weekend, the arrests, what
would happen next, and ferry timetables.
The weekend ended quietly there for many. On the
Monday, five of the six arrestees appeared in court
(the sixth got diversion), and all pleaded not guilty.
Going on past history (despite many arrests since
1990, not one person has been convicted - yet!), who
knows when the cases will be heard, if ever. But watch
this space, because as sure as spies do spy at Waihopai,
the protesters will be back again soon to protest. Watch
this space.
Melanie Thomson,
1II£Y 1HtJIll.1J 1ft 50 LUCKY/..
••
AtIf:A�r fiN!'! rxwr 1lAW: fb
SHELL Y{JlJJ!>
,,' I ,
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Peace Researcher
 S E E ING RED
Undercover I n 1 9505 New Zealand.
By George Fraser. Dunmore Press.
Any political activist can tell stories about spies. They
are tbe people who come out ofnowhere to join a group,
and return to nowhere when their job is finished. They
are usually thin on politics but very thick on offering
to look after any lists of members or finances. They
have unlimited time, no visible means of support and
eagerly join as many groups as possible. ! can think of
at least three I 've personally encountered, one as
recently as 1 995. My favourite story is of the fellow
who joined all manner of innocuous organisations in
the Wellington area, only to be dabbed in by his very
own Dear Old Mum who was an activist in onc.
Currently the Government, with the active support of
Labour and United, is trying to bulldoze the Intelligence
and Security Agencies Bill through Parliament, the first
legislative look at our spies and eavesdroppers since
the 1 977 SIS Amendment Act and the huge public
campaign against it So it's appropriate that one or" our"
very own spies should publish his memoirs, a rarity in
New Zealand.
That said, this book is a disappointment It covers events
of over 40 years ago and not particularly well at that It
is strictly personal reminiscence, with no attempt at a
broader analysis or placing it in any sort of historical
context Motivated by the anti-communism of the times,
George Fraser volunteered to be a Police Special
Branch spy within the Communist Party (now the
Socialist W o r kers Organisation), primarily i n
Wellington, but also i n Greymouth and Auckland. He
was a spy throughout the 1 950s, being passed on by
Special Branch to the newly formed Security
Intelligence Service (all three words could be defined
as misleading advertising).
Even though its subject is so long ago, Fraser doesn't
reveal very much. He doesn't name many names (I
recognised one fellow who later cropped up as SIS head
in Christchurch in the 1 970s) or tell us much about the
internal workings of the communists. When writing
about the working class or unionist branches of the
party, he reveals his lower middle class contempt for
the great unwashed. But he was much more deferential
towards the academics and intellectuals ofthe Victoria
University or Wellington Central branches.
The style is florid and dated. Writing of a y oung
woman active i n meetings at the time, he says "She
Peace Researcher
1 6 1 pp. $24.95.
- Murray Horton
was a striking beauty who would turn the head of
any red blooded male, but it was her sometimes
searing attacks and plans for retribution on the
conservative politicians in the nearby Parliament
Buildings which drained that blood away". And
Fraser had a quite paranoid (and utterly unfounded)
fear for his own personal safety. He toted a pistol to
a meeting in a private home, only to be mortified as
it slipped down the back of the couch, leaving him
to try to retrieve it unnoticed.
Ultimately the book tells us very little about either his
spybosses or the communists. Rather it tells us more
than we wanted to know about Fraser's states of mind
throughout He emerges as a self centred individual, a
frustrated musician who went on to become a provincial
journalist He publicly came out in opposition to the
SIS during that 1 977 campaign. But his main criticism
is the way they treated him - he only mentions in passing
the damage his spying, and the use to which it was put,
inflicted on any number of perfectly worthy individuals.
His gripe is that, when his cover was aboul to be blown,
the SIS packed him and his family offto the US with a
promise that he would be looked after by the Big
Brother agencies there. When they arrived - surprise,
surprise - nothing. After a couple of hard scrabble years
he returned to NZ, to find himself unwelcome with his
former employers. He had become a liability and a
nuisance. The sum total of his nine year's selfless
service as a spy was that he had been used and disposed
of The analogy that comes to mind is toilet paper. I
can't say I felt the slightest sympathy.
PROTESTORS DAMAGE
U K BOMBE RS
At the end ofJanuary thrcc women broke into an
aircraft hangar in Lancashire and vandalised a
ground-attack aircraft similar to those that British
Aerospace has contracted to supply to the
Indonesian Government The protestors were
publicising the likely use of the aircraft in East
Timor against the pro-independence resistance
