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SIPLE STATION ..
ANTARCTICA
Some revealing remarks by an ex-Kiwi scientist
(see page 2)
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A coincidence?
This chart shows low frequency radio waves
lmoo l---+-�-+H-�
detected near the epicsnter 01 the Lama-Prlsta � 2O(!oo i----rJ--1--A
quake three hours before it �an. The !
measure\'Oents stop where the electricity tailed, 1 ''''''' i----f hl---rl1
and begin again during a period of aftershocks.
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""""
�S-\,I�

SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 1990 ARE DUE

The subscription rate for four issues of 'Peace Researcher' in 1990 is $12, as last year. A
coupon to accompany your sub is on the last page of this issue. Thanks for supporting our
journal.

** Military Research in Antarctica: Shaking out the truth

IN THIS ISSUE: **
Spot-on with Doris
**
Radford-Collins Agreement still in effect
**
The Mont Pelerin Society in Christchurch
**
The 'Moody' New Zealand Economy
** NED: Quasi-Covert Action
** Comment: by Nuclear Free Kiwis
** Book Review: "Oyster" - The ASIS story
** Deep Freeze documents revealed at Christchurch press conference
** 'Project Magnet' - The Neveremiing Story
2

MILIT ARY RESEARCH IN ANTARCTIC'\.:

SHAKING OUT THE TRUTH

Bob Leonard

Have scientists from California's Stanford University been studying submarine

communications for the American military at the Station in Antarctica? They have
consistently denied it, according to peace researcher Bob Aldridge who lives just down the road
from Stlmford. But big Loma earthquake which devastated the San Francisco Bay
Area October shook some honest answers out the excited and careless Stanford blokes.

According to an article in the 'San Jose Mercury News' on 8 December last year,
Stanford scientists monitoring low frequency radio waves near the of the earthquake
noted a striking increase in ultra-low frequency waves several pri.or
The emissions abruptly stopped the jolt due to power but resumed again
two days aftershocks. This somewhat esoteric observation was newsworthy
because some people think the radio waves might provide a way of predicting impending
earthquakes, an elusive goal of earth science in many places around the globe.

Why were the Stanford team listening in the ULF range? Apparently without thinking
much it, scientists said straight out that they were conducting research into submarine
communications for the US Navy. The leader of the team, one Antony Fraser-Smith, is an
expaniO'l Kiwi. This fact was reported in our own 'Christchurch Press' (2 January 1990): '''It
may the ditection of my work,' said Mr Fraser-Smith. is in frequent communication
with Dowden and Neil Thomson of Otago University who also monitor the U.S. Navy
proJect.'

The San Jose article described the research in this way: "The Stanford scientists, a group
of electrical engineers, the waves hired by Navy to
ultra low frequency radio signals... ground ocean, and may
used to communicate 1mIClJv,,' attclnpting to
find enemy submarines by measuring caused by the
moving metal hull a snt)mLLrirle article on 'Pnn'.'et Ylagnet elsewhere in the
issue.)

AD is El most 'UllU"," and Researcher'

been aIlegmg research conducted by Stanford
Antarctica had military support
was In ., '''VU.lUll if not the of the Treaty (See
seaTd,er' Nos. 8 and 9). ate m\!es·tlg:ltlflg this wbject further - the links to Otago
'Cniversity in partlc:ul:1T
 SPOT·ON WITH DORIS

French satellite beacon discovered in remote corner of New Zealand

by Owen Wilkes

Introduction: Doris Day

Wednesday, 10 January 1990, was Doris Day. On that day TV3 broke a story about a
French radio beacon transmitter which had been installed on the Chatham Islands, 800 km east
of and part of New Zealand, without the New Zealand government becoming aware of it. The
beacon was part of a system called Doris, and it provided for precise determination of the orbits
of French "Spot" photographic satellites. Because these satellites could be used for locating
targets for French nuclear missiles the installation had obvious strategic value.

The revelation caused an immediate scandal. New Zealand is still strongly opposed to
French nuclear testing, and feelings still run high about the Rainbow Warrior bombing. So how
had it corue about that New Zealand was hosting this installation? Doris was a front page
media sensation for a couple of days, enhancing considerably the French reputation for
perfidious sneakiness, and the NZ Government was made to look rather silly about the whole
business.

Less than a month later, on 12 February, the NZ Prime Minister announced that France
was being asked to remove Doris.

The link between Doris and the French nuclear arsenal is definite, but it is also indirect.
Doris would not " guide" a French missile if one were launched today. Rather Doris will help
collect more accurate intelligence information which will make French missiles more accurate
tomorrow.

Technical background

The SPOT (Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) satellites are imaging satellites
- in other words they make photograph-like pictures of the earth's surface. Spot images can be
purchased commercially. for example through the New Zealand DSIR, ,md have numerous
commercial and scientific uses. SPOT yields much better pictures than the equivalent US
system, Landsat. The pictures have a ground resolution of about 10 m (i.e., they can distinguish
as separate objects two items on the ground lOm or more apart) .

The Spot-! satellite was launched in February 1986. It does not carry a transponder for
the Doris beacons. and the accuracy provided by Doris is not necessary for the son of pictures
Spot-l produces. Spot-2, which does carry a Dons transponder, was originally scheduled for
launch June 1988. Eventually it was rescheduled for launch on 11 January, one day after the
controversy broke out in New Zealand. After countdown delays it was put into space by an
rocket on 22 January.

The Doris beacons put out frequency-stabilized radio signals which allow extremely
accurate "doppler" fixes on the orbits of the satellites. The satellite records and re-transmits
1
each Doris signal to ground stations in France, South Africa, and French Guiana where ..J!
4

r" doppler shifts are measured. France has a global net of Doris stations - 50 according to one
report.

