The Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs is expanding and so is its importance to the US,” Denis Doherty from the Anti-Bases Campaign said in Sydney today.
Launched by a US-Australia treaty in 1966, the spy base is run by the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA).
Satellites operated out of Pine Gap spy on China, Russia and the Middle East. They intercept a vast range of signals: phone calls, radio waves, heat generated by missile launches and more.
Over the past decade the number of antennas at Pine Gap has increased from 33 to approximately 45.
Australia has been drawn into one war after another through Pine Gap.
In 2013, the NSA signed an agreement to share signals intelligence with Israel. Now the base is providing intelligence to the Israeli Defence Force via the United States to target Gaza.
“Today Pine Gap could play an even greater role in a war with China,” Mr Doherty stressed.
“The base is central to surveillance of China and its location and technical capabilities make it an unparalleled asset for a US assault on China.
“Pine Gap has become more important than ever to American military activities and as a result the nuclear risk to Australia is becoming greater,” Denis Doherty said.