Waihopai Action 1994

ABC campaign continues at Waihopai spybase. Protesters move away from the base in the closing
moments of the successful protest during which the heavy security fencing surrounding the base was
breached

In this issue:
page
.. The Return of Peace Researcher 2
r) .. NZ Army still practicing control of civilian protest 3
\ ... Ask too many questions· and die? 4
.'"
\ James Rusbridger • Sado-masochist or another victim? 4
.... The secret US base that never happened· not here anyway 5
... ASIS in the Philippines 8
.... Wendy Holland - Australian spy in New Zealand 9
"* Book Review: British Intelligence· Private dicks and dirty tricks 10
.... Spooky bits 11
 The Return of Peace Researcher

You will have noticed (we hope) that Peace
Researcher has been in recess, and we thank you
for your patience. We won't try to explain the
long hiatus except to say Ihat the editors ran out
of steam for various reasons (one even Irlcd
Siberia for a while); we have done some serious
thinking about the future of PR, and made some
decisions.
Peace Researcher will continue (3 to 4 issues per
year) as the n e w s l e t t e r-cum-journal o f t h e
Christchurch A n ti-Bases Campaign under the
editorship of Warren Thomson and Bob Leonard,
with some continuing help from veteran editor
Dennis Smal l . The E.N.D. collective, a PR­
publishing spinoff of the former Nuclear Free
Zone Committee. has disbanded. In its former
incarnation. 3 4 issues of PR were published,
beginning in 1983. Number 35. the second report
of the Alternative Committee on Nuclear Ship
Visits, will be the last of the old series and is due
to be completed soon. It will be mailed to all
subscribers.
The new magazine will be somewhat shorter than
in the past and the articles less turgid, although
we may publish longer research articles froro time
to time. As an anti-bases publication PR will
focus on the four bases in Aotearoa (US military
at Christchurch Airport, Walhopai, Tangimoana.
and Black Birch, the latter soon to be closed) with
timely coverage of overseas bases issues as they
arise. But other peace and sovereignty topics may
also be covered. So overall the flavour of the old
rag may not change all that much.
F o l k s w h o p a i d s u b s t o P R f o r 1 9 93 o r
subsequently will receive the journal throughout
1994. No new sub notices will be sent until 1995.
Thanks for your continuing support.

Vigil: No More Hiroshimas

Demilitarize Harewood
Weekly vigils against USAF Starlifter flights through Harewood airport to Pine Gap and Nurrungar - US
bases in Australia. every Sunday up to Hiroshima Day, � to 4 pm at the Totem Pole, roundabout.

Faith and Resistance Retreat

August S, 7:30 pm
Hear a talk on the US military connection at Harewood
at the Catholic Worker, 8 A Cotterill Street, Addington, Chch

Transfiguration Faith and Resistance

�

August 6, lOam
A talk by Ciaron O'Reilly
at the Catholic Worker. 8A Cotterill Street, Addington
Lunch at Catholic Worker followed by a gathering at Harewood at 2 pm
for a vigil and action