When orbits are accurately known it is possible to detennine precise location and
orientation of the Spot camera at the moment it "takes a photograph" (in fact the process is
more like TV than photography), Then it will be possible to calculate the precise latitude and
longit�de of objects visible in the image. Dons allows the position of a satellite 800km above
the earth to be measured to within TEN (yes, TEN!) centimetres accuracy. This means satelIite
pictures can substitute for surveyors on the ground with theodolites, levels, etc. It also means
that if the image is, say, of a military deep within the Union, the military can
calculate an accurate trajectory to one their nuclear against base.

The Chat ham Island Installation

The Chathams beacon was obviously installed in time for the lalHlch of Spot-2 as
originally scheduled. The French space agency CNES approached the NZ Department of
Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) in May 1986 (less than a the Rainbow
Warrior bombing) for assistance in getting the beacon installed the Chathams. Since DSIR
had no facilities in the Chathams they referred CNES to the NZ Post Office, which did. The
Post Office became Telecom NZ, a.nd Telecom's Christchurch office signed an agreement in
February 1988 with the Institut Geographique National (IGN), Service de Geodesie,
Nivellement et Metrologie, for operation of beacon, The agreement specified that Telecom
would erect the beacon, supply electricity, turn it on and off, and apply for a radiofrequency
allocation.

The beacon itself was installed in January 1988 by an IGN technician from France2 It
consisted of a small "top hat" antenna on the roof of the Telecom radio station, together with a
weather sensor nearby and a small transmitter inside. A 66-page installation and operation
manual3 was left with the NZ Telecom staff. It specified that the beacon had to be located
relative to a local geodetic datum to an accuracy of one TIle beacon was to
switched on and off accordance with which would be from the IGN in
Paris.

The beacon was operated for test purposes mid 1988. to the government it
was only operated for a couple of days, according to a Islands local it was operated for
alleast 3 weeks, and according to an engineer from the mainland it was operated "for about four
weeks initinlly,,4 Whatever the time span, it immediately began causing interference with the
radiosondes on NZ weather balloons Chathams., which relay their
weather data at a very "''''''= frequen,;y

NZ Gc,ve,rmnel�t reaction

NZ External Assessments 8n agency located within the Ministry

of External first bec:aU'le aware that there was a Doris beacon somewhere in
New Zealand a list of countries published a government
was in May Meteorological complaints about radio
interference Ul.all!lllHlS soon

According to Prime Minister Geoffrey Palme� the French ambassador was summoned in
October 1988 and told "firmly, properly and strongly" that the installation of the device without.J.
I"" government permission was unacceptable. France had either to explain fully what the beacon
was for, and apply formally to operate it, or remove it. A "set of questions" needing answer was
handed to the French ambassador. No answers were received until March 1989. It was now
apparent that France was not intending to operate the beacon for some time, and matters were
allowed to drift. "It went around the system for some months", said MrPalmer. In August 1989
the Cabinet DESC (Domestic & External Security Committee) decided France should be told of
New Zealand's objections.

According to other reports, what happened in August 1989 was that the Government told
Telecom to re-apply to the Ministry of Commerce Radiofrequency Service for a frequency
assignment on 9 August (a fine way to celebrate Nagasaki Day!), and responses were sought
6
from other government departments. More recently France provided an explanation of the
beacon's use, and a renewed request for its retention.

A t the time the story broke a paper was being prepared for Fran Wilde, Minister of
Disarmament. This went to Cabinet on February 4. Cabinet decided against allowing Doris to
stay. In announcing thisPrime Minister GeoffPalmer said that Doris could " ... be used to assist
the trajectory ... " of nuclear missiles, and " ...it was in¥ proriate for a beacon that could be used
for that purpose to be located on New Zealand soil".

Improving nuclear accuracy

The NZ Prime Minister acknowledged earlier that, "Obvious � there was some potential
for it [Doris] to enhance some French nuclear weapon targeting.... "

MrPalmer did not explain how or why, but this is easy to figure out. Satellite
photography is probably the most important way of detecting and identifying targets for
medium and long range nuclear weapons, and for determining target coordinates. Spot-2, using
Doris, will be better for this purpose than Spot-I, without Doris.

8
More importantly, France plans to launch in 1992 (or 1993) a satellite called Helios
which will be entirely dedicated to military photography - or, in other words, spying. It will be
similar to Spot, and will use the same chassis, so to speak, but it will have a ground resolution
2
of one metre. According to DSIR experts Helios will also use Dorls, although specific
documentation for the assertion has not been obtained. According to the Stockholm
9
InternationalPeace Research Institute:

France receives most of its space-based intelligence information from the USA. With
the development of Helios - with a resolution of 1 m from 800 km altitude - France will
become independent of the USA regarding targeting information for nuclear weapons.

The relationship between Doris and the accl1racy of French nuclear weapons is indirect,
but it is clear. After 1992, if not before, Doris will definitely contribute to the accurate targeting
of the French nuclear arsenal.

Why put it on the Chat hams?

The Chathams location has no particular relevance to satellite photography in this part of
the world. The nature of orbital dynamics is such that fixes provided from the Chathams are
just as relevant to photographing Leningrad as they are to photographing Lyttelton. .---1
6

,-.. The Chathams site was needed to the east of New Zealand to get the optimal "fit" with
the rest of the global network. The satellite is in a north-south (Le., near-polar) orbit and
therefore beacons need to be spread evenly at all longitudes. CNES told the DSIR that the next
site to the east would be on Easter Island. The next destination of the French engineer who did
the Chatharns installation was Papua New Guinea, so there is probably an installation there.

Who is to blame?

TV3 and National Party spokespeople have tried to argue that the Government was first
of all grossly negligent, then incredibly slow in reacting, and finally guilty of a massive and
systematic cover-up. Fran Wilde in particular has been under attack.

