Peace Pilgrims

In September 2016 five ‘Peace Pilgrims’ trekked overnight through the central Australian bush into the secretive military facility Pine Gap, 18 kms east of Alice Springs. Their plan of action, according to the police recording of the interview, was to “pray for a miracle”. They were spotted by surveillance CCTV around 3.30 a.m. as they approached the ‘prohibited area’ and were arrested about an hour before sunrise. When the sun came up on September 29, 2016 Margaret Pestorius, Jim Dowling, Jim’s son Franz, Timothy Webb and Andy Paine were to be charged under the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act, a law originally designed to protect 1950s British atom bomb tests on Montebello Island, Emu Fields and Maralinga. They faced 7 years jail.