Monday 23rd of December 2024

Deported Halliburton Activist Questions Australian Intelligence

(Proudly reprinted from Halliburton Watch and Houston Indymedia )

Houston-based activist Scott Parkin,  deported from Australia after protesting the activities of global energy and war-industry giant Halliburton, has mounted a legal challenge against his treatment by ASIO, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation.

On September 10 this year security and immigration officials detained Parkin at a Melbourne coffee shop.  Parkin was scheduled to co-present a workshop on non-violent protest techniques that afternoon.

Parkin had previously assisted co-ordinating a street-theatre protest at Hallibuton/KBR's Sydney offices, coinciding with an international business conference at the Sydney Opera House.

Parkin had declined a request to appear at an ASIO interview.

According to The Australian, security officers were concerned that Parkin would teach Australian Halliburton protesters how to roll marbles under the hooves of police horses.. presumably the marbles that ASIO lost years ago.

Parkin is seeking to overturn the adverse security finding that caused his deportation.

Halliburton's Australian arm is involved in foreign aid activities in
Iraq, and enjoys numerous no-bid defence contracts. It is chief owner
of the Adelaide to Darwin Railway, and calculates the probabity of
missile-strike breaches of Australian nuclear facilitiies. The
possibile sites for the new Australian nuclear dump are all situated
along the railway..

Here's the ABC News version