Signs of a Military Industrial Complex in Australia ?
Former soldiers and intelligence operatives have been sent to infiltrate a network of anti-coal protesters aiming to thwart a multibillion dollar expansion of coal production in northern NSW. Using false identities, the spies-for-hire have attempted to penetrate the inner sanctum of a group of environmentalists and local landowners who have vigorously attempted to stop the coalmines at Maules Creek and Boggabri.
In what represents a significant escalation of a heated battle between Whitehaven Coal and Idemitsu Australia Resources and anti-coal activists, a Fairfax Media investigation has uncovered a clandestine campaign of significant scale but ham-fisted execution.
Several undercover agents were discovered by the activists, including one alleged spy Marnie Tisot, who was confronted on camera. The operation raises questions of its legality given the outright deception to disrupt protest movements.
Whitehaven Coal is chaired by former deputy prime minister Mark Vaile and was owned by Nathan Tinkler until he sold his shares last June.
Idemitsu Australia Resources owns and operates the Boggabri mine. The company spends $40,000 a week securing the facility, chief operating officer Rod Bridges told the Northern Daily Leader in January.
The surveillance operation, say insiders, has been in place for at least five months. “The task was to get information on actions, report on actions, gather information on the leadership,” said one source. “Some were tasked to infiltrate. Others just do observation.”
The protesters were already deeply worried about infiltration when they confronted Marnie Tisot in May. Ms Tisot had visited the camp on four occasions under the alias Loulou Mayfield, even acting as a spokeswoman at one point. Her suspicious behaviour, and the inadvertent revealing of her real name in an email she sent, led to the discovery that she worked for Professional Service Solutions (PSS), a Brisbane intelligence and security firm that has worked for the United Nations.
Barbara McDonald, a law professor at Sydney University and privacy expert, said any spying arranged by a private company that involved false identities and deception was legally questionable. It could fall foul of provisions in the corporations, consumer and privacy laws, particularly if “someone had acted on the deception to the material detriment” of those being spied on, she said.
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