2026 marks 60 years since the Pine Gap Agreement was signed between Australia & the US. This weekend's convergence builds the strength and internationalism of the multi-generational movement against the Pine Gap base. Hundreds of people from across Australia are set to attend the sold out three-day Close Pine Gap - Sacred Land Back convergence from July 18-20 on Arrernte Country, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Those gathered are calling for the closure of the US military intelligence base Pine Gap, for an end to the US alliance, and for the sacred land the base occupies to be returned to Arrernte custodians, who never consented to the base. One of the organisers, Slumbi visited 8CCC Big Brekky to encourage those not attending to join in the action on Monday and to listen into the live stream on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th to hear from the significant speakers from across the continent, including 

- Susan Hayes and Families, Arrernte Apmereke-artweye traditional custodians
- David Shoebridge, Federal Senator for NSW
- Professor Kathryn Gilbey, Alyawarr academic and researcher, University of Queensland
- Karina Lester, Yankunytjatjara woman, second-generation nuclear survivor and commissioner on the Public Inquiry into AUKUS
- Remah Naji, Palestinian activist with Justice for Palestine Magan-djin
- Rita Jabri Markwell, Human rights and public interest litigation lawyer and public policy contributor
- Ahmed Adam, Artist, writer, and community worker, born in Sudan, long term Alice springs resident
- Professor Richard Tanter, Senior Research Associate, Nautilus Institute, leading expert on Pine Gap
- Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira, Maori police & prison abolitionist, LGBTIQA+ & Indigenous activist, CEO of 350 Australia
- Laniyuk, Larrakia, Kungarakan, Gurindji, and French political creative, writer, and performer
- Justice Not Jails, including Natalie Hunter
- Auntie Sue Haseldine, Googatha woman & President of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA)
- Intervention Rollback Action Group, including Barbara Shaw, proud Town Camper, Aboriginal advocate in land rights and housing
- Steve Hodder, Aboriginal media worker and member of the Intervention Rollback Action Group
- Barb Flick Yawarllaayi and Gomeroi elder and organiser of the 1987 convergence on Pine Gap
- Lee Rhiannon, former federal Greens senator and lifelong environmental and social justice activist
- Vince Scappatura, Politics & International Relations scholar, Macquarie University
- Jesse Boylan, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, artist and writer

2026 marks 60 years since the&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/other/dfat/treaties/1966/17.html?stem=0&amp;synonyms=0&amp;query=%22Pine-gap%22" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="7">Pine Gap Agreement</a> was signed between Australia &amp; the US. This weekend's convergence builds the strength and internationalism of the multi-generational movement against the Pine Gap base. Hundreds of people from across Australia are set to attend the sold out three-day&nbsp;<a href="https://closepinegap.org.au/">Close Pine Gap - Sacred Land Back convergence</a> from July 18-20 on Arrernte Country, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Those gathered are calling for the closure of the US military intelligence base Pine Gap, for an end to the US alliance, and for the sacred land the base occupies to be returned to Arrernte custodians, who never consented to the base. One of the organisers, Slumbi visited 8CCC Big Brekky to encourage those not attending to join in the action on Monday and to listen into the live stream on <a href="https://vimeo.com/event/6048920?fl=so&amp;fe=fs">Saturday 18th</a> and <a href="https://vimeo.com/event/6048937?fl=so&amp;fe=fs">Sunday 19th</a> to hear from the significant speakers from across the continent, including&nbsp;
- Susan Hayes and Families, Arrernte Apmereke-artweye traditional custodians -&nbsp;David Shoebridge,<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=169119" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="2">&nbsp;Federal Senator for NSW </a>-&nbsp;Professor Kathryn Gilbey, Alyawarr academic and researcher, University of Queensland -&nbsp;Karina Lester,&nbsp;Yankunytjatjara woman, second-generation nuclear survivor and commissioner on the<a dir="ltr" href="https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="3">&nbsp;Public Inquiry into AUKUS </a>-&nbsp;Remah Naji, Palestinian activist with Justice for Palestine Magan-djin -&nbsp;Rita Jabri Markwell, Human rights and public interest litigation lawyer and public policy contributor -&nbsp;Ahmed Adam, Artist, writer, and community worker, born in Sudan, long term Alice springs resident -&nbsp;Professor Richard Tanter, Senior Research Associate,<a dir="ltr" href="https://nautilus.org/network/associates/richard-tanter/" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="4">&nbsp;Nautilus Institute</a>, leading expert on Pine Gap -&nbsp;Te Raukura O&rsquo;Connell Rapira, Maori police &amp; prison abolitionist, LGBTIQA+ &amp; Indigenous activist, CEO of&nbsp;<a dir="ltr" href="https://350.org.au/" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="5">350 Australia</a> -&nbsp;Laniyuk,&nbsp;Larrakia, Kungarakan, Gurindji, and French political creative, writer, and performer -&nbsp;Justice Not Jails, including&nbsp;Natalie Hunter -&nbsp;Auntie Sue Haseldine, Googatha woman &amp; President of the <a dir="ltr" href="https://anfa.org.au/" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="6">Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (ANFA) </a>-&nbsp;Intervention Rollback Action Group, including&nbsp;Barbara Shaw, proud Town Camper, Aboriginal advocate in land rights and housing -&nbsp;Steve Hodder, Aboriginal media worker and member of the Intervention Rollback Action Group -&nbsp;Barb Flick&nbsp;Yawarllaayi and Gomeroi elder and organiser of the 1987 convergence on Pine Gap -&nbsp;Lee Rhiannon,&nbsp;former federal Greens senator and lifelong environmental and social justice activist -&nbsp;Vince Scappatura,&nbsp;Politics &amp; International Relations scholar, Macquarie University - Jesse Boylan,&nbsp;International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, artist and writer

Interviews, local stories and news for Central Australia and The Barkly.

Presented live weekdays on 8CCC Radio 102.1FM.

Stream through the 8CCC Connect app and 8ccc.com.au

Listen back to interviews On Demand or through our podcast

8CCC Big Brekky is supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation

Interviews, local stories and news for Central Australia and The Barkly.
Presented live weekdays on 8CCC Radio 102.1FM.
Stream through the 8CCC Connect app and 8ccc.com.au
Listen back to interviews On Demand or through our podcast
8CCC Big Brekky is supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation