Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
- US Navy Legacy
(see page 2)
This child, one of many like him, was fathered by a US Navy serviceman from Operation Deep
Freeze. His mum's appeals for help in the US have been met with silence. The US Navy and
government don't want to know. (NZ Herald Photo/John McCombe)
Please note: This is a double issue (19120) which includes articles compiled for the
final two issues of 1999. We apologise for the late publication of Peace Researcher.
In this issue:
Access to US citizenship and passport for those The US Commissioner of SOCial Security (at no fee
eligible by virtue of having an American father given the humanitarian nature of the mission) to
forward a package to the person, where pOSSible to
The production of a comprehensive written their home address. The package to contain a letter
explanation of the route to be taken in the form of a (and enclosures. e.g. photographs) from the child
Given that some of the children in the group had The US authorities to produce a user-friendly leaflet
made contact with the US Embassy in the course laYing out the procedure to be taken,
of their searches, the US Embassy to send details
of the group to all people who have made written Similar groups elsewhere in the world
contact with them over the past xx years,
It is not only in New Zealand that US Servicemen
Similar arrangements to those proposed in x and x have fathered children, Indeed, New Zealand
above to be made available to all others who servicemen abroad have behaved similarlyl We
subsequently come forward, request that the US Embassy provide us with
details of other groups known to the U S
Future a r ra ngements for similar situations Government
Waihopai 2000
Januarv 21-23, Blenheim
Be there!!
Further details at the back of this Peace Researcher",
Peace Researcher has been following this story since Court of Appeal Backs Down
it first started, back in 1 996, and we're pleased to
report that we have some good news, a rare victory in That decision was delivered in July 1 999 and it was a
fact Aziz Choudry has won his case. The major climbdown by the Court By a four to one
Government has settled it out of court; has paid him majority, it ruled that judges have no place in matters of
damages (the amount of which, as part of the "national security", and that Shipley's certificate stating
settlement, remains confidential in perpetuity); paid the documents needed to be withheld for unspecified
hiS legal costs, and, most significantly, begrudgingly reasons of "national security" must be respected, and
apologised to him. Shipley herself trusted. The Court accepted that there
is an unspecified "ongoing operation" that would be
To refresh your memories, let's recap the events. I n jeopardised' (now, isn't that intriguing?) and that
July 1 996 Security Intelligence Service (SIS) agents allowing inspection of the documents would endanger
were caught breaking into the Christchurch home of the SIS's operational relationship with the Police and
' other State agencies, such as the Land Transport
GATT Watchdog's Aziz Choudry, during activities to
counter the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Safety Authority. The minority decision, by Justice
(APEC) Trade Minister's Meeting. Aziz sued the Thomas, was scathing:
Crown for $300,000 and the first preliminary legal
queslions came before the Christchurch High Court in "Like any citizen, Mr Choudry is entitled to access to
1 998. It was at that point that the SIS admitted that it the Courts. He has a right to bring a claim based on
was their agents, but claimed that the break-in was an alleged infringement of the law on the part of the
legal, as they were authorised by an interception defendant. In exercising that right he has the same
warrant expectation of receiving justice in a court of law as
any other litigant. But to the extent that he is not able
In A u g u s t 1 99 8 , J u stice P a n c k h u rst r u l e d that he to achieve full and proper discovery he is
was not prepared to accept a blanket defence of disadvantaged and his right of access to the Courts is
"national security" as good enough reason to withhold correspondingly impaired. He will not be able to obtain
from Aziz a large number of documents (including the the justice to which he is entitled and which other
interception warrant) needed to pursue his civil litigants routinely receive. The public interest in the
damages claim against the Crown. Panckhurst had fair and effective administration of justice is not,
specifically rejected a certificate signed by Jenny therefore, a n empty slogan. It reflects the rights of
Shipley, Minister in Charge of the SIS (it's always the every citizen, including Mr Choudry . .
Prime Minister) asserting immunity from producing the
documents. Panckhurst ruled that he wanted to inspect "The Prime Minister i s the Minister i n charge of, and
the documents for himself, at the SIS's Christchurch responsible for, the Service. She is not independent
office, before ruling on their release. The Crown of the Service in the sense that Parliament and the
appealed. I n December 1 998, the Court of Appeal Courts are independent of it. Further, as I have
ruled that S hipley be given until February 1 999 to previously observed, it is to be realistically
produce an amended certificate with more details on appreciated that the certificate is initially prepared by
why the documents should be withheld; then it would senior officers of the Service who, by virtue of the very
rule on whether or not they should be released. The nature of their work and their own conscientious
judges were quite scathing in their opinion of the Crown performance of their task, may be over-zealous in
case. Justice Thomas said: "The Courts today are not their perception of the secrecy which is required. Nor,
prepared to be awestruck by the 'mantra' of national by virtue of the secrecy which attaches to the
security". The amended certificate was duly produced, Service's advice, can the Minister in charge look
along with 20 of the disputed 70 SIS documents elsewhere for assistance or verification. The Minister
(released in full or part) and was the subject of a further is very much dependent on the Service.
Court of Appeal hearing, in April 1 999. Once again,
decision was reserved.