Catholic Worker phone 338-7105

 NZ Army Still Practising Control of
Civilian Protest.
Ever since the 198 1 Springbok Tour, when the New
Zealand army was moved in to provide extensive
back-up to police operations, civilian control exercises
have been a prominent part of army training. And in
spite of widespread criticism, the practice continues.
In February of this year, the 2nd Battalion's annual
exercise involved confronting 'civil disturbances' in
the Nelson Lakes District, where a 'right wing group'
was demanding independencc for the West Coast. This
latest exercise is one of a number in the last ten years
that have specifically targetted protesting civilians as
the enemy.
When questions were raised about the nature of the
operation an army spokesperson said "The army has
vowed not to repeat the scenario of a Territorial Force
exercise now under way in the South Island in which
soldiers are pitched against New Zealand civilians."
IPress, Feb 8, 1994). As this has been a consistent
theme since 1981, it is unlikely to change, although
we can expect more camouflage and less overt
description of civilian controls.
,. As Dennis Small has shown in earlier editions of Peace
Researcher, [see numbers 29 and 30] our armed forces
are in search of a role that fits their budget constraints,
and Low Intensity Conflict scenarios that require little
in the way of heavy armaments fit the bilL
As Dennis has also clearly shown, the strategy
entangles LIS tightly into the resource war strategies
o[US military planners, where safeguarding strategic
materials and areas inevitably involves repressing
dissident locals.
Under the new GATT regime, local resource wars may
become even more prevalent, and civilian control
THE' POtlTICIAN ' .
SOMEONE FROM INTELlI GENCE
15 HERETO SEE YOU.
Peace Researcher
exercises like the one in Nelson may turn into the real
thing. Another possibility is for national unrest arising
from something like the Seafarers' current challenge
to the Employment Contracts Actto result in the army
heing deployed Oil the Picton and Wellington wharves.
I n a November 1989 army exercise, the activities
entailed civilians rebelling against multinationals who
had bought local forests. (Shades of Matakanalsland!)
The 'protesters' pelted soldiers with eggs, and later
carried out acts of sabotage and 'killed' some soldiers.
The scenario tied together global resource issues and
control of NZ dissidents.
The latest training was directed against a 'right wing'
group, perhaps to forestall liberal criticism, but
certainly a detail unlikely to be significant to young
aggressively trained soldiers. (One of the first such
exercises, in March 1983, was specifically aimed at
'socialists'.)
The consistent pattern of soldiers being trained to deal
with dissidents should be a real concern to progressive
groups. One 0 f the constants of Westm inster style
democracy (such as it is) has been the absence of
armed forces intervention in politics. Hence the
relative success in coping with widespread
divergences of opinion without bloodshed.
When soldiers are taught they have the power to
repress dissent and control civilian protest, it is a very
short step to full intercession in the political process.
The throwing of eggs, rocks, and even occasionally a
Molotov Cocktail, as in these exercises, does not
constitute a scenario that justifies the imposition of
martial law. Soldiers must not be taught that it does.
' By'David Fletcller
TURl'l THE KNOB
AND PUSH.
Page;
 ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS - AND DIE?
In the second week of April this year, a British MP ran off a motorway and was killed. His wife was badly injured.
According to concerns expressed by peace movement people in the UK, there are suspicious cirumstances in the
way that the car rolled off the road.
The MP was Bob Cryer, Labour Member for Bradford South. Two weeks before the accident, Cryer had been
raising questions at Westminster about the operations of the Menwith Hill Spy Base. Answer, as on several previous
occasions when Cryer had raised the issue, came there none. Or none apart from the usual bland assurances of
proper accountability.
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Jeremy Hanley, said in his response to the questions "I stress that
Menwith Hill operates with the full knowledge and consent of the United Kingdom Government" This is news to
some, because as Cryer revealed, one Minister at the Department of Defence said he had thought Menwith Hill
was a railway station and only learned the truth when his staff had to briefhim for the debate on Cryer's questions.
Some of the women in the group working to expose Menwith Hill have expressed deepseated fears over the death
of Bob Cryer. Does asking too many questions invite retribution from the covert arm of the state?

JAMES RUSBRIDGER OB SADO­

MASOCHIST OR ANOTHER VICTIM?
In February the death of James Rusbridger was
reported, w i t h his body found in "bizarre
circumstances".
Rusbridger was a businessman, writer, and former
MI6 agent. He wrote 'The Intelligence Game',
published in 1989, a book which is deeply critical of
British Intelligence, and raises important questions
about the value oflhe whole spy establishment.
The British Sunday Times ran a scathing article about
Rusbridger, denying that he had ever had any
connection with British Intelligence, and alleging that
'The Intelligence Game' was littered with factual
inaccuracies and misleading information. [See NZ
Sunday Times, Feb 27, 1994J
Such a denounciation would carry some weight but
for two points. The first is that much of what
Rusbridger said is backed up by other commentators,
and the second is that MI6 has been involved in a
series of public information exercises in the last few
months which look suspiciously like an orchestrated
attempt to improve its image.
Television interviews with former senior officials, and
a number of press articles have followed the
establishment of MI6 in Statute. The media material
pushes a consistently positive message, and there has
been little penetrative questioning of an organisation
reknown, at least historically, for its gaffs as much as
its successes.
Rusbridger was found hanging from a pulley system
in his cottage, wearing a long black oilskin and a
gasmask. He was said by 'a friend' to have bizarre
sexual tastes, and the police did not treat the death as
suspicious, removing the need for an investigation.
According to an article in the Christchurch Press [Feb
19] ITN Television released a letter, purportly from
Rusbridger, in which he comments that fetishism
involving strangulation is not uncommon.
This may be just another case of the eccentric sexual
habits of the English upper middle class, with the
oddity being that in this case that Rusbridger was not
a Tory MP.
On the other hand there may be more to the death
than the public will ever find out. At the very least,
British Intelligence had good reason to blacken
Rusbridger's name, and to attempt to discredit his
stories.
The Intelligence Game
David Lange's Quotable Quotes
On satellite spying: "I don't conceive that New
Zealand should have a role for that. It's like trying
to get a cup of water from the Niagara Falls." It
would probably reveal " ". a vast amount of chatter
about certain festive and social occasions"." and
" ... absolutely nothing relevant to security
considerations". [Post Conference Press
Conference, March 2, 1987, reported in PR No
18]
Tangimoana: "A great deal of information about
Tangimoana, and the post that replaced it,
eventually found its way into the public domain."
[Nuclear Free - the NZ Way, p I 5!]
Note: all mention of Waihopai avoided, even
though he talks about Tangimoana as the peace
movement's "favoured target".