In fact the Government appears to have done nothing wrong, although one could wish
that they had chosen to criticise and humiliate the French publicly rather than privately, and that
they had acted a bit more quickly. But the facts of the saga are that the Government began to
act as soon as it was aware of the matter, and that they finally made the correct decision - to get
rid of Doris.

Telecom and the French government are the real villains.

As Mr Palmer has pointed out France should have made its flrst approaches on a
government-ta-government level. The issue involved New Zealand sovereignty " .. .in a very
S
major way". Any foreign use of this country with respect to satellites had to be watched In
effect, by choosing to sign a private agreement with Telecom, France was introducing Doris
into New Zealand just as clandestinely as it introduced the Rainbow Warrior terrorists.

Telecom is also obviously at fault for entering into the agreement without first ensuring
that the proposal was cleared at the government level. The affair illustrates yet another of the
problems that come with corporatisation - sees as a unto itself
rather than an agency of the New Government. Phi! WooHaston
said with reference to this affair, there is a need state- to be told to
recognise matters of sovereignty.

Funnily enough the Telecom sp()kt,sperson who had to deal with the scandal was Ariane
Burgess. She had been press officer at the time Rainbow Wartior attack. Although she is
of French birth, it is mere coincidence same as that of the rocket which
launched Spot-2. is the gnome in Roger Douglas' office
who was sacked by David Lange. now lives with Telec.om new projects manager, Jeff
Carter.

How the story broke

TV3 got onto story because someone they described as a senior person in NZ
H"'_'H5�''W told them about it. inf'onnant appeared to know very little other
was a going on of External Relations about whether
Doris should be to stay or not. The leak was made a few days before the Spot-2
satellite was due launch, and a few weeks before a cabinet decision was expected. It seems
fairly definite that the story was leaked in an to embarrass the government, and to ..;;I
 7

r undennine peace movement support for the Government. The Doris story was the first
malicious leak of the current election year.

Thanks Geoff· now what aliout Black Birch?

We should thank and congratulate the Government for eventually doing the right thing
about Doris.

The arguments for and against Doris are remarkably similar to those revolving around the
US Navy's Black Birch facility: each facility contributes to increasing the accuracy of the
respective nuclear arsenal, although the means b y which this comes about in each case are quite
different. Doris would have made French nuclear targeting more accurate. Black Birch will
make US nuclear guidance more accurate. Yet New Zealand insists that Black Birch continue
to operate, although the evidence for its missile guidance role is far better documented than was
the evidence for Doris. The significant difference between Doris and Black Birch is, of course,
that the latter is American.

Appendix: Some strange rumours

There are two Doris installations in Australia: in New South Wales and at North West
Cape. This fact is apparently not widely known because there is a rumour floating around in
Wellington to the effect that a Doris beacon has been operating in Australia, but has already
been shut down - secretly - by the Australian government. The rumour asserts furthermore that
it was shut down in response to pressures from the US Government. It was even claimed that
the US pressured the NZ government to close down the Chathams beacon.

All this sounds rather far-fetched, but it is not impossible. If, as the Sipri Yearbook
passage quoted above suggests, France gets its nuclear targeting data from the US, then the US
effectively has a veto on French nuclear targeting. It is remotely possible that the US is trying
to obstruct the Helios system so as not to lose this power of veto and ability to coerce the
French.

Notes and References

1. According to a French advance notification to the International Frequency Registration

board of the International Telecommunications Union, dated 17 July 1984.
2. ' The Dominion', 12 January 1990.
3. "Dons Beacon: Installation Procedure", by E. Chapuis, Institut Geographique Nationale.
December 1986.
4. 'Christchurch Press', 12 January 1990.
5. 'NZ He rnld ', 12 January 1990.
6. 'Christchufch Press', 13 January 1990.
7 'The Evening Post', 4 February 1990.
8, 'Nature', 24 August 1989, p. 583,
9. "SLPRl Yearbook 1988: World Armaments and Disarmament", p. 81.
8

RADFORD·COLLINS AGREEMENT STILL IN EFFECT

by Peter Wills and Bob Leonard

Documents released under the United States Freedom of Information Act reveal that a
secret arrangement for military cooperation between New Zealand and the US is still in effect.
The treaty, known as the Radford-Collins agreement for the naval control of shipping, first
signed in 1951 and last revised in 1978, carves up responsibility for all matters related to
the worldwide movement of merchant shipping a "contingency situation or time of
war or national emergency". It is direct military importance the ANZUS treaty.
Britain and Australia are signatories to as well as the US NZ. The US has
similar agreements with its other and NATO countries).

The ANZUS treaty is a vague document or strategic

commitments by any of the three partner despite
being dragged into the treaty at the outset, has seen to use ANZU S as a political playing field
with NZ the deflated football kicked around between the US and Australia. The unilateral
suspension by the U S of NZ's participation in ANZUS-related activities such as the annual
Council meeting and military exercises with US forces shows clearly Ihat the military utility of
that treaty i s nil in the eyes of the Americans; ANZUS is expendable, its total destruction worth
risking in order to punish the government and frighten people. In other words the US
would not risk damaging a treaty or agreement whose continued operation is essential to US
regional h egemony and strategy. The Radford-Collins is such an agreement and thus
remains in effect, and highly secret, as suits US purpc)ses.

The NZ Department of Defence has dutifully and consistently refused to release any
details of the Radford-Collins agreement, but details of US Fleet naval contml of
shipping activity have come to light in a heavily 750-page version of the standing
"Operational Order" (dated 14 October 1988) of Commander-in-Chief, Admiral
David Jeremiah. Under allied is responsibility an area
covering half to west, as as to and
reaching 1500 km fur.ther than the to east.