"It should not be overlooked that the Service is a
covert intelligence agency. It is by definition not an
( 1 GA TT: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, now open organisation accustomed to outside scrutiny. It
called the World Trade Organisation, and headed by New will not welcome that scrutiny. Its officers are by virtue
Zealand's very own Mike Maore), of their occupation practised in the art of deception
And the SIS has a new boss, Lieutenant-General Don Mclver is retiring, and being replaced by senior diplomat
Richard Woods. His background IS international trade and economics, with sensitive diplomatic postings having
Included Ambassador to Tehran during the 1 980s Iranllraq War; Ambassador to Paris in 1 995, during the crisis
generated by France's resumption of PacifiC nuclear testing; and 1 990s Ambassador to Moscow. He is the first
diplomat to head the SIS - of the four previous Directors, three were from the Army (Gilbert, Smith, Mclver), and
one was a Judge (Molineaux). "I had always thought the SIS had a very important role. Its traditional role of
protecting New Zealand from espionage and sabotage and terrorism is obviously important. But it has been
extended to include making a contribution to New Zealand's international and economic wellbeing. I have spent
a fair bit of my career concerned with that second area. I thought my experience might be relevant and that's
what's been decided" (Press, 1 7/7/99). There's also a change at the top of the GCSB - Warren Tucker becomes
the new Director, replacing Ray Parker [see elsewhere in this issue for details. Ed.]. The future direction of our
spies. and who they will be targeting, is fairly obvious by the appointment of a spyboss with a background in
trade. As the Sunday Star Times editorialised: "This (the new spymaster) is certainly an improvement on the
usual military hard-hats. But the SIS culture remains the same, and it is doubtful a retired bureaucrat can change
it - even if he wanted to" (29/8/99; " U seful h umiliation for our SIS spies").
Out With the old enemies and in with the new enemies! Once again though, the "enemy" seems to be us.
• Bob Leonard
You may recall that members of ABC and its to reassure the general public and hide the truth.
supporters presented a petition to abolish the Some samples.
GCSB to Green MP Rod Donald on 14 November
1 998 We did so at the main gate of the "The Committee . noted that many of
Wa'l hopal Spy Stat'l on near Blenheim. Not long the petitioner's concerns had been
after, we were invited by the Intelligence and addressed by the Inspector-General of
Security Committee (ISC) to submit a document I ntelligence and Security in his reports to
in su pport of the petition to the committee at our the Prime Minister dated 27 and 28 April
earliest convenience. Our submission was sent 1 999. These reports concluded, inter
on 1 6 February 1 999 and was printed in full in PR alia, that New Zealand's signals
no. 1 8 (May 1 999). Shortly after that issue was intelligence collection facilities are
distributed we got a response back from the ISC. managed and controlled by the GCSB
It was a copy of its report to the House on our alone and that access by New Zealand's
petition and submission. intelligence partners to those facilities
and to the intelligence material collected
The cover letter by PM Jenny Shipley, chair of the is at all times under the control and
ISC. repeated our basic concerns about the supervision of the GCSB."
GCSB and then proceeded to dismiss our petition
and su pporting submission out of hand. There One has to marvel at the sheer gall of the P M and
was n o point-by-point consideration of our her committee, which includes Helen Clark, to
concerns. they were too timid to accede to our make such statements about NZ control of a n
req uest to appear before them to ask intelligence system that i s automated Billions of
embarrassing questions, the letter Just repeated bits of raw intelligence are sent directly to other
many of the lies and distortions that are designed UKUSA countries without the slightest pOSSibility
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official secrecy - the British Government is blow the whistle on their dirty little secrets.
holding, beyond the usual 30 year limit, papers
PNlMUMMIS
. iENATE RATIFIES VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT WITH U.S. G OVERNMENT
_ _ _ __ ___ _ _ _ _ _ __ ___ _ __ _ __ _ _ ____ ___ ________ .c_ _ _ __ .__ ___ ___ __ �
_ _ _________
F lrseveral years, PR has followed the progress the attitude of mendicancy upon our leaders
0 , and the militant mass opposition to, the Visiting toward our colonial masters of the past, not
Forces Agreement between the US and the independence of mind, in matters of our national
Philippines One of the world's most successful development and even in matters of military
anti-bases .;ampaigns forced out the century old preparedness". Roco said: "It will imprison the
U ; bases iSubic, Clark and co) in 1 9 9 1 /92. But Filipino spirit as it deprives the Filipino of equal
th ' VFA allows the Pentagon in the back door, protection of the law in his own land". Legarda
wi hout any need to maintain permanent US concluded: "It is patently unconstitutional, grossly
b8';es in the Philippines. Essentially the VFA flawed, ominously vague, decidedly one-sided
op ns up all of the Philippines to the US military - and onerous".
thE next best thing to actual bases - with special
rigi ts at 22 ports and other facilities. It bestows The American and Philippine governments were,
the equivalent of diplomatic immunity on US of course, delighted by the ratification, with the
mil :ary personnel in the Philippines, exempting Americans making promises of ships and planes
the'n from local law. It allows in up to 2,000 US to help modernise the Philippine military. The
trol'pS at a time for joint exercises (in September mass opposition continued up to and beyond the
1 9( 3, the first such joint exercise was held since Senate vote - there were militant protests outside
1 % 5 ) . And it gives effect to the 1 951 US the Senate and US Embassy as the vote was
Phil,ppines Mutual Defense Treaty, which had taken; various people's organisations filed court
beEIl frozen since the 1 99 1 Senate vote to not actions in an attempt to overturn it. The opposition
renew the bases treaty. was very broadbased, ranging from Muslims to
the CathOlic Bishops to the Communist-led
But . lat was a different Senate. I n May 1 999, the National Democratic Front (which scrapped
Senate (urged on by President Estrada, who as a peace talks, aimed at ending the 30 year old civil
1 99' Senator had voted to expel the bases) voted war, in protest at the vote). The case against the
1 8-5 :0 ratify the VFA The five who voted not to VFA was made most succinctly in a . large
ratify deserve to be recorded - Senators advertisement in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
GUIIl .. ona, Roco. Pimentel, Osmena and (25/5/99; "Not Welcome"), sponsored by a huge
Lega: ja Pimentel said: "The VFA would enhance number of groups: "Pres. Estrada and pro-VFA
Be that as it may, coloniser and colonised are back in bed together. Based on 1 00 years of past
exper'l ence , It ''s un l'lkely to be a marr'lage made in Heaven
I n the good old days of the Marcos dictatorship, "No, if bought, these planes will be pressed into
New Zealand had a military relationship with the service doing what the Filipino (and Indonesian)
Phili ppines - ranging from conducting exercises military does best - repressing and terrorising its
Within the former US bases, to training Filipino own people, They will be used against Muslim
officers here, to selling them small items of separatists on the southern island of Mindanao,
military equipment But never anything like where aerial and artillery bombardments
offering to sell them warplanes, That represents regularly produce tens of thousands of civilian
a quantum leap - backwards. refugees (most recently, in 1 998), They will also
1 ,
be used in the 30 year old war against
In a highly controversial 1 998 deCision, the Communist New Peoples Army,
the Government ruled out buying right throughout the archipelago Britain
another frigate, but decided instead to sold Indonesia warplanes - they weren't
pay $363 million to lease US F-16 fighter used for external defence, but to bomb
Jets. This left it with the problem of and strafe East Timor.