to the Suharto Government British Aerospace
has a 500 million pound ($NZ 1 .2 billion) contract
to supply 24 Hawk j ets to the Indonesian
Government.
Page 73
 ANTI .. NUCLEAR ACTIVIST ATTACKED AGAIN
The news o f t h e beating of Patsy Dale, b y a thug using an iron rod, came shortly after publication oflhe article
below. She was beaten at her home in the early evening and suffered severe bruising. This is only the latest in a
history of intimidation going back to the early eighties when Palsy Dale began to fight the British Government
over the issue of compensation for a child born with deformities which are believed to have arisen from the
father's exposure to radiation in a British submarine.
UK MINISTRY SUED IN DEFORMITY TEST CASE.,
MI5 "WAGING WAR OF HARASSMENT n :
family tell of
by Bermm:l Phelan Irish Star, 26 February 1 996
A West oflreland family claims to have received death
threats from MI5 since taking legal action against the
British government. Mrs Patsy Dale is suing the
Ministry of Defence on behalfof her son Stephen (22),
who was born with a cleft palate and brain damage.
She believes the defects were caused when his father,
Danny Davis, was exposed to radiation while serving
on a British nuclear submarine.The accident is alleged
to have occured in 1 97 1 at Rosyth naval dockyard in
Scotland, during the refit ofthe sub HMS Resolution.
Mrs Dale , who now lives in Lifford, Ennis, County
Clare with her second husband Gordon Dale, believes
many other naval fami l ies have been affected by
radiation. But she is the only one, so far, to bring an
action against the authorities. The historic case could
open the floodgates to hundreds of similar claims. But
since starting proceedings in the late 1 980s, Mrs Dale
claims she was forced out of Britain by an MI5-backed
campaign of harassment.
RANSACKED
And since resettling in County C lare, she and Gordoll
say they have endured death threats, burglaries and
assaults. Mr Dale alleges that in the last fortnight:
* Their house was ransacked twice
* Research papers compiled by Mrs Dale were stolen
and later returned
*
Three death threats on paper were pushed through
the letterbox.
* Mrs Dale's elderly mother, who lives with them,
was also targetted.
"Last year my wife was confronted at gunpoint by a
man in the garden," said Gordon Dale. "We have been
unable to identify this person bill believe he is acting
on behalf of British intelligence in order to intimidate
us into dropping our case. There has also been banging
on the windows, day and night for the past few months.
Page 74
death threats
This has frightened the life out of my mother-in-law."
Gardia are investigating the claims but have so far failed
to substantiate them. "We have spent a considerable
amount of time on the case," said one detective. The
Dales have been supported in their court claim by a
former top naval intelligence officer. Commander Rob
Green has uncovered a horrifying gap i n safety
procedures on British nuclear subs, dating back to the
early 1 970s. He says crew members are still being put
at risk.
DEFORMITIES
Commander Green says his evidence shows that the
ratio of deformities among their children is 1 00 times
higher than average. Stephen Dale's father was a chief
petty officer on the Polaris sub when she underwent a
refit at Rosyth in 1 9 7 1 and 1 973. His mother Patsy -
she and Danny have since divorced - said "When
Stephen was born I was distraught. Then I discovered
other mothers were having babies with similar
deformities." Top London legal firm Leigh Day and
Co are handling Stephen's case. British MEP Alex
Falconer and nuclear analyst John Large also support
the move.
People concerned are asked to write to
( I ) Foreign Minister Dick Spring, Clo Department of
Foreign Affairs, 76-78 Harcourt St, Dublin, Ireland,
Fax: 00 353 1 478 0593, asking him to investigate the
harassment and support the legal case against British
government;
(2) The Editor, The Star, Star House, 62a Terenure Rd
North, Dublin 6w, Ireland, Fax: 00353 1 490 2 1 93;
Ask the paper to continue to cover the slory and
comment on the implications for democracy.
(3) to the family: Patsy and Gordon Dale, 5 Lifford,
Ennis, County Clare, Ireland.
Peace Researcher
 TH E FAT F T H E B LAC K B I RC H
N AVAL B S E RVATO RY
"US observatory' s future in the stars" read the leader
on a Christchurch Press story ( 1 4 Feb 1 996). What
followed in the "Up Blenheim Way" column by Ted
Reynolds was a rather muddled account of what is
happening to the US Naval Observatory on Black Birch
ridge near Blenheim. Reynolds thought the demise of
the US observatory was a shame and that the wonderful
facility ought to be given to the Carter Observatory,
which he assumed still existed just a bit further up the
ridge. He was corrected by a letter to the editor a few
days later. The old Carter Observatory was closed in
October 1 994, its telescope relocated in Wellington.
Reynolds may also think that the Naval telescope is a
conventional one and would be ofuse as a replacement
for the Carter facility. Of course the US Navy one is a
