Writer
Kieran Finnane
Kieran Finnane is the author of a Peace Crimes: Pine Gap, national security and dissent, UQP,2020. She lives in Alice Springs. After arts and film studies in Sydney and Paris and early employment in television, she found her true home in print, writing about the social and cultural life of Central Australia with a commitment to detail, context and recognising complexity. A founding journalist of the Alice Springs News, she also contributes to national publications. Her first book was Trouble: On Trial in Central Australia, UQP, 2016.
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‘Power and pain’: an Australian citizens’ encounter with the SAS
Outside of Defence circles not many Australians would have had a close physical confrontation with members of the SAS. Four peace activists did in 2014 when their trespass on the Swan Island military base was dealt with by two enraged SAS members. Continue reading »
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Building a wall of silence about possible attacks on Australia
There are plans to protect civilian populations in the case of a military attack on Australian soil, but they’re “classified” – not reassuring when you live in close proximity to the Pine Gap military base, widely regarded as a likely target for attack in the case of a hot war between global powers. Continue reading »
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The militarised centre of Australia
I can remember the naive excitement with which I ventured up the Stuart Highway for the first time more than thirty years ago. Now I feel the weight of the creeping expansion of a militarised swathe running south to north right through the centre of Australia. Continue reading »
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A rose coloured view of the dangers of Pine Gap
Fifty years ago this month Pine Gap, the American military base in the centre of Australia, commenced operations. With no public fanfare, this anniversary might have passed by unnoticed if former National Security Agency electronic intelligence analyst at the base, David Rosenberg, hadn’t drawn it to attention. Continue reading »