disposing of the Royal New Zealand Air
Force's own jet fighters, the 30 year old "The Philippines military is the same huge and
Skyhawks (on which 'it had spent $ 1 40m on a brutal monster as 'its Indonesian counterpart. It
1 980s upgrade), Flogging them off to the is responsible for countless h uman rights
Philippines became an attractive option, atrocities - massacres, individual m u rd ers,
President Estrada came to Auckland for the torture, disappearances, destruction of property,
September 1 999 APEC Leaders' Summit - etc, etc, It also uses the same sort of militias that
Lieutenant General Willie Florendo, the have wreaked such havoc in East Timor -
Philippines Air Force commander, was taken out paramilitary death squads have been a d readed
to Whenuapai Air Base and sent aloft on a test feature of Philippines rural life for decades. The
flight Estrada also went to Whenuapai. The only difference is that the Western media is no
Philippines Air Force is completely outgunned by longer paying any attention to the Philippines,
China in the festering dispute about the Spratly naively regarding it as a democracy, What
Islands - despite being the Americans' most loyal happened under Marcos continued unabated
military ally, it boasts a total of only five short under Presidents Aquino and Ramos, and
range F-5 fighters, which are even older than the continues today under President Estrada, No
Skyhawks wonder the Indonesian military wants the UN
peacekeeping force to include Filipino u n its -
There is no guarantee that the Philippines will they would feel right at home with their
buy New Zealand's second hand Skyhawks - in I ndonesian brothers, They speak the same
1 998 Estrada blocked a purchase of Kuwaiti language - repression and terrorising of
Skyhawks But it IS an alarming prospect, which defenceless civilians.
was immediately denounced by the Philippines
Solidarity Network of Aotearoa "New Zealand is just starting to extricate itself
from the foreign policy quagmire it created for
"Reports that the Government is trying to sell itself with Indonesia. let's not have to reinvent
RNZAF Skyhawks to the Philippines shows that the wheel all over again with the Philippines
it has learned nothing from the decades of New (press release, 1 6/9/99; "New Zealand Must Not
Zealand's silent complicity with the butchers of Sell Skyhawks To Philippines"; Press, 1 7/9/99),
East Timor, the genocidal Indonesian military.
The stated reason for the possible purchase is to A very u nfortunate precedent would be set if
assist the Philippines in its territorial dispute with New Zealand sells these warplanes to the
China over the S pratly Islands. I n fact, the only Philippines, The best way New Zealand can
Chinese who have trembled at the might of the show practical solidarity with the people of the
Philippines military have been some errant Philippines is to have no ties with that country's
fishermen military, which is the cause of so much suffering
there,
Peace Researcher -Issue 19120 - Page 1 7
ABC Pickets Outside CUnton's State Dinner
President Clinton's State visit was only the second antagonise the thousands of school kids and other
ever to New Zealand by a serving US President members of the public attending, We decided to
(Johnson came In 1 966), and the first ever to the take our message to the political event, namely his
South Island As soon as we knew that he was going State dinner, which was held i n the strange venue of
to be making a post-APEC Leaders Summit visit to Air Force World, the museum that nOw is one of the
Chrrstchurch, we decided that we couldn't Ig nore the few signs of life in the semi-derelict former RNZAF
Commander in Chief of the US military coming to the Wigram airbase We spelled out our reasons in a
only city in Australasia to host a US base, I press release
personally was n ' t prepared to wait another 33 years
to take my message to a US President I had cut my
- "The Anti-Bases Campaign has a simple message
political teeth on two Vice Presidents (Agnew, i n for the Commander in Chief of the US m i l itary whilst
Auckland, and Rockefeller, i n Sydney) but this might he is Visiting Christchurch - get the US Air Force out
be my only President of Christchurch Airportl" , New Zealand prides itself
on being nuclear free and out of,ANZUS - but there
Ti, e Juggernaut duly rolled Into town, on September is unfinished business concerning our m i l i tary
1 5 , HIs entourage of 1 ,200 ensured that H arewood relationship with the US
got plenty of usage by US military aircraft, including
huge Galaxies (the incompetence of Presidential "For over 40 years, Chrrstchurch's Harewood Airport
securit" was eVidenced in Auckland, where a has hosted a med i u m level, m u lti-purpose U S
ha pies; chicken farmer was bombarded with wrong military base, under the guise o f providing logistic
numbe ' faxes g iving top secret details of security support for peaceful scientific research in Antarctica,
arrangements surrounding Clinton's arrival in the In fact, the Harewood base plays a vital role In
cou ntry) The White House booked out a central servicing the Pentagon's top priority nuclear
Ch rrstchurch hotel - and then Cllnton didn't stay the warfighting intelligence bases in Australia These
night, flying back to the US Instead Entirely bases - N u rrungar and Pine Gap - have played a
predictably, the NZ government fell all over Itself to vital role in every recent American war, from I raq to
host Chnton - not a mention of lamb tariffs or trade Kosovo, Harewood keeps us directly Involved i n the
barriersl And the media reverted to g rovelling of a American military machine,
kind not seen since 1 950s Royal tours, Perhaps it
was no cOincidence that one of the President's golf "And we have a message for B i l l C l inton's host,
partners In Queenstown was Mike Fobson, Jenny Shipley - close down the Waihopai and
managing d i rector of the 1 N L media empire and Tangimoana spybases, cut the Intelligence links with
[, u pert Murdoch's man in NZ the US National Security Agency, get NZ out of the
UKUSA spying agreement l NZ is the j u n ior partner
flBC deCided not to picket Clinton's public speech at In this top secret five nation intelligence gathering
the AntarctiC Centre (across the road from the US agreement The Waihopai and Tangimoana
base at C h ri stchurch Airport) opting not to spybases, operated by the NZ Government
The American m i litary/intelligence base at Nurrungar satellite program would not be disclosed."
