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GLOBAL NEWS PINE GAP, DEMOCRACY GAP Or 26 February 2009, during a Senate Estimates hearing, I asked the {Australian] Department of Defence about a review reported to be underway between the United States and Australian governments on the Pine Gap agreement. The senior Department of Defence person had never heard of a review but assured me that he and his department would know if such a review were underway. Signed in 1967, the agreement about Pine Gap between Australia and the USA was sealed when the token payment of a single peppercorn passed hands. In November 2008, the last 10-year extension of that treaty expired. US Consul-General Michael Thurston said in an ABC piece online on Monday 23 February: “It's under review and that's what you do periodically with agreements, you take a look at them, and both sides agree that this is what you want; you either upgrade or update the agreement, you make changes or you don't make changes, and then you send it around for review and that's probably more the timely process...getting everybody who's got an interest taking a look and actually signing off on it." It most certainly would be good to take a look at this agreement, but citizens or parliamentarians are not allowed to see it. In 1999, the government refused to provide information about Pine Gap to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties—information that is made freely available to members of the US Congress. Nothing has changed since then. Although US Congress officials have visited Pine Gap and received classified briefings about its functions, elected representatives and senators are entrusted with less information than can be found in a public library. The history of disinformation and misinformation about Pine Gap is long. In 1966, Australians were told the facility was to be a weather station. Later, the official cover was a "Space Research Centre". Australians have the right to know what is happening on Australian soil at one of largest and most sophisticated satellite ground stations in the world. Last week, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee issued a report on a government bill to clamp down on peaceful protest at Pine Gap, which the Australian Greens opposed. Under the Defence Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, the government strengthens the provisions defining Pine Gap as a "prohibited area” required for the defence of Australia. Those who enter or photograph the site face imprisonment for up to seven years. Adequate legislation already exists to protect Pine Gap from trespass or acts of aggression; in particular, the Crimes Act of 1914. If Pine Gap is indeed a "core element" of Australia's national security, Australians have a right to know how and why. Rather than making the case for the proposed amendments, the government has described citizens exercising their democratic right to protest as "mischief-makers" and has furnished the committee with statements such as "Pine Gap makes an important contribution to the security interests of both Australia and the United States of America... The methods used for collecting intelligence at the facility are sensitive...", with absolutely no supporting evidence of any kind. These are not convincing arguments and neither are those made in the committee's report. Rather than being convinced that Pine Gap does protect Australians, the Senate is being asked to enact legislation that would further shield Pine Gap from Australians. Such efforts to erode democratic rights are unsupportable and run directly counter to the kind of "security" we need. (Source: Blog by Scott Ludlam, The Australian Greens MPs website, 27 February 2009, http://greensmps .org.au/blog/pine-gap-democracy-gap-0) PARAPLEGIC MAN SUFFERS SPIDER BITE, WALKS AGAIN AS being bitten by a spider, a paraplegic man who has been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years is walking again. His doctors call it a miracle. A bite from a Brown Recluse spider sent him to the hospital and then to rehab for eight months. It was there that a nurse noticed David's leg spasm and ran a test on him. "When they zapped my legs, | felt the current; | was like 'whoa’ and I yelled," he said. He felt the current and the rush of a renewed sense of hope. "She says, ‘Your nerves are alive; they're just asleep',". David explained. ow David is out of the rehab hospital and on his feet and walking. (Source: CBS, 12 March 2009, http://tinyurl. com/dhd49q) UK TO TRACK TRAVELLERS he travel plans and personal details of every holidaymaker, business traveller and day-tripper who leaves Britain will be recorded and stored on a database for a decade. Passengers leaving every international sea port, station or airport will have to supply detailed personal information as well as their travel plans. Weekend sailors and sea fishermen will be caught by the system if they plan to travel to another country—or face the possibility of criminal prosecution. Travellers will be expected to use the Internet to send their details each time they leave the country and would face a fine of up to £5,000 should they fail to do so. Similar penalties will be enforced on airline, train and ship operators if they fail to provide details of every passenger to the UK Border Agency. Civil libertarians are alarmed. (Source: The Daily Telegraph, UK, 14 March 2009, http://tinyurl.com/d9kwjl) every NEXUS ¢ 9 APRIL - MAY 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com