Anti-N group plans to foil satellite signal

Press, 23 October 1984, Page 4

Anti-N group plans to foil satellite signal

NZPA-AAP Melbourne Anti-nuclear protesters will use balloons to try to disrupt the signal from a satellite ground terminal at a Melbourne barracks at the week-end. A spokeswoman for People for Nuclear Disarmament, Leanne Corbett, said that thousands of hel-ium-filled balloons with foil attached would be floated in front of the satellite dish in the hope that they would interfere with the signal. The balloons would be filled and distributed at a rally at a reserve near Watsonia Barracks on Sunday afternoon. Several thousand people were expected to attend, she said.

The reserve is the site of a two-week peace camp which began on Saturday to mark Disarmament Week. P.N.D. said that the aim of the protest was “to inform the Australian public that , the Watsonia network contributes to the firststrike capability of the United States, and that in the event of a nuclear war Watsonia would become a prime nuclear target for the Soviet Union.” P.N.D. is staging simultaneous demonstrations next week-end at four other sites it has said were also “spy bases” — Cabarlah, near Toowoomba in Queensland, Shoal Bay near Darwin, Pearce near Perth, and Tangimoana near Welling-

ton. In an official statement on the role of Watsonia, an Army spokesman said the satellite communications terminal in the base was an integral part of the Australian communications network. “The facility uses the United States defence satellite communications system and is operated and maintained by Australian Defence Force personnel,” he said. “It has been established as part of ah international agreement between the Australian and United States Governments and provides the capability for Australia to communicate with its allies on Intelligence.”