in South Australia has long been an issue for the NZ
Anti-Bases Campaign. Why you might ask? Because Pine Gap and another h u g e American base at
it is one of the major bases, along with P i n e Gap, Northwest Cape had already been established in a
served by US m i l itary flights through C h ristchurch similar atmosphere of secrecy and lies to the
Airport Nurrungar and Pine Gap function mainly as Australian parliament and public about the true
down links and control stations for a m ultitude of spy functions of the bases. Nurrungar added to the
satellites. C hristchurch and NZ are thus l i n ked to the growing anxiety in Australia. "Over the ensUing years,
US nuclear early warning system. objections to the facilities would be based on a variety
of concerns: that Australian sovereignty was being
Jeffrey Richelson is a h i g h ly respected American compromised, that the facilities would be n u c lear
researcher and author on intelligence targets in a US-Soviet war, and that the
issues. He wrote the foreword to Nicky bases facilitated objectionable foreign and
Hager's book "Secret Power". defense policies such as nuclear war
Richelson's new book is a meticulously fighting."
documented h istory of the Cold War
program that created Nurrungar (and An anti-bases movement developed In
many other stations around the globe) Australia i n response to these widely-held
and the m ultitude of space-based concerns about the American bases.
hardware that it has serviced over the years. DSP Demonstrations were held periodically at a l l three
stands for the Defense Support Program that began in bases despite the great d istances involved in traveling
the early stages of American panic over Soviet nuclear to the remote sites, and often atrocious weather
and missile capabilities in the 1 950s. conditions in the outback. Even Labor Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam became an activist over the secrecy
"Space Sentinels" is vastly detailed covering technical issue. And when his utterances and prying began to
information on such key devices as i nfrared ( h eat) "bite" the Americans. we all know what happened to
sensors and their capabilities. Detecting heat from his political career.
explosions (both conventional and nuclear), rocket
launches and even forest fires was the job of these Public demonstrations did not pass u nnoticed by the
orbiting sensors as they evolved in sophistication and Americans either. " I n 1 989 the Air Force Office of
sensitivity. Reading through this detail can be difficult Special Investigations (OSI) had prepared a study.
for the non-specialist But what keeps you ploughing classified CONFIDENTIAL NOFORN (Not Releasable
on is the underlying, absorbing theme of American to Foreign Nationals), entitled 'Australian Anti-base
paranoia during the Cold War and beyond. Writing in Groups'. A 1 99 1 Air Force Space Command threat
a dry and objective style Richelson tells the riveting assessment noted that ' i n peacetime, the primary
story of the interplay among the key players in the unconventional warfare threat would include terrorism,
development of DSP - the military, the politicians and vandals, dissidents, and protest groups. . . Activity at
the corporations that stood to gain immense profits this level woulcl most likely be intended to harass or
from designing a n d building the hardware. cause inconvenience. as opposed to destroying the
facility or haltin» operations'."
Nurrungar was to be a key ground station in the DSP
system, and being in Australia it created considerable This revelation and several others by Richelson
"foreign-base" complications for the Americans. The relating American intelligence worries about Australian
story unfolds in Chapter 4. The first agreement demonstrators received extensive coverage In the
between the governments was reached in April 1 969, Australian media when the book was published
and the secrecy surrounding the base began. "That
month the Air Force informed Aerospace Defense Australian academic Desmond Ball has also been a
Command that 'the Prime Minister of Australia will serious burr under the American saddle from time to
announce the 949 installation i n Australia as a Joint time on the subject of bases. "N urrungar has detected
U nited States/Australian Defence Space and recorded data on more than 6000 Soviet missile
Comm u nications Facility.' That the facility was the and satellite launches. This data is stored on
Overseas Ground Station (OGS) for the early warning magnetic tape and sent to AeroJet for atmospheric
The Pang una copper and gold mine on By 1 996, the PNG government of Sir Julius Chan
Bougainville was one of the world's very biggest had secretly decided that its own brutal and
mines Owned and operated by a subsidiary of undisciplined m i litary was incapable of
Rio Tinto of Britain, the world's biggest mining suppressing the rebell i o n , and contracted
transnational (it owns Comalco here), it had been Sandline International, a shadowy corporation of
opened in 1 972, over the strenuous objections of African mercenaries commanded by British
the Bougainvilleans. The traditional landowners officer hasbeens, to seize the mine and d efeat
were appalled by the enormous environmental the BRA I n March 1 997, the P N G m i litary,
devastation, and the virtually zero level of headed by Brigadier General Jerry S i n girok,
royalties paid to them. Over the years they demanded that the contract be cancelled. the
protested and filed huge damages claims. mercenaries expelled, and the Prime M i nister
Finally, in the late 1 980s, they started sabotaging and his colleagues resign. Instead, Chan sacked
the m i ne, Papua New Guinea's biggest revenue Singirok. The troops rebelled, backing their
earner. The PNG m i litary overrreacted and soon commander, and led a joint m i litary/civilian
became bogged down in a losing war for blockade of Parliament which forced the
Bougainvillean independence, its very own resignation of Chan and others (he was amongst
Viet n a m . The mine has been closed for more those defeated at the subsequent general
than a decade now. FranclS Ona. the leader of election). This book provides a n extremely
the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, told Time detailed account of those u nprecedented events
( 1 0/3/97) "We truly believe that all of (as far as the regional media was concerned, it
Bougalnville is under threat of destruction by was the "East Timor" story of 1 997) See "The
these foreign companies of mining ' Dirty Dogs Of War. Privatised Killers.
