Story: Intelligence services

Protest against GCSB stations: deflated dome at Waihopai (2nd of 2)

Protest against GCSB stations: deflated dome at Waihopai

On 30 April 2008, three peace activists broke into the Government Communications Security Bureau listening station at Waihopai, near Blenheim. The three activists, farmer Samuel Land, Dominican friar Peter Murnane and teacher Adrian Leason, were part of the Christian pacifist movement Ploughshares Aotearoa. They used sickles to deflate a dome covering one of the satellite dishes. Their action was a protest against the role of Waihopai in collaborating with the military and intelligence services of the USA and UK. In a subsequent jury trial the three men were found not guilty of burglary and wilful damage on the grounds that they believed they were saving lives by their actions.

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New Zealand Herald
Reference: 300408NZHTCWAIHOPAI01.JPG
Photograph by Tim Cuff

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How to cite this page:

Peter Clayworth, 'Intelligence services - New Zealand goes it alone, 1984 onwards', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/34079/protest-against-gcsb-stations-deflated-dome-at-waihopai (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 20 Jun 2012