transit-circle telescope that can only swing along a
north-south axis. Its function is very specialised -
timing the passage of heavenly bodies as they pass the
meridian,
A further misunderstanding by Mr Reynolds involves
where the Americans have gone to from Black Birch.
He suggested they were moving to the Andes to
continue "producing a super-accurate map of the
northern sky". We hadn't heard that story and it seems
highly unlikely. The telescope actually came to Black
Birch from a South American installation, not the other
way around. And land-based telescopes are being
CAN B E RRA C HA N G E WI L L
A F F ECT OZ D E F E N C E
The election results in Canberra are bad news for the
Anti-Bases Campaign on both sides oft!!e Tasman. The
new Howard Government is likely to want even closer
ties with Washington, and the possibil.ities of closing
down bases such as Pine Gap and N urrungar arc even
further away than under the Labor Government It's
hard to be enthusiastic about Kim Beasley holding his
seat - his bullying of New Zealand over the frigates
issne and his build up of Anssie strike torees as Defence
Minister were bad news - but it looks like the peace
movement will be in for a lot worse.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald "A coalition
government would begin moves to arm Australia's six
new Collins Class submarines with 'stand-off' weapons
Peace Researcher
phased out because their functions can be carried out
much more accurately via the Hipparcos satellite which
has been in orbit for several years.
On 1 7 January this year the Press ran a small classified
advert entitled "Blenheim Black Birch Observatory
(Registration). The advert invited tenders "for the
complete demolition and clearing of the above site ... " .
"Work is expected to start in early April 1 996 ... "
Registrations were to be filed with the Public Works
Officer at Operation Deep Freeze, also a US Naval
faci lity.
Readers who are unfamiliar with the issues surrounding
the Black Birch Observatory should refer to several
previous issues of Peace Researcher (Numbers 4, 20,
22, 27). We have reported on Black Birch as a US
military installation and given detailed reasons why it
did not belong in nuclear-free Aotearoa/NZ. In brief,
its star maps are being, or will certainly be, used to
provide accurate star maps to the U S military for
purposes of improved ste l lar inertial guidance of
nuclear-armed ICBM3.
The Observatory operated for its ful l I O-year program
and is now obsolete. It will probably be demolished
on schedule. We just wish wc could have gotten rid of
it a lot sooner.
Bob l,eonard
such as cruise missiles to give the Australiau military
a new strategic strike {(lrce." [ 1 4 February 1 996] John
Howard also pledged to "quarantine" the Australian
Defence Force from allY budge! cuts, and use money
from savings ill other areas to expand the army, boost
military firepower, and improve conditions of service
for ADF personnel.
The expansion of the army will be a controversial area
as a recent Defence Department paper outlining the
future of the Austra lian armed forces apparently
recommends making some expensive full-time soldiers
redundant i n order to pay for the extra equipment and
modern weapons needed for a reorganised force of
smaller, highly mobile task units. The report, Army
Page 15
2 1 , says that 5 ,000 soldiers would be shed and
supporting units such as artillery absorbed into new
self-conta i n e d units. How far this w i l l get i s
problematical as senior officers are likely to oppose
such a concept . [See the Herald, 1 3 February 1 996]
The ADF have just under 60,000 personnel. This is
down by about 1 0,000 from ten years ago. Under the
Labor Government army numbers dropped from over
30,000 to 25,000. Most of the army's combat units are
C I A F I LE
CHRISTCHURCH WAS HOME
FOR EX-CIA OFFICER
Thanks to the voracious reading habits ofour CAFCA­
ABC worker, it has been revealed that the long-standing
Morgan-Foretich custody battle over an American child
has an interesting CIA connection. The man who
brought his granddaughter to New Zealand in 1 98 5 to
start a new life had been a CIA officer in earlier years.
Dr William Morgan worked in the Office of Strategic
Services during the Second World War, and joined the
CIA when it was formed later. He is reported to have
left the CIA (if people ever really do) in 1 95 7.
According to the Christchurch Star [ 1 3 March, 1 996]
Morgan remained in Christchurch for ten years. He
returned to the States, dying in Washington DC this
year. It is fascinating to speculate that NZ may be seen
as a safe haven for other CIA personnel and their
families who wish to escape their previous l ives.
CIA RELUCTANT TO TAK E ON IRAN?
At the end of last year Newt Gingrich demanded that
the CIA set up a new covert action plan to destabilise
the Iranian Government. According to Time magazine
Maxwell Smart himself could not have "devised a more
feckless strategem than a scheme now foisted on the
CIA" . [5 February 1 996] $ US 1 8 million has been
earmarked for this scheme. Other sources said
Gillgrieh's proposal was the reason the Senate and