Page 4 Peace Researcher

 The secret US base that never
happened - not here anyway
by Owen Wilkes
Does campaigning against foreign bases
achieve anything? The anti-bases campaign in this
country celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday on 24 June
last year. It was in June 1968 that a Christchurch­
based campaign was launched which was ultimately
successful in keeping the US Navy's Omega
navigation transmitter out of Aotearoa. A follow-up
campaign succeeded in getting an earlier-established
and very secret base - Project Longbank at
Woodbourne -closed down. Since then various bases
have come, and gone, but there has always been some
doubt as to whether it was the campaigning that made
them go or whether they simply became obsolete and
went of their own accord. Certainly the one base that
the US military apparently have most need of - the
Operation Deepfreeze complex at Christchurch
Airport - seems to go on and on forever, despite
endless campaigning.
The first 25 years of the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC)
were reviewed in a theme issue of Peacelink in June
1993. That review includes a chronology of significant
wins and losses in the campaign.
Old secrets
An old secret file which recently became available in
the NZ National Archives in Wellington shows that
the campaign has had at least one invisible success it
never even guessed at. There was one US base that
the US military wanted to build in Aotearoa, but which
they eventually built in a less suitable place at
considerably greater cost, rather than contend with
anti-base campaigning in Aotearoa.
The file, a very slim one, is in a collection of old secret
files found in the basement of the DSIR head office
shortly before that organisation was dismembered by
the asset-stri ppers of the present National
Government. The files cover a multitude of secret and
top-secret research activities being undertaken during
World War II and Cold War I in the 1940s and 50s.
Apparently the Government was in such a hurry to
destroy the DSIR that it didn't notice that one of the
more loyal and principled officers of the DSIR had
saved these files from almost certain destruction,
arbitrarily declassified them, and dumped them in
National Arch ives where anyone can now look at
them. Apparently there has been a bit of a stir within
the depths of the security! secrecy! paranoia! hysteria
Peace Researcher
establishment about ordinary people being allowed
to look at the secrets of yesteryear, but it was even
then too late to withdraw the material from vulgar
gaze. The full story about this stir has not come out,
but something called The Interdepartmental
Committee on Security has declared the old DSIR to
have "been at fault in transferring this material [to
the Nat Archives] before it had been declassified".
This particular file is named "Space research 1968"
and is registered as AAOQ W3424, Box 1, 48/65!-S.
The "s" is for SECRET. Within the file is a two-page
memo to the Prime Minister dated 7 November 1968
entitled "Proposed United States Installation on North
Island", written by George Laking, the then Secretary
of External Affairs.
USAF wanted a "relatively
inconspicuous" base
According to Laking the US Embassy had approached
the External Affairs Department for permission to
establish an experimental receiver as part of efforts
to improve the 440-L over-the-horizon radar system.
The 440-L system was a network of gigantic
transmitters located along the Pacific edge of Asia,
which sent powerful high-frequency radar pulses
houncing across the Eurasian land mass to be
monitored by a chain of receivers in Europe. As the
pulses bounced up and down between the land surface
and the ionosphere they were supposed to detect any
intercontinental ballistic missiles which the Soviet
Union might be either testing or launching at the US.
Apparently the receivers were not very effective at
certain times of day, and the USAF was wondering
whether it m ight :Jot be better to site the receivers at
the antipodal point, where the radiowaves would sort
of bunch-up after having bounced all the way to the
opposite side of the world from Europe. Dear old
Enzed is, as any schoolkid knows, antipodal to Europe,
and hence was the logical place to build a receiver.
More particularly, the middle of the North Island was
precisely antipodal (in a radio sense) to whatever point
it was in Europe where the USAF already had a
receIver,
The USAF described the receiver they proposed
bringing here as "relatively inconspicuous", hut it was
going to require an array of high masts extending over
an area of 150 by 40 metres. It would need its own
PageS
diesel generator and five to seven contract civilians
to run it. The Americans stressed that it was only a
short term experimental set-up they wanted, but
intimated that if the experiment were successful they
just might ask for a permanent operation here.
Laking's memo to the PM continued [with my
emphasis added]:
"The original American analysis suggested
the North Island would be the best location
for this experiment, but, in vie�Qf the
recent controversy over O[llega, the
American authorities proposed an alternate
[sic] l o c ation at Norfolk Island.
Nonetheless they have now concluded that
they would prefer a location in New
Zealand if that is possible."
The anti-Omega campaign was indeed in full cry at
the time, and was producing lots of embarrassment
for the NZ Government, but few of its participants
even dreamed that their efforts were having so much
effect behind the scenes.
The new American project was not only hush-hush,
it was also rush-rush. The Americans were breathing
down George Laking's neck. They already had a
survey team on Norfolk which had just given the
thumbs-down to operations there, and they wanted to
bring the team to Aotearoa, in just four days time, on
1 1 November.
When he had finished describing the situation, in five
succinct paragraphs, Laking, as a model civil servant,
then proceeded to advise his Prime Minister on the
response New Zealand should make:
"It would seem that it should be possible
to arrange for the experiment to be carried
out in a manner that it did not excite public
interest. For example it could be located at
Waiouru o r HMNZS Irirangi, the Navy
[radio] station [and foreunner to
Tangimoana spy-base] near Waiouru."