The term "naval control of shipping" covers routing, convoy organization

and tactical di version of shipping. shipping includes such measures as
anti-submarine anti-air warfare, <mf""", 'h'arjfan�, wartwre and so on. While the
US control of shipping organization is pre:pared the Radford-Collins
agr1Xrnerlt orn"lm," for manual states that "there is
no clear QnflUJll1g control of shipping
gartizatioln, n:,:'h,r:Ii."rlv In org;amzatlOll serves both
uw"mJH' and uses the same reporting SYQlenllS arr,iIDg:errren:ts the Radford-Collins
agteerne!Jt ajlpe:rr to have been lll"'''U.I0U dis,pute over the of nuclear
warships NZ ports.

In Pacific Fleet naval CO:rlITllJl of 'H1l'Flllt; organization has repotting officers

r\U.'CIU.dHl.l, Wellington and of shipping officers are
maintliinlng "the llucleus an which can form the basis for
eXIJiIDlSlO,n irnnled.iately upon war or declaration of a national
emergency". communications to and Wellington are channelled through the
American Embassy in Wellington, although New Zealand's own military communications
system is available for use. Communications to Christchurch are nomlally sent uncoded ...fl
I'through facilities maintained under the auspices of Operation Deep Freeze, but may also be
passed to the office of the US Defense Attache in Wellington for collection.

The decision to purchase modern frigates for the NZ Navy confinns the desire of the NZ
military to maintain a capability for integrated wartime operations with United States,
Australian and British forces under agreements such as Radford-Collins, rather than being
concerned with independent coastal defence. It has stated previously that under the
Radford-Collins agreement NZ is ".,.to secure key air and naval support facilities and
their approaches against the contingency of United S tate s or allied use" (,Peace Researcher',
No. 11, p. 2; a further article on US Naval Control of appeared in PR No. 21, p. 4).

The Anti-Bases Campaign in Christchurch emphasized to the media that these Radford­
Collins documents show clearly that the Naval Communications Section at Operation Deep
Freeze is being used for militaty purposes to support of the US and NZ Antarctic

programmes. NavComSec operates yeat-round, hours a day with US Navy personnel, this
despite the very low level of activity at McMurdo in wimer (approximately 300 overwinter staff
in some years) compared to summ er and the absence of supply flights (except for the
June parachute drops at McMurdo and South Pole Although the Christchurch facility
has had coding and capabilities in the p ast, only the American Embassy handles
coded communications related to control of shipping.

In reporting this story, '11lio Press' wrote, "A naval spokesman, Lieutenant Lawrence Tye,
said it was no great secret some links with the United States w ere still in place. 'We no longer
exerCise our flee t with theirs, but it doesn '( mean we don't talk to each other. However, they
don't tell us as much as they used to'" (240CI 1989, p. 3). What Lt. Tye alludes to is
essen tial ly a one-way communications situation favouring the US. NZ is being punished. But
the links are still extensive with no evidence that any significant agreements between NZ and
the US have been severed.

THE MONT PELERIN SOCIETY IN CHRISTCHURCH

by Nuclear Free

The Mont Pelerin Socie ty held PaCl!!C Regional meeting in Christchurch in late
November last year. The Society is a sec;retive international grouping of new right economic
and ideologu es the The meeting iu COOstchurch was
hosted by the New the conservative think tank which
has close associations with Reserve Bank, the business community,
and New Roger Douglas, Ruth Richardson, and Alan
in foree.

The Society was founded in 1947 by Professor Friedrich von Hayek, a free market gum
of the same ilk as JVfjlton :Friedman who is also a member of the Society. In current times the
Society ha s been mounting an on welfare state and trade nnions as threats to the
Whatever its ideology, it .can be seen as a useful tool for the
multinational corporations and the exploitation of the poor.

In an article in 'Peace Researcher' No, 23 (June 1989) NFK drew attention to the
increasing US interest in manipulating US/NZ economic relations to its own ends. The
presidential address at the beginning of Mont Pelerin meeting set the tone of the event: it ../
10

/'" was entitled "Are we winning?" One might ask: Who is 'we'?; and 'winning what?'

A clear indication of just whom 'we' refers to was the presence at the Mont Pelerin
meeting of Edwin Fuelner, treasurer and of the executive board of Mont Pelerin, but
better known as the president of the in Washington Fuelner is
here on more one ffilssion of the for Independent Studies,
MY Hugh As as attending the Mont he is here in his
capacity as chairman of the US Advisory evaluates
progr amme s the United States Star', 29 Nov
1989), That very Commission has been Democracy (see
comment by NFK), During Reagan's reign the was composed of some of the
President's closest ('NZ Monthly June/July 1987, po 11). The
Heritage Foundation course had enurmuus the Reagan Administration and has
been the strongest critic of NZ's nU(;le,rr

While Fuelner was here the 10 meet him to

discuss the importance of were reported on
revealingly in Australian press r 1984], three
powerfrrl pro-nuclear think-tanks on They are the
Heritage Foundation, Georgetown University's Cellter ,md International Studies
(both Wasbington-based) and the a political research centre.
Funding a number of the projects has Information Agency headed by controversial
Charles Z. Wick, accused by some the USlA into a mouthpiece for tbe
Far Right" (David McKnight ill 'The National 1-7,1985),

Fuelner's position as treasurer of the Mont PeIerin is probably not just him being
a good bloke doing an unpieasant job. would seem to be a most appropriate and
convenient role for a man also heavily involved the Infmmation Agency. The question
arises: is Fuelner a conduit for USIA funding of activities of the Society?