House had taken so long to agree over a new $US28
billion budget for the intelligence community. Time
reports American spymasters totally opposed any
covert action scheme against Iran, Intelligence officials
believe it is one of the most difficult targets, and the
CIA has a long history of debacles there to prove it.
These include the failure to foresee the 1 979 revolution
against the C IA-backed Shah, the disaster for local
agents when Iranian militants reconstituted shredded
Embassy files, the U S Embassy hostages and the
bungled rescue attempt, the Iran-Contra affair, and
probably others not yet known. Gingrich's plan for a
secret campaign generated so much debate that Iran
Page 16
apparently well under strength. This reduction of
numbers seems now likely to reverse, although the new
regime in Canberra might rely more on well-trained
reservists. In opposition the speaker on defence issues
for the Liberals was Senator Jocelyn Newman. If she
takes the Defence portfolio in the new government she
will probably have to take a hard line to prove she is
one of the boys. Not a good outlook for the peace
movement and for the Anti-Bases Campaign.
Warren Thorns""
has benefitted hugely from the resulting publicity, not
least from being able to generate huge anti-American
resentment in Iran and sympathetic countries.
MORE DODGY DEALS WITH THE VATICAN?
The Christchurch Press reported just before Christmas
that a former CIA agent was arrested i n Italy in
connection with a probe into a money-laundering ring
involving the Catholic Archbishop of Barcelona.
"Reports in Italian and Spanish newspapers allege that
Cardinal Caries oversaw the laundering of $NZ l OO
million in lire into US dollars through the Vatiean bank,
the Institute of Religious Work." [4 December] Roger
D 'Onofrio was arrested near Naples on suspicion of
using his CIA contacts to help launder money and traffic
arms, drugs, and radio-active material. D'Onofrio is
72, past the age of CIA staffers, but it is standard CIA
practice to use deniable sources for such activities and
he may or may not have been acting for himself. Caries
has denied wrongdoing, but the CIA has a long record
of working covertly though the Catholic Church (for
example, in Poland and South America).
CIA AND ARAFAT - WHAT'S GOIN G ON?
After the latest Hamas suicide bombings Yasser Arafat
has been under immense pressure to suppress Islamic
militants in self-ruled Palestinian areas. News reports
have announced that Arafat met CIA Deputy-Director
George Tenet and other CIA officials atthe Erez border
crossing between Israel and the Gaza strip early in
March. It is believed that the men from Langley met
the Palestinian leader to persuade him to arrest members
of Qassam - the military wing of Hamas - which has
claimed responsibility for several ofthe suicide attacks
011 Israeli citizens. What was really behind the news
stories remains to be seen. It seems unlikely that Arafat
would be happy to be publicly known to be meeting
CIA officials. It seems more likely that Arafat would
be assassinated, or at least lose considerable support,
for doing so. Another CIA mystery to be unravelled.
Peace Researcher
 I nternet Has I nternational
I ntelligence Value For U .S . Military
According to David Corn (dacor@aol.com), the Washington editor of The Nation, Internet users need to be aware
that the U.S.Pentagon may take great interest in their cyber-communications. Last summer, Charles Swett, a
policy assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity
Conflict, produced a report on the intelligence value of the Internet for the Defense Department In addition to
early warnings of significant developments ahroad, the Internet could also be used "offensively as an additional
medium in psychological operations campaigns and to help achieve unconventional warfare objectives." A
significant part ofthe report is devoted to the activities of San Francisco-based Institute for Global Communications
(http://www . igc.org/), which operates several computer networks used by progressive activists. IGC demonstrates
"the breadth of DoD-relevant information available on the Internet," such as anti-nuclear arms campaigns, the
extreme right, social change, and "multicultural, multi-racial news". Swett's paper presents the world of opportunity
awaiting a cyber-shrewd military and intelligence establishment. Networks of human sources with access to the
Internet could be developed in areas of security concern to the U.S.," says Swett. He also envisions "Psychological
Operations" in which U.S. propaganda could be rapidly disseminated to a wide audience, The Swett paper is
"refreshingly candid," says Steven Aftergood of the Federation ofAmerican Scientists, who placed a copy of it on
the FAS Web site on government secrecy (http://www.fas.org/pub/gen/fas/sgp/), where it is being downloaded
about twenty times a day. "We must be doing something right," notes George Gundrey, program coordinator at
IOC. (The Nation; March 4, 1 996, from International Internet NewsClips (@) by marsha-w@uiuc.edu - Marsha
Woodbury)