As will says ih the first chapter, 'The mouse that Essentially, Will describes the campaign frem the
roared': "The purpose of this extended essay is visit of the US destroyer, Turner Joy, in October
simply to chart how Nelson Province became 1 980 through to 1 991 . Much research is in
nuclear-free and in doing so became part of the evidence, as the hames of the committee
most significant, the most life-affirming act in our members of even the most humble peace group
short history." is listed.
In what Will describes as his last book, he writes 'The Power of People' shows how dedicated,
with his usual wit and explains how the 'nuclear passionate and strong-willed 'ordinary Kiwis' were
free' movement started in people's homes able to change the attitudes of the law-makers in
moving upward and outward through this country, through a campaign based on the
neighbourhood, community and local political philosophy of 'act locally, think globally'.
groups to eventually arrive at the steps of
Parliament I'll leave Will with the final word
Here is a booklet that must be read, not only by "Nuclear weapons, conventional
everyone interested in the history of the 'peace' weapons, war itself must be
movement in Aotearoa/NZ, but by those keen to consigned to the dustbin of
be involved in grassroots/community-based history. There's only one thing
projects. that will do it - The Power of
People."
�- -----'"--""-'--"'--'-'"'��----- --
I
i Diana Ingram, Australian Peace, Anti-Bases and Human Rights Campaigner
DIANA INGRAM
October 8, 1 948 to June 3, 1 99 9
: The following is a Tribute to Diana from the Australians who knew her best.
i
The rainbow flag of the peace movement draped marrying an Englishman, Michael Ingram, when
Diana I ngramis coffin as her family and friends she was 18 Together they had three children,
farewelled this handsome, gallant woman who Paul and John born in England and Caroline in
had played such an influential role in Australia's Sydney.
peace m ovement and later in care for ex
prisoners and the homeless. By the mid-1 970s she had decided that the
English class system was not for her Children and
Born Diana Chapman, she was adopted with her so the family returned to Australia.
sisters Barbara and Alison by the Howlett family,
growing up in Granville. Diana went back to university, studying arts/law at
Sydney University, taking baby Caroline with her
Diana excelled at sport, particularly swimming, to the lectures when she couldn't afford a
and she was a pioneering woman surfer, owning babysitter. She never cornpleted her final year,
and riding a Malibu board in the early 1 960s. perhaps because she felt that becoming a lawyer
would mean working for people rather than with
She worked on the Randwick trams before them. Diana would never have wanted to be
In 1 988 she sailed to Mururoa as part of the Many will remember her. Others who never met
protests against French nuclear testing. She just her will benefit from her work for peace and justice.
missed her goal, being blown back by huge gales. • •
Her love for the Pacific led her further to a respect Bob Leonard sent the following message via
for and comm itment to the rights of the indigenous Zohl de Ishtar to the funeral for Diana.
people of the region, including Australia's
indigenous people. Dear Zohl,
In 1 990 she toured Aotearoa-New Zealand as part I'm writing for alf of us in the Christchurch Anti-Bases
of a delegation committed to the removal of US Campaign. We remember Diana for her enthusiastic
nuclear war fighting and intelligence bases there participation in the 10-day Anti-Bases Tour of Aotearoa
in November 1990. We visited the four foreign bases in
and in Australia. She was an activist in many of
the North and South Islands. That included an "assault"
the significant anti-nuclear campaigns in Australia: on the US Navy nuclear missife targeting observatory in
she was at the Roxbury anti-uranium protests, the a snowstorm, 4000 feet in the mountains of
action to close the US base at Nurrungar in the Mar/borough. We had to climb all 4000 feet in the cold
South Australian desert in 1 989 and the huge Palm and wet - Aussies, Kiwis and many Pacific Islanders. I
Sunday and Hiroshima Day marches in Sydney in have a wonder photo of Diana and several other very
the late 1 980s. She was the full-time organiser for wet, cold activists on the descent from the base, The
two of the H i roshima Day marches at this time. pOlice thought we could all collapse of hypothermia,
Early in 1 99 1 she took a leading role in the
campaign to stop the US bombing of I raq and she We didn't know Diana for long in 1990 and we haven't
kept in contact, except through mutual friends and
marched at the head of a 60,000 strong protest
activists. But we wiff miss her grealfy, as a friend,
rally through Sydney streets. supporter, and activist in very troubled times.
Towards the end of the same year she joined We send our sincere sympathy to alf of Diana's family '�"
thousands of others in Canberra in a campaign to and friends at this very sad time.
stop AIDEX, a n international arms bazaar. With
mass arrests taking place as peace activists Yours in solidarity,
struggled for 24 hours a day for almost a week to
close down the merchants of death. Diana was Bob Leonard, Melanie Thomson, Murray Horton, Moana
Co/e, Greg Jones, Becky Horton, Yani Johansen and
Immovable at the police centre, organising legal
Warren Thomson
ULCIE STaCKER
1 92 1 -1 999
Dulcie Stocker - Peace and Social J u stice C a m paigner
Dulcie Stocker. who died In J u l y 1 999. aged 77, overcome by emotion at h e r funeral a n d h a d
was one of the unsung heroines of Chnstchurch difficulty finishing h i s speech). S h e w a s active i n
and of the broader New Zealand progressive t h e R e storative J u stice N etwork (Father J i m
movement I only knew her In the last decade or Consedine. its chief proponent officiated a t her
so of her life. but I'd known of the Stacker family funeral). "0 Stocker" was a very regular
as a vital part ot the local peace movement for at correspondent to the Press to quote from her
-
least 20 years Firstly, we knew them through obituary i n The View From Corso (September
their son, Scott, who was active In the campaign 1 999): "These letters were remarkable for their
to d e m i litarise H a rewood and the whole gamut of generosity of spirit and thell remarkable ability to
peace and anti-nuclear issues that so get straight to the pOint and stick to it" S h e never
transformed New Zealand In the 1 980s. ABC h a s actu ally belonged to ABC or subscribed to Peace
a wonderful b i g lami nated Press photo o f u s a l l in Researcher, being qUite happy to get our
full regalia for our 1 986 Spies Picnic at material via the Sumner Peace Group B u t s h e
Harewood, protesting the US Air Force flights was the most generous o f supporters - for years
through Christchurch to service the U S spybase she pledged $25 per month to the CAFCNABC
at Pine Gap, Austra l i a . Scott is in the front row. Organiser Account, which provides my income.