So far so good. Hide it away from all the longhaired
Vietnam war protesters and Omega opponents and
she'll be right. However:
"On the other hand, we do no! know what
would be involved in the establishment of
any continuing installation should this
prove feasible and be desired by the United
States authorities. It does seem ... that a
radar s y stem 'intended to provide
information on missile launchings, etc.' is
part of an early warning system and will be
tied into the United States nuclear reaction
forces."
Having made this key deduction Laking then
cautiously recommended:
"...that we agree to receive the survey team
Page 6
and.to cooperate with it in the examination
of possible sites. At the same time we
should point out that we would wish to have
further information on the whole project,
including what would be involved in the
establishment of any continuing system
before agreeing to an experimental receiver.
It should be stated [to the Americans] that
the receipt of the survey team is without
commitment at this stage to the decision
on this point and, even more, on the
establishment of any permanent receiver."
In other words, if we let them bring their survey team
here the yanks are not to assume therefore that they
can build even a temporary station, let alone a
permanent one.
What happened next we do not know and are unlikely
to find out. The answer if it still exists will be hidden
in files of the External Affairs Department and the
Prime Minister's Department which are unlikely to
be opened to public viewing in the foreseeable future.
Those two departments guard their secrets much more
carefully than did the dying DSIR.
Base was built on Norfolk Island
What we do know however is that no over-the-horizon
(OTH) receiver was ever built in Aotearoa, but that
one was built on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory
about halfway between North Cape and Brisbane. So
either Enzed said no, or the Yanks got cold feet again
and went elsewhere.
The Australian government announced in December
1968 that a "passive radio station" would be built on
Norfolk by the USAF to receive radio signals being
bounced off the ionosphere as part of a study of "long
range radio paths". There was no mention of OTH
radars or detection of Soviet missiles, but this
information eventually leaked out after the station
became operational. Norfolk islanders occasionally
wondered about the forest of tall masts and web of
fine wires which nightly felled dozens of seabirds
which blundered into the wires. The experiment was
apparently unsuccessful and the station was closed
down within a couple of years or so.
The conclusions from this are, I think, quite cheering.
Protests are effective. The USAF did notice the anti­
Omega protests, and apparently decided that, rather
than risk anti-OTH radar protests, they would cut their
losses and build their receiver in the non-antipodal
and highly inconvenient location of Norfolk Island.
I! must have cost a packet more to build and operate
there, out in the middle of the ocean, than it would
have at Waiouru, on the Main Trunk Line and beside
State Highway I.
Even more cheering is the cautious way the NZ
Peace Researcher
Government reacted. I was amongst those who were
then calling George Laking, an ex-ambassador to
Washington DC, a straightout stooge of the yanks,
engaged in facilitating the entry of US bases such as
Omega into Aotearoa. Yet in this memo we see Laking
acting quite commendably. We could applaud more
wholeheartedly if he had just told the Yanks to go to
hell and to get out of Vietnam while they were at it.
But, wishful th inking aside, at least here he was
advising PM Keith Holyoake not to do whatever the
Yanks wanted us to do without first looking at it
carefully, and particularly to check out whether
acceptance of this facility would not tie us into US
nuclear retaliation doctrines. Obviously the NZ
Government, or at the very least one of its top civil
servants, had already learned some lessons from the
anti-Omega campaign, then only 5 months old.
So, another victory the anti-base movement can boast
about: It stopped the USAF testing its OTH radar here.
Did it matter?
How important was this? The 440-L OTH radar
became big news in 1974 in Japan. Hundreds of
residents in Tokorozawa, a northern suburb of Tokyo,
had been complaining about interference on their TV
receivers, and the NHK TV Corporation had traced
the interference to a large mysterious USAF
communication base nearby. An investigation by the
Japanese peace movement Gensuikyo, in which I was
involved, was able to show quite definitely that the
base was in fact one of the transmitters for the 440-L
system. Other transmitters were found to the south
on Okinawa and to the north in Hokkaido. But it was
the Tokorozawa transmitter which caused most
outrage amongst the Japanese. Here was a vital
component of the US system for launching nuclear
retaliation, an obvious target for Soviet pre-emptive
nuclear attack, menacing millions of Tokyo citizens
living nearby. And, adding insult to potential mega­
injury, it was spoiling their TV viewing as well. Within
a few months the Japanese government demanded that
the USAF close the transm itters down because they
were not in keeping with the US-Japan Mutual
Security treaty. The treaty allowed the US to only
build bases in Japan which contributed to the security
of Japan. The OTH bases not only didn't do that, they
actually detracted from the security of Japan by
constituting nuclear targets.
Having lost its Japanese sites, the OTH system was
no longer much use to the USAF, and it was closed
down. The USAF chose instead to rely for strategic
early warning on the DSP satellite-based system for
detecting missile launches. Being satellite-based, it
was less vulnerable to earth-bound protestors in Japan
or New Zealand. One of the ground stations for the
DSP system was already operational at a place called
Nurrungar in South Australia. But that is another
story....
My conclusion is that all the campaigning is
worthwhile. We never defeat the military maniacs and
nuclear nutters entirely, but at least we keep them on
the run and stop them from getting their own way
entirely. Its a dynamic interaction in which the forces
of good (us) are eternally working to defeat the forces
of evil (them). We never totally win, but then neither
do they.