MORE O N FRENCH PHONE TAPS

In recent years several stories about phone tapping have
made the newspapers in France. [n 1 994 four law
enforcem,nt officials and an aide to then President
Mitterand were charged with violating the privacy of
journalists, lawyers, opposition politicians, and an
actress, by tapping their phones between 1 983 and 1 986.
Now new reports show that more dodgy domestic
eavesdropping took place between 1 987 and 1 993 when
the General D irectorate for External Security (the
DGSE which sank the Rainbow Warrior) and the
Directorate for the Surveillance of National Territory
tapped telephones with Prime Ministerial approval.
Although French law stipulates wiretapping may only
be carried out in cases involving national security, the
safeguarding of information considered essential to
France 's scientific and economic interests, and the
prevention ofterrorism and organised crime, it is clear
that lawyers, politicians andjournalists were Ollce more
the targets. Some taps were carried out with the
approval of defence and interior ministers - both
socialist and cOllservative.
[Christchurch Press, 27 February 1 996)
N RO C H I EFS SACKED
The two top officials ofthe US National Reconnaisance
Office were sacked by Congress at the end ofF ebruary
this year. The Director and Deputy-Director stepped
down after allegations that the NRO, which is
responsible for maintaining satellite surveillance
operations, had a $US one billion dollar slush fund.
Reports of incompetent and/or devious covert financial
control , involving sums more than $US two billion,
became public in January. In 1 994 the NRO upset
Senators when they discovered it was going ahead with
a huge new headquarters complex without telling the
Senate how big or expensive ($US300m) it was going
to be.
TH E FI FTH MAN?
The KGB museum in Lubyanka Square is introducing
a new exhibit featuring John Cairncross, who has been
frequently claimed to be part of the Philby, Blunt,
Burgess and MacLeall group tbat passed British secrets
to the Russians. Cairncross died last year. His memoirs
have been written and should be published soon.
Cairncross worked as a treasury official and later at
Bletchley Park for the GCHQ codebreakers. He denied
ever being a traitor, saying any information he passed
on was material that helped the Soviet Union defeat
Hitler.

