The Pine Gap project

Recommended Citation

Richard Tanter, "The Pine Gap project", Pine Gap, February 22, 2016, https://nautilus.org/briefing-books/australian-defence-facilities/pine-gap/the-pine-gap-project/

  • Papers by Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson, and Richard Tanter, and other colleagues
  • Earlier publications by Desmond Ball and Richard Tanter on Pine Gap
  • Commentary and media coverage
  • See also: Pine Gap – introduction

This page lists the publications and resources associated with the research on Pine Gap by Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter. It will be updated for new publications and as more materials from the project are available.

Contact: Richard Tanter: rtanter at nautilus.org

Papers

Richard Tanter, Does Pine Gap place Australia at risk of complicity in genocide in Gaza? A complaint concerning the Australian Signals Directorate to the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence, 27 March 2024

Richard Tanter, Hiding from the light: The establishment of the Joint Australia-United States Relay Ground Station at Pine Gap, Special Report, Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, 2 November 2019; short version:
Pine Gap history-dogged by censorship and dereliction of duty‘, Pearls & Irritations, 14 November 2019

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson, and Richard Tanter, Australia’s participation in the Pine Gap enterprise, Nautilus Institute Special Report, 8 June 2016.

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, The Antennas of Pine Gap, Nautilus Institute, Special Reports, 22 February 2016

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, Managing Operations at Pine Gap, Nautilus Institute, Special Reports, 24 November 2015.

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, The SIGINT Satellites of Pine Gap: Conception, Development and in Orbit, Nautilus Institute, Special Reports, 15 October 2015.

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, The Higher Management of Pine Gap, Nautilus Institute, Special Report, 18 August 2015.

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, The militarisation of Pine Gap: Organisations and Personnel, Nautilus Institute, Special Report, 14 August 2015.

Desmond Ball, Bill Robinson, Richard Tanter and Philip Dorling, The corporatisation of Pine Gap, Nautilus Institute, NAPSNet Special Reports, 24 June 2015.

Desmond Ball, Duncan Campbell, Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter, Expanded Communications Satellite Surveillance and Intelligence Activities Utilising Multi-beam Antenna Systems, Nautilus Institute, Nautilus Institute, Special Reports, 28 May 2015.

Earlier publications by Desmond Ball and Richard Tanter on Pine Gap

Richard Tanter, ‘Possibilities and effects of a nuclear missile attack on Pine Gap’, Australian Defence Facilities, Nautilus Institute, 30 October 2013

Richard Tanter, The “Joint Facilities” revisited – Desmond Ball, democratic debate on security, and the human interest, Special Report, Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, 12 December 2012

Testimony of Professor Desmond Ball and Professor Paul Dibb to the Joint Standing Committee On Treaties, Reference: Pine Gap, Official Committee Hansard, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, 9 August 1999, pp 1-16.

Desmond Ball, The intelligence war in the Gulf, Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 78, 1991.

Desmond Ball, Pine Gap: Australia and the US geostationary signals intelligence satellite program, Allen and Unwin, 1988.

Desmond Ball, A Base for Debate: The US satellite station at Nurrungar, (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1987).

Jeffrey T. Richelson and Desmond Ball, The Ties That Bind: Intelligence Cooperation Between the UKUSA Countries – the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Allen & Unwin, 1985.

Desmond Ball, A Suitable Piece of Real Estate: American Installations in Australia, Hale & Iremonger, 1980.

Commentary and media coverage

War Games: What would conflict with China mean for Australia?‘, Four Corners, ABC Television, 31 October, updated 3 November 2022.

Richard Tanter, ‘Dangerous liaisons: Pine Gap (and the Alice) as nuclear target, then and now. Part 4’, Pearls & Irritations, 14 November 2021

Richard Tanter, ‘Dangerous liaisons: Pine Gap is key to America’s nuclear war apparatus. Part 3’, Pearls & Irritations, 13 November 2021

Richard Tanter, ‘Dangerous liaisons: Australia’s involvement in nuclear war. Part 2’, Pearls & Irritations , 12 November 2021

Richard Tanter, Mystifying Pine Gap, Distorting Des Ball: Notes on Brian Toohey’s Secret: The Making of Australia’s Security State, Nautilus Institute, NAPSNet Policy Forum Online, 11 January 2021 [with a response by Brian Toohey].