RECENT EVENTS
Women's Day of Disarmament (May 24) was marked by a visit to the Tangimoana spybase by a large
group of women from Wellington and Palmerston North. Activities included a candle-lit remembrance
session for other women peace activists, songs, and talks about the base. The visit to Tangimoana expressed
solidarity with the women camping out at the huge US spybase in Britain at Menwith Hill.

ABC Christchurch and the local Catholic Workers group combined in a small gathering at Harewood
airport on 29th of May. The day was marked by the astonishing sight of the Ministers of Defence and
Foreign Affairs strolling towards 3 activists busily affixing a message to the perimeter fence.
For several minutes differences of opinion were politely exchanged. Cooper's only contribution was the
suggestion that our ideas were the result of smoking too much dope; McKinnon's contribution was somewhat
more intelligent and affable.
Amongst his off-the-cuff comments was the belief that NZ Government communications were not secure,
that he had little say over what went on in intelligence operations, and the implications that he was quite
happy with whatever the Americans wanted to do at Harewood.

Peace Researcher Page 7

 ASIS IN THE PHILIPPINES
A tiny report appeared in the "Press" (7/5/94) entitled
"Rebels deny spy agency links". The rebels in question
were the Filipino military plotters who launched a
whole series of bloody coup attempts during Cory
Aquino's 1986-92 tenn as
President. They have apparently renamed themselves,
from the Reform the Armed Forces Movement to the
Revolutionary Alliance of the Masses! They and their
leaders, such as the notorious Colonel Gringo
Honasan, have been enthusiastically rehabilitated by
President Ramos.
The spy agency in question is ASIS (the Australian
Secret Intelligence Service). The would be RAMbos
deny receiving any funds from it, and proudly assert
that all their coup attempts were strictly domestic.
Nonetheless, the Australian Government is
investigating reports that ASIS did fund them.
The definitive book on ASIS is "Oyster" by Brian
Toohey and William Pinwill. The cover is emblazoned
with the subtitle: "The book the Government took to
Court". lt should be read by anyone wanting to learn
about Australia's external intelligence agency, which
has operated where the CIA cannot (eg Cambodia and
Chile), has extremely close relations with MI6 (British
external intelligence), and operates in friendly
neighbouring countries, including New Zealand.
"Oyster" devotes nine pages to ASIS in the
Philippines. It moved into Manila when MI6 closed
its branch there. lts 19605 operations were later blown
by a disillusioned former agent, Ian Allan, an indigent
Australian studying at the University of the Philippines
(UP). He was instructed to spy on a whole range of
people, from lama Sison, (who was on the brink of
going underground to found the new Comm.unist Party
of the Philippines); to flamboyant millionaire Baby
Ysmael, friend ofFerdinand Marcos, and a prominent
member of the worlds of Australian racing and
politics. Because MI6 was interested in the Bertrand
Russell Peace Foundation, ASIS (as a loyal servant
of British intelligence) spied on its Manila branch.
They also wanted to spy on a prominent Filipina
member of the Foundation, believed to be having an
affair with an Australian diplomat'
ASIS got involved in the regional rivalries. Marcos
asserted a Philippines claim to Sabah, a Malaysian
state on Borneo. A secretFilipino commando.unit was
established to carry out clandestine war. Allan was
instructed to find out all about it and pass it on to
Malaysia, whom Australia rated more highly as an
ally. Allan enjoyed his life as a spy, socialising with
the likes of Imelda Marcos and Ninoy Aquino, but it
disrupted his studies to the extent that he failed and
had to leave UP. Whereupon ASlS told him he was
Page 8
of no further use to them. Embittered, he went public.
"The ASIS dilemma in the Philippines was that it was
working in cooperation with a host government that
was monstrously corrupt, totalitarian and
contemptuous of the values to which Australians
subscribe...ASIS made no attempt to distance itself
from the martial law regime and actively pursued
liaison and cooperation with what had now become
the dictator's secrct police.. .Indeed the assistance
ASIS provided with technical surveillance methods
may have helped add to the number of political
prisoners.,. "
ASIS wasn't alone among secret Australian agencies
propping up Marcos. The Special Air Service (SAS)
held exercises with US and Philippine SpecialForces
within the former US Navy base at Subic Bay. These
practised counter-insurgency tactics, including
assassination techniques (and it's worth reminding
New Zealanders that two members of the NZ SAS
were killed in the crash of a US military aircraft during
a Subic Bay special warfare exercise in the early 80s.
New Zealand's participation ended with the Anzus
Row. Appropriately, Manila was the venue for the
American announcement that we,were suspended).
The latest report indicates that ASIS didn't stop its
activities in the Philippines with the overthrow of
Marcos. It's an agency that needs to be exposed as
much as possible.
Murray Horton.
This article is from "Kapatiran ". the newsleuer of
the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa. The