Peace Researcher Page 77

 OTHER KGB NEWS
Russia's new Foreign Minister is Yevgeny Primakov,
whose previous job was the head of the foreign
intelligence service, the Sluzhba Vneshnei Razvedaki
(SVR). Primakov was appointed to take control of
Russia's overseas espionage in October 1 9 9 1 . He has
been responsible for attempting to reform the former
KGB First Chief Directorate, and its relationships with
the spy agencies of other nations. But western
intelligence officers condemn his actions, and express
concern about h i s intentions to improve Russia's
relations with Iran and Iraq.
COUNTERFEIT
us intelligence sources are claiming that Iran is forging
$ 1 00 United States notes, and tbe operation has been
called an act of war. Given Washington's consistent
attempts to malign Iran the allegations inay be a phoney
as the notes.
SOUTH AFRICAN MILITARY'S
WA.R ON ElEPHANTS
General Magnus Malan, former South African Defence
Minister, has admitted that support to the UNITA forces
in Angola included facilitating the sale of ivory to cover
costs of provisions. Malan "gave permission for
creation of a trade channel" which became a conduit
for rhino horn as well as ivory. [Christchurch Press,
20 January 1 996]
SOUTH AFRICAN SECURiTY'S
WAR ON TH E ANC
As this issue ofP eace Researcher goes to print, Malan
and other former security bosses are on trial for
organising death squads to assassinate black opponents
of their apartheid government. State witnesses have
testified that in the 1 980s the white security forces ran
a secret camp in Namibia which trained Zulu rivals of
the ANC in guerilla warfare. The defendants, former
military and police personnel, including several black
officers, are charged with more than a dozen murders
and conspiracy to murder supporters of the ANC.
AND SOUTH AFRICAN INTElLIGENCE
U N DE R SUSPICION
The National Intelligence Agency stands accused of
spying on senior police officers and even a government
minister according to the Sydney Morning Herald [27
January 1 996]. Targets apparently included the National
Police Commissioner, Mr George F ivaz, who
confirmed that bugs were found in the home of the
secretary ofllle SA Police Service, and in the office of
a Provincial Police Commissioner. A sophisticated
tracking device was found in the car of Minister for
Land Affairs Derek Hanekom. Controversy over who
Page 18
i s t o blame has been widely reported i n South African
papers. The Herald reports the ANC Government has
appointed a judicial committee to make inquiries.
ISRAELI ITEMS
For a country geographically much smaller than New
Zealand, it is surprising how often items about the
military and intelligence forces of l srael occur in our
newspapers. Recent ones reveal that the head of the
security service, Shin Bet, has resigned "just three days
after the killing of a wanted Palestinian bombmakcr
recovered some ofthe damage the service sum:red from
the assassination of Y itzhak Rabin". [Christchurch
Press, 1 0 January 1 996] The al leged bombmaker was
assassinated by a bomb placed in a mobile telephone.
In the meantime Shin Bet bas WOll the right to use force
against Palestinian prisoners under interrogation (surely
the ultimate abrogation of civilised behaviour in any
state). Israe l ' s H igh Court threw out a previous
prohibition against using physical force while
questionning suspects. And another report
[Christchurch Press, 1 6 January 1 996J reveals that
Mordechai Vanunu, kidnapped and imprisoned by
Israeli intelligence in 1 988, is to remain in solitary
confinement. The forn1er nuclear facility technician was
responsible for the 1 986 revelations that Israel was
building nuclear weapons.
SECRET DOCUMENTS SOlD A.T AUCTION
A Royal Air Force filing cabinet packed Witll secret
documents about the IRA was sold at auction in
Gloucestershire. Files detailed IRA methods ofmaking
arms, information about the IRA and how it operated,
and the make-up of its units. To compound the cock­
up, classified documents relating to the security ofthe
RAF Portreath base were also in the files auctioned.
These gave details of military and civilian personnel
and security clearances, patrol times, and indications
of the best sites to attack the base from outside.
[Christchurch Press, 1 2 March 1 996]
US DEFENCE BUDGET SET
The United States is set to spend $265 billion
(NZ400 billion) on defence in lIscal 1 996. President
Clinlon has signed the defence authorisation bill in
spite of opposing the clauses ill the legislation which
enforce the removal from the military of over a
thousand service personnel who have tested positive
fOf HIV . One of the few encouraging aspects of
this gross misuse of resources was the dropping of
provisions for an anti-missile system that was
supposed to begin construction in 2003, and defend
the USA from l imited missile attacks.
Peace Researcher
 U ranium and thorium mining
could happen i n Aotea roa
ECO, the environmental umbrella group co-chaired by
Cath Wallace, is warning environment groups and the
public about the potential for mining of uranium and
thorium all the West Coast of the South Island. Both
elements can be used in the nuclear power industry and
i n nuclear weapons, so the issue should be of
considerab l e concern to members of the peace
movement.
The government currently has provisions written into
its Draft M e t a l l i c and Non-Meta l l ic M inerals
Programme that would allow these two radioactive
elements to be mined along with gold, silver, zinc and
the like. "ECO has asked that the government disallow
targeted mining for uranium or thorium or associated
radioactive m inerals. We have also asked that any by­
product mining for radioactive minerals should be
strictly controlled to prevent NZ entering the nuclear
trade and to control disposal of any radioactive tailings
or separated radioactive materials."
This type of mining is most likely to occur in the
proposed ilmenite sands project at Barrytown on the
West Coast. Similar sands exist at Charleston. The
�----- ---
-- --.------.------ ------�
sand mining thus has implications for the quality of
the West Coast environment and our nuclear-free
policy. The government initially received incorrect
advice 011 the uses of thorium in the nuclear industry ..
both for energy and weapons. None other than Prof
Alan Poletti of nuclear-propelled ships fame set the
government straight on some of the nasty uses of
thorium. The bad advice came from the Commerce
Ministry which blamed its staff geologists and their
textbooks for the gaff (Christchurch Press, 7 February
1 996). But ifs far from a gaff for the government to
ignore the implications of uranium extraction even if
the amounts yielded from the sands would be small.
Perhaps they hoped no one would notice.
IfMr Bolger wants to be convincing as a nuclear-fTee
prime minister, he can hardly afford to ignore this
mining issue. He would appear to be vulnerable on
this one and susceptible to letters of protest about "NZ
laying the path for uranium and thorium mining", as
Cath Wallace put it in a letter to CAFCA and ABC.
Cath suggests expressing your feelings strongly to your
own MP, to Jim Bolger and to Doug Kidd, the energy
minister.