The family confronted the US m i l itary at She did this light u p until the month she d i e d ,
considerably hotter global flashpornts too - at despite having h a d several t h o u s a n d dollars
D u l c l e ' s funeral, It was recounted how they frozen i n the collapse of the Lyttelton Credit
visited North Korea in the early 1 980s and went Union Nor was she generous only with money
to the n o rthern side of the border. Apparently one time, she gave me a load of firewood.
young Scott shouted inSUlts at the US troops on
the southern side but Dulcie was in tears. The group that was Oulcie's greatest passion
because they were h u m a n beings too. and was Corso. S h e was a volunteer there for more
shou l d n ' t be treated like that Scott left than 40 years She and Peter worked hard on the
Christchurch ( h e ' s now a Nelson teacher) so house to house collections until they were
then we got to know his parents. F i rstly, his father discontinued, I n 1 989, for the last decade of her
Peter, who was by then a retired National life, s h e came Into Corso's C h ristchurch building
Airways COI-poration pilot He was into everyth ing (WhiCh, in age a n d temperature, could have been
in the local peace movement and. by dint of h i s used a s the original meat freezer) several times
bald h e ad surrounded by p u re white h a i r a n d a week to d o receipts. and other administrative
eyebrows, w a s impossible t o m i s s . Peter died Jobs T h i S is where I saw her most Her Corso
suddenly ill 1 990 - he was a great loss to hrs obituary described her as the "moral centre" of
family and the wider commu nity C h n stchurch Corso. The home m a d e bran
muffins she brought along to mariouts to share
We got to know Du!cle after Peter's de3th She with others were as legendary a s they were
was a com plete stalwart of the peace movement delicious. Dulele never wavered from Corso,
partic u l a rly of the S u m n e r Peace Group (she had despite a l l its internal and external upheavals of
belonged to it for decades). ThiS group deserves the last couple of decades S h e was rock solid
its own accolades - it remains one of the few And h w devotion to Corso permeated every
surViVing peace groups anywhere Ir1 N Z : It IS aspect of her life and death. S h e refused to
active; it puts Its money where its mouth IS. a n d . accept birthday presents from her kids. asking
on the s u bject of mouths, i t h a s provided s o m e of tilelfl to ma'.e a donation to Corso Instead. At her
the most mouth watenng d e sserts a n d other funeral, the request was for 110 flowers but a
treats for fundralsers and events that ABC h a s donation to Corso In stead
p u t on over t h e years. T h e S u m n e r Peace Group
has been one of our staunchest supporters Du!cie worked !n all sorts of other groups.
despite the ravages of age and deaths ( D u ! cie s ranging from the Alliance to her Union e h u rcl-, to
was only the most recent) She was a lynchi" 1I of rnvolvement In the fiercely contested battles to
the group preserve the character of Sumner and Redcliffs
Sr� w')!"ked tirelessly from hOG;? ringinq
S!v"� 'JIJrked with L arry Ros� C!::lj (:'10 net'ivo; k l [ y
', orgar' i s : r q , wntin9 lE'ti0fS,
Nu:::;jear ;-'ree Pedc!?rT'akmq Assoc:ati'Jn ( he 'N8S c;nj h a n d deil'/erinq ttl1"igS tJ ie>"0rboxp:: aii over
Now you might think that the above is a pretty Christchurch where she spent the rest of her life"
impersonal heading for an obituary. Not at all, it's (Press). However, one door shuts, another one
exactly how its subject would have wished it. When opens. Upon arrival in 1 938, she became a student
she first became a member, she was known to us at Canterbury University College, working part time
only as M . K. Steven, so we didn't even know what in the Library and studying Greek and Classics.
gender s h e was. Eventually we did solve that From 1 942 until her retirement in 1 976, she taught
mystery and Bob Leonard and I actually got to meet Classics, finishing as a Reader. Classics had
her at a seminar. We asked her how she wished to always been her first love, so the shift from
be addressed - "Miss M.K. Steven" was the answer, medicine wasn't too traumatic.
and she was adamant that she did not wish to be
called Ms. So that's as much as we ever found out She was a much loved lecturer. As one former
about her in her lifetime, despite the fact that she student commented: "She was so passionate about
lived in C hristchurch. So, when an August 1 999 the Greek language and everything to do with the
Press obituary was published about a Marion Kerr Greeks and she wanted to share it with you. She
Steven, I was oblivious to its significance. I am was just so alive and interesting, the most alive and
indebted to Bob for realising who it was about. interesting woman I've ever met" (Chronicle). Her
particular passion was Greek art, particularly
Miss Steven came to Peace Researcher and the pottery. I n 1 950, she married James Logie, the
ABC from the Peacelink mailing list, in the early University's registrar - they became known for their
90s. We i nherited some of its subscribers when it dinner parties for visiting academics and their
ceased publication. She remained an ABC appearances at the U nivel'sity Ball. He was the love
member until her death , and a particularly generous of her life, but he tragically died of cancer, after only
one. From December 1 994 until May 1 999, she six years of marriage. They didn't have children,
donated an extraordinary $ 1 ,950 to the and she didn't remarry. His death left her a wealthy
CAFCAIABC Organiser Account, which provides woman and she set up a memorial collection of
my income. This was on top of donations to both Greek vases, the world class Logie Collection,
organisations. She also went on to become a which rernains in the Classics Department to this
member of the Philippines Solidarity Network of day, is used in hands-on teaching and is open to the
Aotearoa and was a generous donor to that. public. She personally funded and participated in
archaeological digs in Cyprus, being particularly
So who was Marion Kerr Steven, 86 year old delighted by a Taranaki newspaper headline that
mystery woman and benefactor par excellence? read: "Taranaki Woman To Evacuate In Cyprus".