, title means ··Solidarity". in English. It costs $15 to
subscribe. and inquiries can be sent to PSNA. Box
2450. Christchurch. The ABC and PSNA have worked
together in the recent past eg co-hosting Renato
Constantino's 1993 Christchurch public meeting. and
publicising the visit of Father Shay Cullen. prominent
anti-bases campaignerfrom Olongapo. the "rest and
recreation" cityjiJr Subic Bay. ABC has a long history
of sending New Zealanders to take part in the
ultimately successful Phillipines bases struggle. and
in hosting Filipino activists here.
Peace Researcher
 WENDY HOLLAND ...
AUSTRALIAN S PY IN NEW ZEALAND
Wendy Holland claims to have been recruited by the
Australian Secret Intelligence Service at a Canberra
cocktail party in 1969. Her story, yet to be rebutted,
includes episodes of spying in New Zealand, including
infiltration of the NZ/USSR Society, and espionage
activity in other countries around the world. It includes
all the traditional elements of covert action: the
deception, the seduction, the banal and the bizarre.
She says she has spoken out about some of her
experiences because "like many other honest,
hardworking Australians" she has been "used and
ditched and dumped" by Australian intelligence.
According to an interview in the Australian Women's
Weekly, [November 1993] Wendy Holland was
trained to follow people, to shoot, and to defend
herself. She infiltrated foreign embassies, burgled
homes, and worked undercover in drug operations.
In a television interview (20/20, Dec 5, 1993) Holland
talked about her spying in New Zealand. "My first
dry run in New Zealand was to report on students that
were radical" and pass the information on to couriers
(after an hour or so of moving about to make sure she
was not observed). Later she was instructed to apply
for ajob as filing clerk at national police headquarters,
and regularly copied confidential stafffiles on senior
police officers and plain clothes detectives to pass
back to her intelligence bosses. At the time she
believed this was a joint operation with the NZ SIS.
[The SIS is said to routinely vet all senior police
officers.]
Holland moved later to a job with NZ's Immigration
Department where she regularly sent reports back to
ASIS, who were particularly interested in people
passing on to Australia.
Because some of the files were held at a central office
to which she did not have access, Holland formed "a
romantic relationship" with someone she did not really
like, to get the r equired information.
Asked why some of these things would be done, or
why her Australian bosses could not get the
information directly from New Zealand officials,
Holland candidly admits to not understanding this
herself. She also admits to regrets over the nice people
in the NZ/USSR she deceived. She was introduced to
a branch president orthe society by Neil McDougall
Peace Researcher
- a former PSA representative. He now believes she
was a genuine spy, and says he was told by an SIS
agent that she "worked for a foreign power".
[The narrator of the 20/20 programme stated that the
SIS had also penetrated the Society and one of its
operatives had held office.]
Holland also claims a love affair with one of the
founders ofFretilin, the East Timor liberation group.
In this case she says that he never knew about her
covert associations, but she refused to pass on
information about him, and felt guilty about lying to
him.
Holland says that she quit ASIS in 1979, but over the
next decade still carried out occasional assignments
for them. (One of these involved photographing semi­
naked businessmen running from a brothel when the
police raided.)
The whole story has a ring of truth about it - and
Holland's appearance on television was either that of
a genuine ex-spook, or someone with an amazing
ability to convince. Her bitterness with being left on
her own after her years of service, and creating a public
profile as some protection if she is heavied in any
way, both make good reasons for her speaking out.
The fact that some of the things she did in New
Zealand make little sense is also typical of intelligence
organisation activities. Until somone clearly shows
us otherwise, Wendy Holland's story stands as another
fascinating episode in the mad and murky world of
spooks and spying.
Warren Thomson.
Intelligence?
'A British soldier's game of Russian Roulette
ended in tragedy when he shot himself in the head
and died, a Northern Ireland court was told. Lance­
corporal Barry Jackson, aged 24, [was] attached
to the Intelligence Corps." Enough said!
[From the Press, June 7, 1988]
Page 9
 BRITISH I NTELLIGENCE
DICKS A ND DIRTY TRICKS
Warren Thomson reviews 'Enemies of the State',
written by Gory Murray, (Simon and Schuster, 1993.)
Murray believes that "... a number of illegal acts,
including violence and murder, have been committed
by agents of British Intelligence, in some cases, with
the connivance of members of Her Majesty's
Government." He asserts that " ... members of our so­
called elite services are capable of any illegal act,
including blackmail, telephone and mail interception,
burglary - and even assassination."
'Enemies of the State' is a valuable read for those
interested i n the activities of intelligence
organisations. In particular its focus on the utilisation
of private investigators by agencies such as MI5 and
MI6 opens a new black hole of dirty tricks hitherto
mostly unexplored.