attempts to reverse NZ's

leaders' in Zealand to see
Program (,NZ Monthly Re'v;e,/J' that campaign.
Inviting key tu a Pelerin Society
conference might be by Mr Flll�ln,er campaign, New
Zealanders certainly up in large nWGlDerS Ch.ristchur(:h ITlccting, some of whom
you might not have expected to see cmnp,my IJU'llHU AVI/attire, Tony Knnowski and
Alan Wilkinson (both fonnerly 0ru1H�'" were in the list of
:Sa!!mC)!l was referred to as a Journal article on the
n",'" 'oH ,""'10'''',$' He was the less tame,
environmCI1tillis!ts were nut im'ited were not One who persisted was reluctantly
admitted to the seS:SIC'll on P"�ill"O!Hof over $lOO, on condition that
s/he not report on the session in any

dinect'Dr of the CO[lSe!fVoaWJlllst Jl,1nrni. Society, was invited as a commentator

at the sess;ion paper in that session
was entitled 'Colltrolling to the Liberal Order'. The title alone would
make most 0a.JHK""S said he was
somewhat ('nlll'" cmlferem:e registration ($700+) and
by the He appeared to see
sufficient value to the entire four-day programme. SalmQI)...:Jl
i" w as seen at the closing banquet at Mona Vale sipping drinks co nvivially with the likes of
Alan Gibbs, Simon Upton, Rodney ('Property Rights'fHide and the other revelers safely
.
ensconced inside the police cordon.

Guy Salmon and Simon U pton riding high with the Marketeers

At the tv10rH Pelerin conference, links win have been reinforced ,unong: the SOCl�f'
the Heritage Fo un dation and the NZ Centre for Independent Studies. It cannot be a coincldenc,
that right-wing gaggle of 'inteUectnals' chose to gather in NZ at a time when the free·
market Labour Government needs only a gentle shove to fall completely off its rradinona:
support base. a c o nference held our midst wit h deliberate exclusion of the media
suggests many implications for intensifying US manipulation of our economic, social ami
foreign policy foundations. But with the National Party's recent flip-flop on the nuclear ShIPS
issue the USIA and its brother USA must be doing some serious reassessment 0'

just who i"

[Footnote: Another non-c:01l1cide:nce wvu," one of the loudest critics of

National's new 0ppo:iition m,·'erlce spokesman who
was welcomed the Prime Ministe r and
other
12

THE 'MOODY' NEW ZEALAND ECONOMY

by Nuclear Free Kiwis

The government's free-market policies have made the New Zealand economy seriously
vulnerable to American Big Brother rating agencies. The free market is full of ironies and one
of the biggest is the fact that key elements of OUT economy are now in the grip of Moody's
Investor Services.

The recent Development Finance Corporation (DFC) collapse can be considered to have
been a casualty of the government's implementation of free market economics in the finance
sector. The Reserve Bank placed DFC under statutory management. Top international credit
rating agencies such as Moody's and Standard and Poors had progressively downgraded the
DFC prior to its demise. Moody's went on to use the example of the DFC collapse as an
illustration of privatisation risks and " ...the uncertainties that investors face in trying to predict
how governments will behave towards currently owned or recently privatised companies"
('Christchurch Slar', 10 Oct 1989).

At that time Standard and Poors criticised major shareholder in the DFC, the National
Ptovident Fund (NPF). It is worth noting that the NPF's fellow shareholder in the DFC is
Salomon Brothers, yet another powerful US company.

Just one week after the DFC collapse the Bank of New Zealand also got into trouble. The
Minister of Finance, David CaygiU, pledged that the government would stand by the BNZ and
not " ... allow it to fail" after Moody's had placed the bank on credit watch for a possible
downgrade. Caygill look issue with the timing of Moody's notice regarding the NBZ. In
Caygill's words, Moody's responses " ... left room for doubt about the agency's motives in going
public in such fashion by assigning a credit watch to the bank, when a review of its ratings
could be expected in any event" (,Chrislchurch , 13 Oct 1989).

As already mentioned, there are !rollies COllllC'CI<:a with the so-called free market.
An obvious one here is how intemational finance can depend on the evident readiness of
governments to bail out big business it water. In the NZ example described
above were the ratings based nmelv considerations? Political
considerations bring to mind a nUlnber rOT National Party members to
visit American power brokers.

Moody's is part of the international business infonnation group Dun and Bradstreet. This
finn claims to have access to 90 files on businesses worldwide! (,The Press', 23 Feb
1990). Dun and Bradstreet have NZ for two years with offices in Auckland,
Wellington, and most recently, ChristchuICh. Is Big Brother just watching? Or pulling our
financial strings?

[This note draws heavily on an excellent of articles by Fran O'Sullivan in the

'Christchurch Star' on 7, 10, 12, and 13 October 1989.]
 1.. "
,-)

NED: QUASI·COVERT ACTION

from: 'Covert Action Infonnation Bulletin', No. 33 (Winter 1990), p. 10

There are difficulties in many cases in learning exactly who would up with National
Endowment for Democracy's (NED) money or exactly what it was spent for. For one thing, the
money passes through various hands - as used to be called in the era of CIA
exposes. The principal initi.al recipients NED funds are publicly known: the AFL-CIO's Free
Trade Union Institute (FTIJI), the Center for International Private Enterprise of the Chamber of
Commerce, the National Republican Institute for International Affairs, and the National
Democratic Institute for International AffaiI's. These institutions then disburse funds to other
institutions in the United States and all over the world, which then often disburse funds to yet
other institutions and individuals.

The FTUI, for example, funds three AFL-CIO regional institutes: the American Institute
for Free Labor Development (Latin America), the Asian-American Free Labor Institute, and the
Africa n - American Labor Center. It happens that all three of these organizations were created
in part by the CIA in the 19608 to work against leftist-leaning unions in the Third World. They
each have more than 20 years experience in the art of fomenting economic tunnoil against a
target government, or keeping workers quiescent when the government is on Washington's
1
favored list.