She may have been unknown to us, but she was
extremely well known to others. I am indebted to her She had an eccentric side - she once told Alison
Press obituary ( 1 918199; Michael Rentoul) and to a Holcroft, who knew her for 35 years: " Look normal
lengthy obituary in the University of Canterbury in a few ways and you can get away with anything
Chronicle (219199; Ms Alison Holcroft, Department you like" (Press). She regularly opened her home to
of Classics). students, professors and visiting scholars,
bestowing the fruits of her garden upon them as
She was born in Stratford in 1 9 1 2 , one of the local well. "She is remembered for cycling around town
doctor's four children. He expected his children to on her old fashioned black bicycle (I can definitely
follow h i m into medicine and Marion obliged. After relate to that. MH), on occasion even carrying a
being Dux of New Plymouth Girls' High School at Greek pot in a shoe box on the carrier. I n later years
only 1 5, she went to Otago U niversity Medical she cycled everywhere. After the heart attack in
School, a n d was one of the youngest women in 1 976 which forced her retirement, her doctor
New Zealand to qualify for medicine, aged 23, and recommended a little light exercise. Swimming and
topping the class in her final year. She graduated in cycling would be beneficial, she was told. One
the early 1 930s and won a scholarship to Middlesex wonders if the doctor was aware that Marion
Hospital i n Britain. "When the medical patriarchy interpreted this as rneaning she could happily cycle
found that she was a woman, they withdrew the . . . on occasions as far as the QE1 1 pool, swim 30
offer. A notable brush with controversy came at lengths and cycle home again" (Chronicle). She had
Otago , when Ms (sic) Steven became involved with a very active retirement, for example, attending
a university supervisor. One friend says that when every Court Theatre production , and compiling a
Ms (sic) Steven was 'found out' she was forced to collection of several thousand detective novels,
give u p h e r chosen career. She later moved to including valuable first editions - this has been
She sounds a fascinating woman, one I regret not having known or even really met. In many ways a
pioneering woman, one who suffered cruel discrimination from the patriarchy, but who went on to
stamp her indelible mark in her chosen field. All we can do is thank her for her great generosity, and
be grateful that she could fit us into her catholic range of interests, ranging from Homer to Hercule
Poirol.
OUT OF A JOB
1 999 has sadly seen the closure of the Auckland movement (Holmes Show obituaries
Unemployed Workers Rights Centre (AUWRC). notwithstanding, reports of Sue's retirement are
AUWRC was always into action, of the most greatly exaggerated). They were key organisers
direct k i n d - it built a well earned reputation for in the campaign opposing the APEC Leaders
being at the cutting edge of the radical Left. It Summit, in Auckland; Sue herself is the Green
was heavily into practicality, being an integral candidate for Rodney this election (the
part of the superb central city Auckland People's Bradfords live near Wellsford).
Centre, offering a huge range of services for the
unemployed and working poor AUWRC also AUWRC were the militants, who took a very in
had its own publication, the much appreciated your-face approach to their targets, banging
Mean Times, which went free to the several their heads figuratively and literally against the
thousand members of the People's Centre, and palaces of the mighty (in Sue's case, all too
on an exchange basis with publications such as often having her head banged against any
Peace Researcher, It got straight to the point - nearby solid object by the hired knucklemen of
my favourite regular section was its "Maggot of the mighty). You name it, AUWRC had a full on
the Month", demo against it the unemployment
bureaucracy, Governments both Labour and
Sadly, AUWRC hasn't closed because its work National, the Business Round Table, Jenny
is done. When it opened, i n 1 983, Shipley, the Asian Development Bank, the
unemployment stood at 1 00,000. Now it has Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,
doubled, AUWRC closed because of dwindling the Beyond Dependency conference,
financial and human resources, an all too conferences to attract foreign investors, Their
common problem i n the Left The rest of us demos were always accompanied by wonderful
should be thankful that it lasted 16 action songs and street theatre (in 1 997 they toured
packed years. The People's Centres (there are the country with " proper" theatre and very good
three of them in greater Auckland) are it was too). They paid a fearsome price for this
continuing, and AUWRC's key people, including militancy - police bashings (leading to serious
Sue Bradford, have certainly not been lost to the injury in some cases), innumerable arrests,
ABC g ratefully acknowledges the generous great opprobrium from reactionaries, both inside
donation of $750 from the Father John Curnow and outside the Church.
Memorial Trust An identical donation was made
to the CAFCNABC OrganiserAccount, which pays John was involved in all the big issues. Through
M urray Horton to work for both organisations. The his Church connections, he networked with the
Trust was wound up and its funds disbursed, after Maori nationalist movement. He fought the good
eight years of funding various progressive causes. fight against apartheid, as did so many other
Announcing its impending winding up, the Trust progressive Catholics. He personified
called for applications for its funds. We were internationalisrn, travelling and working on every
amongst the lucky ones - quite a number missed continent. I n fact, he d'led 'I mmediately after getting
out altogether. home from the Marshall Islands. It was Asia in
general, and the Philippines specifically, that was
It is a p p ropriate that ABC should be one of the his greatest love. He first visited that country in
recipients of Curnow funds. John, who died in 1 9 7 1 , and went again many times. 1 00 people
1 991 (aged 71), was an active supporter of ours attended a memorial Mass in his honour in Manila,
and our predecessor, Citizens for Demilitarisation when he died in 1 99 1 . He was the inspiration
of Harewood. We worked together on the behind the 1 984 New Zealand Solidarity
international campaign to rid the Asia/Pacific Conference on the Philippines, in Wellington, the
region of US bases - his speciality was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Essentially
Philippines. He was one of the founders of (the he founded the Philippines Solidarity Network of
former) Ploughshares, a Christchurch group of Aotearoa.
