Swan Island Incursion, 31 March 2010
Introduction
On March 31, 2010, four peace activists swam across the fast moving strip of water separating Queenscliff from Swan Island, and entered the unlocked Swan Island Training Area. The members of the Bonhoeffer Peace Collective remained in the facility for several hours to protest against Australian involvement in the war in Afghanistan. Before they were discovered and arrested they closed down several pieces of electrical equipment, including one marked “emergency satellite shutdown”. The parabolic satellite antenna shown below measures approximately 7 metres in diameter. In June 2010 all charges were dismissed by a Victorian magistrate.
The Swan Island Training Area is located on the eastern part of Swan Island, near Queenscliff in Victoria. It is used primarily for the training of ASIS agents, and also is the location of a substantial ASIS communications facility and a special operations storage site. In addition to its ASIS role, the Swan Island Training Area is also used by ADF special forces, especially from the Special Air Service Regiment.
Government sources
Analysis
Swan Island, Non-Violence Stories: Experiments With Truth
- Simon Reeves’ sentencing statement (Swan Island)
- Jess Morrison’s sentencing statement (Swan Island)
- Simon Moyle’s sentencing statement (Swan Island)
Bonhoeffer Peace Collective on Swan Island, Simon Moyle, 23 June 2010
Here’s the video of Jess and Simon at Swan Island that we obtained through the police evidence brief. They’ve obviously cut quite a lot of the footage out because we just end up next to the dish and then move away again.
Victory in court for Stop the Afghan War peace protestors – followed by nine more arrest, IndyMedia Australia, 17 June 2010
Four peace protestors the “Bonhoeffer 4” who trespassed on and successfully shut down for a day, the secretive Swan Island military base on March 31st have had their charges dismissed by a Geelong Magistrate. Despite pleading guilty to trespass, the Magistrate chose to use a little known provision of the crimes act which allowed him to dismiss the charges altogether! Forty protestors soon after returned to the gates of the base for a further protest calling for Australian troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan and nine people who refused to move were arrested for hindering police.
Bonhoeffer Four charged after entering Swan Island Base, by Flowerpower, IndyMedia Australia, 31 Mar 2010
The Bonhoeffer Four successfully infiltrated the secret Australian military base on Swan Island near Queenscliff this morning. After swimming to the island at 5.30AM they spent several hours on the base shutting down the switchboard, a satellite and causing lock down on the base, effectively disrupting the Australian war effort in Afghanistan. The four have been charged with trespass and have been held at the Ocean Grove police station. According to a colleague of the activists, they not only successfully entered the the secret based used by the SAS and ASIS but succeeded in shutting down military hardware including a switchboard and pressing a button marked “emergency satellite shutdown” which presumably did just that!.This highlights the fact that Australia’s biggest contribution to the U.S. War machine is probably our satellite stations at Pine Gap and places like Swan Island which help control the U.S. nuclear arsenal, communication technology, missiles and predator drones. In 2005 four Christian peace activists entered the Pine Gap base to highlight this fact and were eventually acquitted.
The Bonhoeffer Peace Collective are Rev. Simon Moyle (Baptist Minister), Jacob Bolton (Community Worker), Jessica Morrison (University Lecturer) and Simon Reeves (Social Worker) have called themselves the Bonhoeffer Peace Collective after Kevin Rudd’s favourite theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was also an antiwar activist. They are inspired by the words of Bonhoeffer – “The followers of Christ have been called to peace. And they must not only have peace but also make it. His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.”
The group outlined their motivation for the peace action in a number of statements: “Both Swan Island and the war on Afghanistan are out of sight, out of mind. It’s time to end further suffering of the Afghan people and our soldiers by bringing our troops home,” the group said. “In the week before the first Easter, Jesus blockaded the temple and turned the tables inside. Today we are imitating Jesus’ disruption”, the group said. “Sometimes you have to get in the way of injustice”.
War protesters ‘switch off’ defence satellite dish, Reid Sexton and Dan Oakes, The Age, April 1, 2010
Four anti-war protesters claim they tampered with a satellite dish and power supply at a secretive Victorian military base yesterday before being detected and arrested by police. The activists allegedly broke into the Swan Island defence base, where spies and special police units are believed to receive SAS training, in Port Phillip Bay about 6am. They will not say how they got over the fence but claim to have spent up to two hours inside before being caught, despite making no attempt to hide. The group of Christian activists called the Bonhoeffer Peace Collective says it split in two after breaching the perimeter. The first group allegedly went to the centre of the facility. Protester Jessica Morrison said they opened a switchboard and turned off the two main switches, which security later told her cut power in the area. They then came across a 10-metre satellite dish, she said, and hit a button marked ”emergency stop”. She said it was not until she and Baptist minister Simon Moyle approached a building with a civilian security guard in it at 8am that police were called. The second group allegedly went to block the base’s front gate and unveiled a ”Closed War Out of Order!” banner. Ms Morrison said the stunt was in protest at war in Afghanistan. Police yesterday confirmed they arrested four people at Swan Island. All four have been charged with one count of trespassing on Commonwealth property land and will face the Geelong Magistrates Court on May 12. A Defence spokeswoman refused to deny the satellite dish had been switched off, saying only: ”Defence operations are unaffected.”
Source: Bonhoeffer Four charged after entering Swan Island Base, by Flowerpower, IndyMedia Australia, 31 Mar 2010
Aerial photo of antenna, 2009. Diameter is approximately 7 metres.
Source: Department of Planning & Community Development, Victoria.
The Bonhoeffer 4, Frontline Films, YouTube, 14 July 2010
Four nonviolent Christian activists enter Shoalwater Bay Training Area to stop the Talisman Saber exercise.
See also
Project coordinator: Richard Tanter
12 October 2010
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