Waihopai Station

Several protests and disputes surrounding its use and the wider implications of the information gathered has gained the facility some local and international notoriety.

… The Australians were building a similar one at Geraldton [Western Australia] and their Defence Minister explained to the PM why the two installations separated by five time zones would enhance the benefit to both countries.

[5] In October 2021, the GCSB announced that the two dishes, and their radomes, would be deconstructed and removed from the station as the technology they used was deemed to be obsolete.

[8][9] In August 2014, it was revealed that an engineer from the United States National Security Agency had visited New Zealand and held a meeting at Waihopai Station.

[13] Prime Minister Helen Clark condemned the attack on the spy base as a "senseless act of criminal vandalism".

They were tried in March 2010 where they readily admitted their actions in court but defended it as a "claim of right" to save human lives.

"[18] The New Zealand government sued the trio and won damages of $1.2 million toward the repair of the dome, however, it chose not to pursue the payment.

With the publicity surrounding the base and this case, the GCSB directors released an announcement stating that "The claims that the Waihopai station is 'a United States spybase in our midst', contributing to 'torture, war, and the use of weapons of mass destruction' and other 'unspeakable evil' cannot be left unchallenged … It was not – and is not – contributing to 'unspeakable evil'.