Why do protests keep happening at the Australian-US Defence facility Pine Gap near Alice Springs?

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a blockade outside the Pine Gap military facility this morning. (ABC News: Alex Barwick)

A group of protesters have blocked access to the highly secretive Pine Gap military facility in Central Australia.

It’s the second protest outside the joint Australian-US Defence facility in just over a month.

Protesters say they’re aiming to prevent workers from doing their work at the site and are calling for it to be closed for good.

Here’s why protests keep happening at Pine Gap.

What happened?

Early on Monday morning, a group of about 20 protesters calling themselves Mparntwe for Palestine set up a blockade on the main access road to Pine Gap, about 20 kilometres outside of Alice Springs.

Two members of the group secured themselves to a concrete barrel.

The demonstration stopped workers from reaching the base until police arrived.

In a statement, NT Police said officers were made aware of the protest around 4:40am on Monday.

They said a 39-year-old woman and a 32-year-old woman had each been issued with a notice to appear and were due in court in February next year.

The same group also blockaded the road late last month, preventing about 100 workers and contractors from entering.

As part of the October rally, one of the protesters fastened their arm inside a concrete barrel and had to be cut free by emergency services using machinery.

Why are these protests happening?

We know the function of Pine Gap is to collect sophisticated surveillance for the US and Australian militaries and their allies.

The protesters — made up Arrernte traditional owners, health workers and community members — have fears the facility is collecting intelligence the US National Security Agency (NSA) is providing to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), to inform its actions in the Israel-Gaza War.

The ABC has reached out to the US and Australian defence forces for comment.

Protester Declan Furber Gillick said the group wanted to “stop and disrupt any of that work taking place”.

What is Pine Gap?

Pine Gap was established during the Cold War as a US satellite surveillance base on Australian soil.

Its operations have been shrouded in secrecy ever since.

We know intelligence collected at the base plays a crucial role in wars fought by the US with documents revealing it is a source of detailed geolocation intelligence that can be used to locate targets.

In the past few years it’s also been reported the base is likely gathering information about Chinese and Russian military plans and has undergone a major expansion.

The facility has been the site of a number of protests over the years.

It has also faced opposition from some Alice Springs locals, who fear the base’s proximity to their town makes it more of a military target.