In Alice Springs everyone has an opinion on the Pine Gap spy base, but no-one wants to talk about what happens inside

In journalism, it's often politicians who won't answer your questions.

But in my outback town, it's just as likely to be the neighbours who won't, or rather can't, answer this basic conversation starter: "So, what do you do at work?"

That's because about 800 of the town's 25,000 residents are employed at the most secretive intelligence facility in Australia — the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap — on the edge of Alice Springs/Mparntwe.

When I rolled into this beautiful landscape 16 years ago and began working at the ABC's Alice Springs bureau, it quickly became clear I wouldn't hear from this significant section of the community.

Given local radio is all about connecting with the community and sharing people's stories, this silence felt strange.

My curiosity grew and the book Peace Crimes, written by long-term local journalist Kieran Finnane, motivated me to start looking deeper.

Telling this story in a town the size of Alice Springs would undoubtedly feel personal and would likely offend parts of the community.

It's a line regional journalists walk all the time — telling stories that are in the public interest, while living in the community that is affected by them.

Covering difficult stories in a small town

The words we write as journalists — or say, like in the Expanse: Spies in the Outback podcast — do have real world implications for real people.

That includes everyone from my neighbours, to the parents of my kids' friends, to people I see regularly at community events.

For them, it's not a story - it's their life.

And that can get awkward.

But there are stories in the public interest that the Australian government won't comment on and this often means they're shrouded in mystery, or rife with rumour.

Pine Gap is one of those stories.

What goes on beneath the cluster of enormous, oversized-golf-ball-shaped domes covering the military base's listening antenna on the desert floor, raises big questions for all of Australia, not just my town.

The Pine Gap intelligence-gathering facility is often described as the jewel in the crown of our military partnership with the United States. 

But what have we got ourselves into, and do we benefit from it?

Protesters, politicians and spies

Over the past six months, I've had lots of off-the-record coffees, trawled the news and library archives, followed some bizarre leads and heard plenty of wild stories, as I have tried to understand the goings-on behind the razor wire.

I wanted to know why America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) decided to build a so-called "space base" in outback Australia in the mid 1960s.

What motivated former prime minister Gough Whitlam to rock the boat and promise to reveal its secrets to the public?

Why were thousands of people so convinced it was a nuclear target they flocked to the desert to demand its closure?

While plenty of people outside Alice Springs/Mparntwe have never heard of this desert spy base, most people in town have an opinion on it.

There are three main camps: those who say it's vital for the town's economy and global peace; those who still see it as a nuclear target and want it shut down; and those who feel generally apathetic to its existence.

Still, I felt it was important to really understand the diversity of views on this outback spy base as I conducted my research.

I wanted to hear from the traditional owners of the Arrernte land it was built on, and from the spies tasked with finding targets in Afghanistan and Iraq during the Global War on Terrorism.

But how do you investigate something as secretive as Pine Gap when everyone who works there has made a promise never to talk about what they do?

In the end, gentle, determined persistence meant I was able to tell the Pine Gap story in a way that lifted the lid but didn't put national security at risk, and that (I hope) was sensitive to the lives of those in Alice Springs affected by it.

Back in the national spotlight

And then, in late 2023 as I tracked down activists, former spies and politicians … protesters were suddenly blocking the road to Pine Gap again.

With Pine Gap back in the spotlight, I knew I had to look deeper.

This spy base, which became operational in 1970 during the Cold War, had expanded through the decades in scale and capability and was more relevant than ever.

The Australian government says Pine Gap is one of the country's "most longstanding security arrangements" with the United States but it does not comment on its operation.

As each episode of Expanse: Spies in the Outback has been released, I've received emails and text messages that confirm why it was an important story to tell.

Some people have been shocked and appalled, while others have been grateful to learn we have this secret intelligence facility in our backyard.

Even in my own town of Alice Springs, where everyone knows someone who works at Pine Gap, there is an appetite to know more - regardless of how uncomfortable that might be.

Follow Expanse: Spies In The Outback on the ABC listen app to hear every episode of season three.