The FTUI channels NED funds to unions and other organizations associated with
particular parties in Europe as well as in the Third World. It supports a "European
organization" which has "infiltrators in Communist unions to report on their plans and
activities"" Making the details public would damage the effort, sald the head of the FTUI.2

NED has funded a number of other activities in . which no clear ideological line was
apparent or relevant. The types of activities mentioned here, however, are indistinguishable
from those carried out by the CIA during Agency's heyday" In the 19705, disclosures of
such activities meant expose type headiines and condemnations from congressmen and other
public figures. In the 1980s, they are largely with a straight face, if not silence. A long
article on the NED in the 'New analogies with the CIA only
3
timidly, and was headlined: "Missionaries Democracy: U "S" Aid for Global Pluralism.,,

The Nationai Endowment for was the public side of Project Democracy, a
White House program set up early ReaglL'l adnrinistration to caITY out foreign policy
initiatives" The � side was the Iran-contra hearings were about The two sides were
not strangers to each otheL Various which were part of Oliver North's shadowy
network .Teceived. money from NED, including PRODEMCA (Friends of the Democratic Center
in the served as a conduit to recipients and the Institute for North-
South almost PRODEMCA placed full-page advertisements
in major newspapers in 1986 urging Congress to support Reagan's request for aid to the
5
contras.

/)
CoL North - who passed lop-secret intelligence data to Iran , the kind of act for which
many men not sit in American prisons charged with treason - use the Project Democracy to
describe his activities which grew into a parallel foreign policy apparatus, complete with its
own communications systems, secret envoys, private employees and consultants, ad hoc
foundations, leased ships, airplanes, off-shore corporations and secret bank accounts. The ...A
1.4

I'" operation was an expression of the administration's deep frustration over its inability to
persuade the foreign policy bureaucracy or Congress to embrace the "Reagan Doctrine" of
laissez faire intervention.

Congress agreed to fund NED only
would not use organization as a
make this promise because officials
Security Council, to which North was officially
Security Decision Directive No. 77, a
coordinate in ter -agency efforts for
of the program's covert side, but does
by "the Soviet Union or Soviet sur!O!;atf)S
after CIA Director Casey promised that his agency
covert aCtlvltles. it turned out, Casey could
to run the covert side from the Nationa!
1983, Reagan signed National
e xecu ti ve order that pennitted the NSC to
directive makes no direct mention
"political action strategies" to counter move s

The primary purposes of these off-the-books operations, in addition to the personal

enrichment of the leading operators, were: a) to assist the contra forces in Nicaragua in their war
to overthrow the Sandinista government; and b) to get anns to the Iranian gDvernment in order
to free American and other hostages.

References

1. Winslow Peck, "The AFL-CIA", How ard Frazier, cd., "Uncloaking the CIA',
Press, New York (1978), 262-265; JDnathan Kwitny, "Endless Enemies", Congdon
and Weed, New York (1984), ·346.
2. 'New York Times ', I June 1986, p. 16.
3. Ib id. , p. 1.
4. 'Washington Post', 28 February 1987, p. A13.
5. 'Washington Post', 11 July 1986, p. A19.
6. 'The Guardian' (London), 21 February 1987.
7. 'New YDrk Times', 15 February 1987, p. 20.

Comment by Nuclear Free Kiwis:

NFK published an article Monthly Re view ' No. 299 (June/July 1987) entitled
"Project Democracy - Reag an 's ,-,u·yc" Action' article reproduced above
confirms our analysis that Oliver Pr!"",C' Democracy was closely connected in
various ways with Project De mccra£y, a public relations exercise. We were
challenged at time on the of Initial media reports made the connection but
the US propaganda machine seems tD it. Instead, the view developed that
the two Project Democracies simply to in name, and were in reality entirely
separate.

The 'Covert Action' again abont US support for the NZ

National Party, Rabuka Project Democrac y projects in the South
Pacific, De.m{lCr;l.cy (NED). NED in lum is
funded by the Infomnatlon Agen(;y (USIA), an organisation well known in NZ for
providing, among other meddlesome junkets to the USA for influential New
Zealande rs .

"A New Zealand TV Eyewitness repDn on 16 February 1987 stated that leading New
Zealand National MPs and were linked' to Project Democracy. The ...A
 15
I"" Pacific Democratic Union of which the National Party is a member, along with other
conservative parties, has been partly funded by NED. The Endowment gave the Union
NZ$ l 44,OOO in 1986. Richard Allen, Reagan' s National Security Adviser, was involved in
setting u p the Pacific Democratic Union. He worked closely with various National Party people
on this and is a good friend of top National Party members. There was a very strong Pacific
Democratic Union contingent at the 50th N ational Party Conference.

"Project Democracy operates , as mentioned above, as all adjunct to the USIA which was
instructed by the National Security Council to 'lead a government-wide public affairs strategy'
against our nuclear free zone. The term ' government-wide' is a clear indication that Project
Democracy and the CIA are both involved.

" Another TV report indicated that the National Party has been more than 'indirectly
linked' to Project Democracy and the Project's activities in the South Pacific. It revealed that
the Project has funded overseas trips for some N ational Patty people." (,NZ Monthly Review' ,
No. 299, June/July 1987, p. 11) At the time of the Rabuka coup some N Z National Party
people were attending a PDU conference in Fiji - an interesting coincidence.

A s William Blum writes in a review of eight years of extensive CIA covert action,
"George Bush will likely earty on the Reagan legacy, even in light of changes in US-Soviet
relation s " ( ' CAIB ' , No. 33, Winter 1990). Quasi-coven action as exemplified by NED will
continue to be a part of that legacy.

r-;OTE ADDED IN PROOF: The N ational Party' s recent decision to back the Labour
Government on its nuclear ship prohibition is a clear indication that local political machinations
can throw a spanner into the manipulations of even the
most dedicated and well-funded foreign meddlers. Unfortunately our economy is highly
vulnerable to outside manipUlation; it is a great irony that it was a Labour Government that
increased that vulnerability with its free market and floating currency policies.

" OYSTER"
The Story of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service

by Brian Toohey and Wi!liam Heinemann, Australia. 322 pp. $A30.