Gary Murray started off as an RAF investigator, then
set up his own private investigation organisation in
1968. In the early 1970s his firm, Euro-Tech,
infiltrated British Trade Unions. and monitored union
officials and their families. (A number of unions are
still under surveillance today by private investigators
linked to Special Branch and MI5)
Murray's company was engaged to investigate,
amongst other things, the business and personal
lifestyles of journalists in 1980-82. In 1983 Murray
became alarmed by a feeling, in an overseas related
matter he was looking into for MI6, that ".. the
target of the investigation was going to come to some
physical harm." On another occasion he was asked to
take one of the targets of investigation for a "no return"
t1ight over the North Sea.
These events, and discovery that Barric Peachman,
one of his closest private investigator friends was
involved in top secret surveillance of anti-nuclear
protestors, began to change Murray's orientation. He
had failed to uncover any evidence of criminal
espionage or subversion in any of the work he himself
had done. Peachman committed suicide. Murray,
according to his account, began to investigate the
investigators.
The result is an intriguing survey of dirty tricks against
antinuclear groups and individuals deemed by
intelligence services (or perhaps certain sections of
intelligence services) to be working against the
interests of the state. Covert actions included the
setting up of dummy peace groups to infiltrate anti­
nuclear organisations, the lapping of telephones and
Page 10
ea PRIVATE
placing of bugs, and the burglary of houses where
prominent protest leaders lived.
The succession of detail, indirect comment and
circumstantial evidence tends to lose the reader on
first reading. But a recap of various episodes and
activities, particularly those of the early to mid eighties
in Britain, builds credibly into substantial support for
Murray's claims of illegality, abuse of power, and lack
of control.
The author looks in detail at the murky events
surrounding the J 984 murder of Hilda Murrell,
concluding that she was a victim of criminals hired
by intelligence agencies to search her house.
Hilda Murrell was a 78 year old anti-nuclear activist
who had been opposing the Sizewell nuclear power
station. She was also the aunt of Com mander Roh
Green, who was under surveillance by government
agents because of his inside knowledge of military
operations during the Falklands War. It is likely the
murderers were looking for documents Green was
alleged to have had in his possession.
Murray also examines the suspicious death of radical
Glasgow lawyer William McRae, in 1985 , and
deduces he was probably the victim of intentional
attack by "faceless agents". Serious assaults and
burglaries against several anti-nuclear activists are
looked at, including victimisation of Pat Davis. For
years Davis waged a campaign against the Royal Navy
over claims that birth defects in her son resulted from
her husband's exposure to radiation while serving in
nuclear submarines. She has been subjected to a years
of harrassment and intimidation,and twice been beaten
up by unidentified assailants.
New Zealand gets a brief mention in 'Enemies of the
State'. One of the private investigation firms used by
British Intelligence is Lynx Security Service Ltd. A
co-director of this organisation - one David Godfrey
- is listed on company pUblicity as having spent "30
years in security and intelligence mostly for the
governments of New Zealand, Canada, and the West
Indies."
The fascinating question to emerge from 'Enemies of
the State' is the extent to which private firms are used
by intelligence agencies in this country. If we have
aped the procedures of Britain, as we have in so many
other instances, a considerable amount of surveillance
Peace Researcher
of progressive groups here may have been done by
private investigators. Besides official sources being
able to deny responsibility, this may have the added
advantage of concealing covert intelligence spending.
Other interesting points to emerge from Murray's
book are that it is relatively easy to listen to other
people's cellphone conversations, and probably
30,000 thousand devices to do so have been sold in
Britain; that a laptop computer in a car outside your
premises can pick up data from your computer; and
that there is a simple, speedy process for opening and
reading hundreds of letters at a go.
If 'Enemies of the State' is accurate, then half MI5
staff could be women, and the organisation has a
register of 600,000 people. Controllers are not
necessarily very competent - Murray's first supervisor
would stagger off drunkenly into the night with a
ministry briefcase full of sensitive documents, was
difficult to contact, and talked too much about himself.
(Meat pies and Filofaxes?)
Overall, this is a thought-provoking book. Fuel for
the fire of progressives with a 'healthy paranoia' about
the powers of secret intelligence agencies. And even
for more conservative readers it should be sobering
to consider the former MI5 officer who avers that
recent shakeups in British Intelligence and new
legislation will change nothing: "it will be business
as usual...the green brigade, along with all anti-nuclear
protestors, will still be investigated... [and] anyone
upsetting the apple cart will be dealt with accordingly.

