Protesters arrested after blocking road leading into Pine Gap, outback spy base south of Alice Springs

Two protesters have been taken to the watch-house in Alice Springs after being arrested on a road which leads to an outback spy base. Read the latest.

Pro-Palestinian activists Yul Scarf and Jorgen Doyle on Hatt Rd, October 9, 2025. Hatt Rd leads to the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility, located south of Alice Springs, with the pair alleging the base provides information for Israel in the conflict with Hamas. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Update, 6pm, October 9: Two people have been taken to the watch-house in Alice Springs after being arrested during a protest which blocked the road leading to Pine Gap.

The arrests were made Thursday afternoon, hours after a group of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked Hatt Rd, south of Alice Springs.

The protesters had affixed themselves to a 40 gallon drum filled with concrete, with images posted to the Mparntwe for Falastin account showing firefighters cutting the drum apart.

Images on social media show Firefighters cutting open a 44 gallon drum filled with concrete. Picture: Mparntwe for Falastin/Instagram

The protesters got to Hatt Rd 4.30am Thursday, with the arrests taking place around Thursday lunchtime.

Hatt Rd was reportedly blocked for nine hours, according to the protesters.

Hatt Rd leads to Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, with the protesters alleging the base – jointly run by the Australian and US governments – supplies intelligence to Israel in the Gaza conflict.

An NT Police spokeswoman said the two individuals had been charged with failing to cease loitering, and alleged they were attached to the drum filled with concrete.

The spokeswoman said both of the arrested individuals – whose ages nor genders were provided – were taken to the Alice Springs watch-house.

Images on social media show Police making an arrest during a protest on Hatt Rd, the road which leads into the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, south of Alice Springs. Picture: Mparntwe for Falastin/Instagram

Images and videos of the arrest were posted on the Mparntwe for Falastin Instagram account.

Mparntwe for Falastin is an Alice Springs-based group who have long opposed Pine Gap.

The protesters were calling on the Australian government to sanction Israel; to prosecute Israel over an alleged “genocide”; and to shut Pine Gap and return the land to local traditional owners.

On Thursday morning, when this masthead visited the scene, protester Jorgen Doyle said they would be on Hatt Rd “for as long as we can”.

Two pro-Palestinian protesters affixed themselves to a 40 gallon drum filled with concrete on Hatt Rd, south of Alice Springs. Picture: Mparntwe for Falastin/Instagram

Also on Thursday, after the action had begun, US President Donald Trump announced Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first step in a peace deal, which will see Israeli hostages taken more than two years ago freed.

On October 7, 2023, 1195 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, were killed. More than 250 were taken hostage, sparking a now two-year long conflict.

During the conflict, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble and thousands of civilians have been killed, as well as number of journalists covering the conflict.

Pine Gap blockade: Protesters descend on road into outback spy base

Initial, 2pm, October 9: Pro Palestinian protesters say they will block the road into Pine Gap “for as long as we can” in a bid to stop the top secret spy base allegedly sharing intelligence on the conflict in Gaza.

The protesters said they arrived at Hatt Road, south of Alice Springs, at 4.30am Thursday.

When this masthead visited the scene, two protesters had fixed themselves to a 40 gallon drum filled with concrete, which they had their arms in.

“We are doing what we can from our end of the country in a mosaic of resistance that is taking place right now and is escalating,” protester Yul Scarf said.

Pro-Palestinian activists Yul Scarf and Jorgen Doyle. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Jorgen Doyle, another protester at the scene, said they would block the road “for as long as we can”.

Tuesday, October 7, marked the two year anniversary of the Israel Hamas conflict, when Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, were killed. More than 250 were taken hostage.

However the protesters said they chose October 9 as a federal Senate Estimates hearing on the defence portfolio was due to take place.

The duo also said they were standing in solidarity with those who recently took part in freedom flotillas to Israel.

They are calling for the federal government to sanction Israel; for the “Australian attorney general (to) prosecute Pine Gap’s active involvement in the genocide”; and to close the base and return the lands to the Arrernte people – the traditional custodians of the land surrounding Alice Springs.

At the scene Thursday morning were NT and Australian Federal Police officers, who all declined to provide comment.

But an NT Police spokeswoman said police were first notified the road was blocked at 4.45am Thursday.

Police at the scene of the protest. Picture: Gera Kazakov

“Police are currently in attendance,” she said.

The action comes weeks after a two-year long legal battle wrapped up in the Alice Springs Local Court over a similar protest in 2023.

Carmen Escobar Robinson, 41, and Alexandra Elisabeth Walker, 34, were fined – but spared a recorded conviction – for loitering when they blocked Hatt Rd on November 27, 2023.

The 2023 protest ended when firefighters cut open the drum and removed Escobar and Walker.

Hatt Rd leads to Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, a military installation run by both the US and Australian governments, which local pro-Palestinian group Mparntwe for Falastin allege provides intelligence to Israel in the conflict in Gaza.