Reviewed by Murray Horton

Most New Zealanders have heard of ASIO (the Australian Security Intelligence
Organisation, equivalent to the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, the SIS). But very
few are "ware that Australia operates ASIS , which is a supposedly exclusively external
espionage service, There ' s no need for us to feel ignorant about this - the vast majority of
Australians know nothing about ASIS either. Or at least they didn't, until November 1983
when heavily armed and disguised ASIS trainees blundered their way out of Melbourne ' s
Sheraton Hotel i n a counter-terrorism exercise gone horribly wrong (nobody had told the �"''Y
''''''II
management, who were understandably alarmed at armed men smashing down doors with �
I'
"0J
' I

'�
sledgehammers, called the cops, who attested the spooks). --'"
,." '.1 .

� ?"

�
�- ��
��
16

S ecrecy i s central to A S I S . The book's title is from a codeword to cover everything

to do with ASIS. "Oyster" is subtitled, "The book look to court". In late 1988
the Hawke government took court censorship on it, removing
names and details. ASIS was founded was a closely guarded secret
until 1972. Foreign governments more it than Australian politicians. Gough
Whitlam, as Leader of the Opposition .. was it by Malaysia's Deputy PM. It wasn't
until he was Australian PM, in 1973, that he was briefed on Parliament was not
told of ASIS' existence until 1977. (or the NZSIS), it doesn't even have to supply
Parliament with an annual And ASIS Director was sacked as a result of the
Sheraton fiasco, the Hawke government courts backed the of the machine gun-
wielding agents not to have to give their names to police.

The other characteristic that OlsllllgUlsnt:s it from ASIO or the NZSIS is that it is, very
deliberately, a covert action agency. was not an aberration, but very much
central to the AS IS mission. It is the exact of the French murderers who
bombed the 'Rainbow Warrior'. It own top secret paramilitary trai ning centre aT
Swan Island, Melbourne. has a lot of on its hands - it has stationed agents lfI
Indochina during the war there, and in during Indonesian genocide. Its spies
were very active in the Philippines (and still are A.quino).

A SI S is a perfect example of the servile rel ationship Australia has wilh its past and
present c olonial masters. It was set up Menzies by the S !S (better known as Mi6),
and to this day is dependent for communications on an Ml6 facility at Kowandi, near Darwin.
How many Australians know that British intelligence agencies, as well as a plethora of US
ones, operate facilities on Australian soil? Old AS IS hands still refer to London as
Office" (whereas Melbourne is merely the "Main Office").

In the 1 960s and 70s it became a very useful junior paxtner for the CIA, stationing agents
in countries such as Cambodia and where the Agency couldn ' t operate at the time.
recommendations and policy analyses have faithfully ret1ected US dictates.

Toohey and Pinwill are particularly eXl,en.en(;ed ',,'Hl""' journalists, with well proven
expertise in defence and intelli gence . sources with an apparently endless supply of
inside infom1ation (his ne " " ", , , , " of Leaks"). For a book about a
paranoiacaHy secretive OflgaxllSatl'On, lv'·',·r IS detailed.

ASIS has been in the outset. It was Wlm(leO Dilm;I! contemporaries of

Kim Philby; Indon!:siatll ill.tel!igence succeeded agents; liberation in

Indochina saw the liquidation age'nts there (plus two more elsewhere in
the 1980s); three its dlrectors ."J"'�"" (Whitlam "I have never had to dress
anybody down as rel'OClODISlY Ro·berts,)n. I terminated his services immediately. ") And yet it
survives , wilh official U1C;',';U",. r.!J>l" umll establishment was most

succinctly expressed by Mr ch;arged with conducting an inquiry into Australian

intelligence agencies: "Espionage is lU'Ii'U the clandestine service ' s job is to break these
laws without being caught". As a regional superpower, so it perceives
the need for an external spy �" ,,,. J
.• covert action ca:Jai)jjjty.

NZ does not have an spy agency, nor a covert action body outside of the SAS.
But "Oyster" contains revelations for New readers too:

"Despite the close relations between ASIS and the American, British and Southeast Asian
services, Australia's ANZAC ally across the Tasman Sea had never been officially infonned
of the existence or activities of spy service. In 1965, the New Zealanders were finally
 17
briefed on ASIS in order to facilitate official discussions being held in Canberra with
delegations from Wellington and London. The Australians were aghast when upon
returning to Wellington, the Chairman of the New Zealand Joint Intelligence Committee
(HC) informed the Prime Minister, Sir Keith Holyoake (who was also the Foreign Minister),
of what he had been told in Canberra. The alarm bells that went off within ASIS echoed the
philosophy that the Western services were a multinational club of intelligence professionals
to which the temporary holders of political power had no automatic rights of access. In
order to overcome such unauthorised disclosures to their political masters, the Australians
insisted that knowledge of ASIS be limited on a strict 'need to know' basis. As in Australia,
New Zealand officials privy to the secret would be ' listed ' , with the Chairman of the nc
responsible for controlling access. The New Zealanders were then allowed to see copies of
appropriate ASIS and UKSIS (?) reports in an effort to give them a better appreciation of
the reasons behind Allied policies. Admission to such a secret club can be a powerful
attraction that often locks the recipient into the donor ' s way of thinking. Two decades later,
the Labour government of David Lange was to be punished for its stand against the visits of
nuclear ships by an official cutoff of intelligence from the CIA."

"Despite the American ban, the flow of Australian intelligence material continued, perhaps
in recognition of the useful services that could be rendered by its smaller and less
conspicuous neighbour. One form of assistance began in 1968, when the New Zealand
government agreed that its citizens could be used by AS IS as agents or even become
fulltime members of the Service. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, which
looks after domestic issues (there is no overseas service), readily agreed to carry out the
necessary security checks on anyone the Australians wished to use. Part of the arrangement
is that ASIS has to provide an assessment of the risk of embarrassment to the New Zealand
government if any of their loaned personnel are unlucky enough to have their cover 'blown'

"One effect of this trans-Tasman deal is that the CIA, under its exchange arrangements with
ASIS, receives AS IS intelligence which may in fact be gathered by New Zealanders - while
the NZ government is denied all access to CIA material."