r----- SPOOKY BITS --�

Beware of Friends Bearing Gifts

According to the television programme 'Beyond 2000' [Feb 10, 1994] the United States Government promoted
the distribution of US computer software amongst government and intelligence agencies in other countries.
This meant the US agencies were then able to easily tap into the information held on these systems. Australia
and the United Kingdom are said to be two countries where this has occurred.
In this case the British may have got their own back. In the post World War II period, Britain distributed many
of the German type Enigma coding machines to Commonwealth (then colonial) Governments. The payoff
from this generous gesture was British access to all the secrets passing through these machines.

Can You Credit It?

The television programme noted above also contained an intriguing reference to 'TRW' a US corporation
which is the largest credit control data processor in that country. It is likely that this corporation is the one
which handled the inflow to the US of intelligence from Pine Gap at least into the 1980s. It was here that
Christopher Boyce spilt the beans on the way the US was shafting Australia over its use of Pine Gap (and got
a 40 year prison sentence for his trouble).
A subcontracter using the TRW credit control system recently cocked up, and incorrectly using land tax
records, managed to wipe out the credit rating of a Whole town of 2,800 people.
Obviously we shouldn't give much credit to the corporations behind the spooks.

The CIA Deep In It

James Woolsey, Director Of Central Intelligence, is struggling to convince US Congressmen that the CIA's
$5 billion (US) budget should not be cut. The recent arrest of Aldrich Ames, a senior counter intelligence
officer, has shredded the agency's claims to be the best spy organisation in the world. Ames, who probably
betrayed the CIA's top spies to the Russians, has opened the old can of worms about how useful is the
information gained from spying. If several of the agency's top agents were under Russian surveillance it is
likely that their information was not only useless, but wilfully misleading.
This is a familiar pattern. In the late eighties a Cuban defector identified most of the Cubans working for the
CIA as double agents, effectively wiping out the credibility of any Agency reports on Cuba. After the fall of
the Berlin Wall, US access to East German documents showed CIA operations there were equally compromised.
The CIA has also failed to find the Pakistani who walked up to cars entering the Langley complex last year
and shot 4 CIA employees. Two died. Fifteen months later the 'best' intelligence organisation in the world
still hasn't managed to nobble the killer.

Peace Researcher Page 11

 GUARDIAN ARTICLE INDICATES UKUS A
PARTNER'S SUBSERVIENCE TO THE UNITED
STATES.
A recent article in the British Guardian supports the
proposition that the junior partners in the select
western alliance UKUSA network take their orders
from Washington.
In an article entitled "GCHQ's service to the US
, crucial''' [May 17, 1994] the newspaper reports that
Government Communication Headguarter's staff have
been told that one of their key jobs is to provide
intelligence to meet the needs of the United States. A
confidential staff manual makes it clear for the first
time that GCHQ's budget - over which the British
Parliament has no control - is determined in pa'i by
US intelligence requirements.
GCHQ is responsible for Britain's electronic
eavesdropping and is the 'mother' organisation of
New Zealand's Government Communications
Security Bureau.
The manual, according to the Guardian, says GCHQ's
contribution to the UKUSA intelligence relationship
must be "of sufficient scale and of the right kind to
make a continuation of the [Signals Intelligence]
alliance worthwhile to our partners". It then goes on
to say that "this may entail on occasion the applying
ofUK resources to the meeting of US requirements."
As this country is a junior member of UKUSA
questions should be asked about how much of New
Zealand's resources go towards meeting the needs of
Britain and the United States.

COMING EVENTS
*In Christchurch: On July 3, at 7.00pm, ABC will be showing the British TV documentary on Menwith Hill and
the women who are battling in opposition to it. Venue: WEA, cost $ 10/$5.
* On August 27, 9.00am - 1.00pm, WEA in combination with ABC will be holding a seminar on intelligence
organisations and their activities in New Zealand.
* At Tangimoana: Plans are being made for another visit to the Spybase later in the year. Watch for information

via Massey students, PMA Wellington (Box 9314) or ABC Christchurch.

* Waihopai again: Probably late January 1995.

* Australia: There is likely to be a major Australian anti-bases event at Canberra next Easter. It would be great to

have some New Zealand representation.

�- - - ------ -- --- --- ----

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