Catholic clergy and laity that regularly held
protests at the American base at Harewood, In a nutshell, John was our friend and colleague.
against NZ military spending, and against NZ's We are deeply grateful that we are able to benefit
involvement in the 1 991 Gulf War. from his posthumous generosity and will ensure
that the money is put to good use.
He was a driving force in the progressive wing of
the Catholic Church, his most prominent position
being executive secretary of the Commission for
Evangelisation, Justice and Development. He was
a leading figure in the Christchurch-based
Catholic Commission for Justice, Peace and
Development (since closed down by the Church
h ierarchy. See PR 2. Ed. ). He was instrumental in
securing Church funding for ABC's 1 990 Touching
The Bases Tour. He never aspired to high clerical
office, preferring to keep working at the grassroots
as a priest Of course, for his trouble, he attracted
John C u rnow
I am co-employed by the Anti-Bases Campaign, but it is no secret that CAFCA work takes u p the great
bulk of my time. My main contribution is as co-editor of Peace Researcher - Bob Leonard and I aim to get
out three issues a year Warren Thomson laid out one issue whilst home from Thailand, but is now back
teaching i n Bangkok indefinitely. PR is a much smaller undertaking than Watchdog, with a smaller mailing
list, and a d ifferent emphasis (in some areas we overlap, such as Aziz's court case against the SIS). ABC
has had its most active year for a while - in late 1 998, we held another national strategy session in Picton.
In a first, it was attended by two MPs - Labour's Tim Barnett and the Greens' Rod Donald. We ran a tour
of Waihopai (from the outside only), complete with vegetarian sausage sizzle, and got a respectable
number of Blenheim locals along. For the first time in years, courtesy of Rod, we were legally allowed u p
to the spybase's inner gate to present our petition to him. The petition had been open for a year, calling
for the abolition of the Government Communications Security Bureau and the closure of its Waihopai and
Tangimoana spybases. It was Bob's project and despite the fact that he was recovering from serious
surgery, he (almost literally) busted his guts to be there for the presentation It got good local media
coverage - the Mar/borough Express is considerably more sympathetic to us than it used to be. The
absence of Bob and Warren meant that the task of organising that Waihopai action fell on the rest of the
ABC committee - myself, Melanie Thomson, Greg Jones and Yani Johanson. Needless to say, the
I ntelligence and Security (non-Select) Committee rejected the petition . But we are undaunted, Bob is
back in the saddle and, in January 2000 (our Millen nium project?), we are organising our first full
Waihopai demo in three years - since Waihopai Warren went overseas, in fact
There have been other ABC activities this year Melanie and I attended the National Peace Workshops
at Riverside Community ( Motueka) and we both ran workshops. ABC was fully involved in the mass
campaign against the various SIS amendrnent acts arising from Aziz's court case. We put in submissions
on both, and I presented our first one by megaphone at a protest outside the SIS's Christchurch office.
That case has now been settled out of court, but ABC remains keen to keep going some sort of campaign
on intelligence agencies. We organised a video evening to screen an excellent Australian TV
documentary on the global electronic spy network, of which Waihopai is but one part (the Mar/borough
Express gave major coverage to that documentary's revelations, even interviewing an ex-spy from
Canada. The Press ignored the whole thing, choosing to leave Waihopai stories in its regional edition,
which is not included in the main paper). We invited all Christchurch election candidates from Labour, the
Alliance and Greens - only two of the latter attended. We have also written to all candidates from those
parties throughout the country giving information and urging them to break NZ's remaining military and
intelligence ties with the US. Most recently we were the only group to organise a protest action specifically
targeting President Clinton during his State visit - we picketed his State dinner in Christchurch. It was our
first action about the Harewood base for a long time - our banner said: "US Air Force Out Of Christchurch
Airport". We combined it with anti-APEC placards (earlier this year, the ABC committee joined an anti
APEC picket at the airport, greeting delegates arriving for a Ministerial meeting. We clearly see the links
between these issues). It was a small picket, but included one MP (Rod again) and Dunedin students who
had especially come up for it So, ABC is alive and kicking.
Murray Horton
New Zealand's most secret and binding pact is This is a very important issue, New Zealand is
the UKUSA Agreement, the 50+ year old signals neither nuclear free nor out of ANZUS until
and e lectronic intelligence gathering agreement these bases are dealt with. We want to see
that divides up the world between the US, UK, Waihopai and Tangimoana closed; the GCSB
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. No New abolished; and Harewood demilitarised,
Zealand government has ever admitted to its
Peace Researcher
P.O. Box 2258
C hristchurch
Aotearoa/New Zealand
e-mail: catca@chch.planet.org.nz
Its two satellite interception dishes (shielded from I want to take part in the weekend of protest!
public view by giant domes) intercept a huge
volume of telexes, faxes, electronic mail and
Name:
computer data c0mmunications. It gathers this data
from our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards it on
Address:
to the major partners in the UKUSA Agreement,
specifically the US National Security Agency. Its
Phone/Fax/E-mail:
targets include international communications
involving New Zealanders. The second and newer
dish enables Waihopai to phonetap, including New I enclose $20 per person registration to cover
Zealanders' international calls. It spies on our costs: Yes/No
neighbours, people such as the Bougainvilleans
and Timorese. I want to make a donation to the Waihopai
campaign: _____
NAME ________________
SUB $ _-
TOTAL $ ---