Waihopai Spy Base Protest

Start: Saturday, January 29, 202210:00 AM

The protest will start at 10 a.m. at the spy base outer gate, Waihopai Valley Road. There will be speakers, including Green MP Teanau Tuiono and Sonya Smith from Rocket Lab Monitor.
This might our last chance to say good riddance to the domes that have been declared obsolete and are being dismantled in 2022.
Let's demand that the whole spy base be declared obsolete and dismantled.
After that, we're going to the Nativity Church, 76 Alfred Street, in central Blenheim, from 1-5 p.m.
There will be three guest speakers at that Blenheim meeting
Sonya Smith, from Rocket Lab Monitor, Mahia, will speak about the campaign against Rocket Lab
Teanau Tuiono, Green MP, will speak about his Private Member's Bill to stop the launch of military payloads by Rocket Lab
May Bass will speak about the very beginning of the Waihopai spy base campaign, including the women's camp in the late 1980s
There are two themes apparent from these speakers - to show the unbroken continuity of the campaign to close the Waihopai spy base for more than 30 years; and to build links between those campaigning against this base and New Zealand's newest US base, the American-owned, privately-owned, Rocket Lab base in Mahia, with its HQ in Auckland. Both Waihopai and Rocket Lab work for US intelligence agencies. Rocket Lab is now NZ's fourth US base (after Christchurch Airport, Waihopai and Tangimoana).
Between the morning protest and the afternoon meeting, there will be a lunch.
For catering purposes, we need to know numbers.

Please let us know if you're joining us for that lunch. Please e-mail us at abc@chch.planet.org.nz in advance

The lunch and meeting are free but there will be a koha collection towards costs

Donations to ABC's Waihopai campaign are welcome

Payment to ABC, 389000 0619007 00.

Please include your name and "Waihopai Donation" as references and please email abc@chch.planet.org.nz to tell us. Or you can deposit cash into our account at any Kiwibank branch. Please include your name.

The recent Government announcement that Waihopai's domes and satellite interception spy dishes will be dismantled in 2022 because they're obsolete makes no difference to ABC. The base will still be operating, simply using different methods of spying.

The protest and meeting will be held under whatever Government covid restrictions are in place at the end of January - i.e. vaccine passes, masks, signing in, social distancing, hand sanitising. We are aware that this event brings people from around the country into Marlborough and that we all need to be careful.

CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPY BASE NOW!

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