One of the world’s most secretive spy bases is in the Australian outback

Hidden in the folds of these Outback Rangers is the most secretive military intelligence facility in the country. I’m climbing up to get a glimpse of Pine Gap, the eyes and ears of the world tucked away in the Australian desert. What goes on here has been shrouded in secrecy for decades. Prime ministers have either obscured the truth or told a very partial and limited version of that. And Australians are really being kept in the dark. Set up as a space base by America’s CIA in the late 1960s, Pine Gap has drawn speculation from the beginning. I’d like to see the officer in charge, please. You’re from your TVABC television, BCT, Sorry. During the Cold War, the base eavesdropped on the Soviet’s missiles and got caught up in the downfall of a Prime Minister. There now need be no secrecy. I’ve been a journalist here in Alice Springs for 16 years and what strikes me is how no one really talks about Pine Gap. That silence has fuelled all sorts of rumours around town and drawn thousands of protesters here to the heart of the country to try and shut the secretive base down. Over the decades, protesters have accused the base of drawing Australia into conflicts abroad and making the nearby town of Alice Springs a nuclear target. Former spy David Rosenberg worked at Pine Gap for almost 2 decades and says the base’s intelligence is crucial on the battlefield. When you have satellites where you can collect intelligence that will tell you where your targets are, you can then use your use your munitions to go after those targets. The Israel Gaza War has Pine Gap back in the spotlight. I’m convinced that Pine Gap provides data and signals and tracking information to Israel. What we can be assured by is that the policy frameworks and the laws that we abide by mean that no information is being used irresponsibly. The Australian Defence Department says Pine Gap is one of the country’s most long standing security arrangements with the US, but wouldn’t comment on whether it’s sharing intelligence with Israel in its war against Gaza. There’s at least a strong moral case to be made for its telling its citizens if it is collecting intelligence for a foreign power, and which foreign power? David Rosenberg says it’s a strategic asset for any government to have in their backyard. If you were the Prime Minister of Australia, wouldn’t you want to have access to intelligence that would be useful to protect your citizens? As multiple global wars escalate, some analysts are calling out the risk. Pine Gap continues to be, and probably is more so, a nuclear target in certain respects than ever before. A stark warning about a remote, secretive base with implications for all.