OKINAWA RAPISTS SENTENCED

The last issue of Peace Researcher [December 1 995] carried a story about US military bases in Okinawa and
the threat of c losure arising after three American servicemen raped an Okinawan schoolgirl. In early March
of this year a Japanese court sentenced the two marines and navy rating responsible to seven year jail terms,
sentences that were lighter than the prosecution had demandedo In South Korea there has also been a growth
in opposition to the US military presence after a soldier attempted to rape a Korean woman in her apartment
in January. Nearly 40.000 US personnel occupy forward American bases in South Korea.
--.�-------- -----

------- -------

About Peace Researcher

Peace Researcher is published quarterly by the Anti-Bases campaign, Christchurch. The editors are Warren
Thomson and Bob Leonard. Our journal covers a range of peace issues with emphasis on foreign military bases
and intelligence topics. Contributed articles will be considered for publication based on subject matter and
space requirements. We are particularly interested in reports of original research on peace topics in Aotearoa
and the wider region of Australasia and the Pacific. Our address is:

Peace Researcher
P.O. Box 2258
Christchurch
Aotearoa! New Zealand

Peace Researcher Page 79

 w

Military I ntelligence .. American style

From the Associated Press network: "The Army told
her that we couldn't guarantee her training for ajob in
·intelligence like we bad said. One of our people went
over and told the Army recruiter that ' yes, we could',"
said Navy recruiter James Hutchins. The Navy
recruitment office in Leesburg, Florida, is next door to
the Army recruitment office. The Army recruiters
didn 't like the friendly competition: three Army
recruiters came over to explain their case to the Navy.
They came armed with a crowbar, and two marines
were injured in the ruckus. The woman signed up with
the Navy. "She said she wasn't too i mpressed with the
Army," Hutchins said. Two of the Army recruiters
were charged with battery, the other with aggravated
battery.

Edward Teller at h is fi nest

(text from New Scientist)
Students of the delicate art of putting the past into the
best possible light should read "Legacy of the X-ray
Laser Program" i n Energy and Technology Review, the
house magazine of the Lawrence National Laboratory
in C a lifornia. I t describes the " l egacy of new
technologies for industrial and medical use" left by one
of the old Star Wars projects.
The original idea was to use a nuclear explosion to
power an amiy of X-ray lasers in space, which would
destroy Soviet nuclear missiles in flight. Its advocates,
notably Livermore physicists Edward Teller and Lowell
Wood, had visions of a weapon no bigger than an office
desk that c o u l d o b l iterate the entire Sov iet
intercontinental ballistic missile fleet.
The X-ray laser programme has gone the way of the
Soviet Union, but the cheery Livermore article assures
us that plenty ofspin-offs remain. Of course, fhe article
does not mention how much the US spent on the
programme, a sum believed to run into billions of
dollars. And it is equally evasive about the cause of
the project's demise, blaming it merely on "various
technical difficulties".
Those who follow Pentagon fiascos may recall that in
reality the project imploded after a group of scientists
from Livermore announced that Teller had given
misleading information to the government and had been
"overoptimistic" about the project's feasibility.
(New Scientist, 1 7 June 1 995, p. 64)

�-- - - - - - - ----------------------------
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