--- -------- - - - ---------- ------------- - ---- ---

fl Nuke 'em tin their ass burns"

Bumper stickers " now just inappropriate" • US Air Force

From 'The Press ' , 2 January 1990, p. 8:

United States air bases in Britain have been ordered b y the Pentagon to remove car bumper
stickers and uniform patches with Cold War slogans such as "Nuke 'em till their ass
burns", the 'Sunday Telegraph' newspaper reported. "We cannot allow these sorts of
slogans to be displayed while the Brandenburg Gate is being opened and democracy is
sweeping across Eastern Europe", a United States Air Force source was quoted as saying.
"They are now just inappropriate_" - NZPA-Reuter
18

DEE P FREEZE DOCUME NTS REVEALED

AT CHRISTCHURCH C ONFERENCE

by Bob Leonard

A drugs and customs scandal at Operation Deep Freeze in the early 19808 was revealed at
a Christchurch press conference on Monday 1 3 November. The damning information
about the American military New numerous references 10 a secret Deep
Freeze agreement, came to light acquired by the Chrislchurch branch of
the Anti-Bases A recent cover by Bruct: AnsJey in the 'Listener' (13
November 1989) was hased on much the same kind of materiaL

The ARC press conference was held, appropriately enough, in the board room of the
Aitport Company in the terminal building at Christchurch International Aitport, The ABC was
represented by Munay Horton and Bob Media folk attended from the two local
newspapers, 3ZB radio, TYNZ, and not yet on air and operating without
cameras).

Copies of 12 selected documents were distributed to the reporters along with a preprint of
a lengthy article which was published in the November issue of 'Peace Researcher' , The
article, entitled "Cmious Customs", was by Munay Borton and contains 100 references.
Ninety eight percent of those references never before seen the light of day, let alone
distribution to the media,

The 1 2 documents released on M()!l(lay were TFV,jF"VP.O for the reporters by

Murray, They provide an of a slmggle
between two governments over 8in:raft over control of drug
smuggling into over sovereignty -

particularly that NZ "jJ'>lA.K a scandaL It is

that, and much more. CDvel:eu on TV, on national
"")OTlel will give more than
passing attention to fm'th,)[ investigation among
American documents cited in the
'Peace Research:er' artlcle are on

A s a result of AUlencan miiitary (Navy and Air Force) at

Operation Deep FrI�ez,e, Chlisilchurc:h n"".,-.u""" C'arrlpaign is calling for -

1) even greater gusto than in the

past;
2) Imll1ediate rel€'USe by our govern.me'nt all agreements relating
to Operation D�p �, "a,�,,� and millitarJ installations in New Zealand;
3) An investigation of C01[ldl�ct of m�;"·',,, ,,,, NZ officials during the drugs and
customs dispute at Deep Freeze,

[Footnote: Cllrrent status access to by NZ authorities, including

Customs and MAF, will be reported in an forthcoming issue of 'Peace Researcher',l
 'PR OJECT M AGNET ' -
THE NEVERENDING MILIT ARY STORY

by Bob Leonard

Once again 'The Pre s s ' has done a whitewash on 'Project Magnet' and its cute little
Orion, dubbed the ' Roadmnner' , from the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office. The plane visited
the Operation Deep Freeze area of Harewood airport from Sunday, 28 January to the following
Wednesday evening. Two photographs were included with the report, one of the plane, and one
of the crew plus Commander Bryan White, the Officer in Charge (OIC, not to be confused with
the NZ Overseas Investment Commission) of the Deep Freeze base. Although Deep Freeze
denies any hint of a military role at tbe Antarctic base, the presence of Commander White on
' Roadrunner' was probably morc than just simple curiosity: Commander White is Navy. the
Orion is Navy, the magnetic data is Navy, the anti··submarine warfare is Navy - all one big
military family at its Deep Freeze home base.

As reported in ' Peace Researcher' No. 21 (December 1988), Magnet has operated for
years gathering global magnetic data, and in earlier times gravity data too, for military
purposes. We said in PR No. 21:

" Although geomagnetic field data is unquestionably essential for some types of global
oceanic navigation, its military uses relate directly to the conduct of strategic nuclear
w arfare. The detailed mapping provided by the ' Magnet' Orlon enables other Orlons
equipped for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to locate and target enemy submarines . "

'Peace Researcher' spoke to the reporter who wrote the recent 'Press' story about
Magnet. We wondered if he asked about the military uses of magnetic data. His response was
a bit fuzzy, but we got the distinct impression that he and his companion photographer were
simply invited to tour the plane and soak up the public relations guff put out by the Navy - no
further questions asked. The report by 'The Press' described some of the long history of
operation of the old Orlon aircraft, mentioned its new navigation and computer systems, and
said the data was to update marine charts.

The new navigation equipment " . . .includes satellite navigation systems that can pinpoint
the aircraft' s position to an accuracy of about 2 metres". This i s undoubtedly a reference to use
of the N avstar military satellites and their ' Global Positioning System' (GPS) whose highest
levels of accuracy are exclusively for roJlitary use. It is ironic that civilian ships can now use
that same satellite system (bUI are excluded from using position data with the exquisite accuracy
needed for military purposes such as missile guidance) making the magnetic data corrections
for compass navigation quite superfluous for civilian purposes on ships with GPS receivers.

"In March [ 1 989] , a panel of experts in antisubmarine warfare told the AlTI1ed
Services Committee of the US House of Representatives that 'maintenance of our
antisubmarine warfare capability is arguably the most important of all the
challenges facing the Department of Defense today'."

( 'New Scientist', 14 October 1989, p. 26)

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