Richard Tanter, ‘An Australian pathway through Pine Gap to the nuclear ban treaty’, Pearls & Irritations, 5 August 2019; Alice Springs News, 6 August 2019; [extended and footnoted version here].

Phillip Adams, ‘Pine Gap Peace Crimes, (Kieran Finnane and Richard Tanter), Late Night Live, Radio National, 17 September 2020

Erwin Chlanda, ‘Pine Gap’s new role as a war fighting command centre‘, Alice Springs News, 22 June 2018.

Stephen Schubert, ‘Pine Gap protestors learn their fate‘, 7.30, ABC Television, 4 December 2017.

Jackie Dent, ‘An American Spy Base Hidden in Australia’s Outback‘, New York Times, 23 November 2017.

Richard Tanter, ‘Pine Gap’s nuclear role and the alternative’, Alice Springs News, 15 November 2017; extended version: ‘The nuclear ban treaty, Pine Gap and the Nobel Peace Prize‘, Pearls and Irritations, 16 November 2017.

Richard Tanter, ‘North Korea necessitates a reassessment of Australia’s US intelligence bases’, East Asia Forum, 13 October 2017; extended version published as ‘Pine Gap and a possible Korean war’Pearls and Irritations, 16 October 2017.

Richard Tanter, ‘John Blaxland on Des Ball and Pine Gap’, The Strategist, 13 September 2017.

Bertrand Tungandame, ‘Is Australia striving to be an ideal target for a nuclear strike?’, NITV Radio, SBS, 23 August 2017 (audio download)

Peter Cronau, ‘The Base: Pine Gap’s role in US warfighting’, Background Briefing, Radio National, ABC, 20 August 2017.

Richard Tanter, ‘Photo Essay: Landscapes of Secret Power’. Photography by Kristian Laemmle-Ruff, Trevor Paglen, Felicity Ruby, and Desmond Ball. Text by Richard Tanter, Arena Magazine, 147, May-June 2017 [footnoted version].

Richard Tanter, ‘Fifty years on, Pine Gap should reform to better serve Australia‘, The Conversation, 9 December 2016.

The man who saved the world: remembering Des Ball’, Late Night Live, Radio National, ABC, 17 October 2016.

Richard Tanter, ‘Our poisoned heart: the transformation of Pine Gap‘, Arena Magazine, No. 144, October 2016.

Pine Gap’s 50th anniversary‘, Late Night Live, Radio National, ABC, 28 September 2016

Dylan Welch, ‘Pine Gap communications facility’s operations “ethically unacceptable”, Professor Des Ball says’, 7.30, ABC Television, 13 August 2014.

Hamish McDonald, ‘ What really happens at Pine Gap?‘, The Saturday Paper, 1 October 2016.

Daniel Flitton, ‘Rare glimpse at the secrets of Pine Gap spy base‘, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 February 2016.

Pine Gap Investigation I‘, The Radioactive Show, 3CR, 13 February 2016

Philip Dorling, ‘Only one in 10 Pine Gap spies is employed by Australian government‘, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 2015

Philip Dorling, ‘Pine Gap’s new spy role revealed‘, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 2015.

Duncan Campbell, ‘“Torus”: has one word in a Snowden leak revealed a huge expansion in surveillance?’, Wired.co.uk, 28 May 2015

Home Base: US military bases in Australia‘, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National, 27 January 2015

‘Home Base’, Australian Financial Review, 23 January 2015 [PDFs: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3text version]

Dylan Welch, ‘Pine Gap communications facility’s operations “ethically unacceptable”, Professor Des Ball says’, 7.30, ABC Television, 13 August 2014.

Image galleries

Antennas of Pine Gap study images gallery

Kristian Laemmle-Ruff Pine Gap image gallery

Felicity Ruby Pine Gap image gallery

Other materials

Table and photokey of antennas at Pine Gap (as of February 2016)


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