HALLIBURTON ACTIVIST ARRESTED AND DEPORTED

In a story not unlike a bushranger folk song, a U.S. citizen has been arrested at a Melbourne coffe shop while on his way to present a workshop. He has since been deported. His crime?

Scott Parkin is well known in the U.S. for his involvement in protests against U.S. Energy Services corporation Halliuburton (see next entry for more details on the company's involvement in Australia). Entering the country on a tourist visa, Parkin appeared on local news at a protest coinciding with the recent Forbes Business Conference in Sydney.

Parkin's arrested sparked protests at Halliburton/KBR offices across Australia, and considerable debate in Federal Parliament.

Australian Democrats Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja said that "If Mr Parkins is a threat to Australian securtiy, as the Government claims, then it must explain why he was allowed a visa in the first place"

Greens Senator Bob Brown described Parkin's treatment as a travesty.. " I remain convinced that it is at the behest of the Bush administration- it is very embarrassed by the international spotlight Mr Parkin has thrown on armament manufacture and Iraq profiteer Halliburton and it's former CEO Dick Cheny" he said.

Mr Brown requested a briefing on the situation from ASIO, but this was declined

An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald of March 1 stated:

Halliburton has quietly put down deep roots in Australia. Its operations include hundreds of secret Defence projects, the Adelaide-to-Darwin railway and managing the Australian Grand Prix. (read more here)

Halliburton KBR's Infrastructure Divsion Global Headquarters is located in Adelaide. For more details see my article Halliburton's Adelaide

The Green Left Weekly claims that no ASIO powers were used in Parkin's deportation:

Despite reports, Parkin was not arrested under the anti-terror legislation or on the basis of an ASIO warrant as there were no grounds for such a warrant. Rather, his six-month visa was cancelled without him being told so. From that moment, he didn’t have permission to be in Australia, and was therefore arrested for not having a valid visa.

However, ASIO did notify the Department of Multiculturalism and Immigration Affairs that Parkin had been assessed to be a direct or indirect threat to national security, and it was this that triggered the cancellation of his visa.

Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said last week that "They must have had some set of security advice. We'll seek a briefing on that. If it was simply a question of being a peace activist, then obviously that wouldn't be sufficient reason to deport him." After receiving a briefing from ASIO, Beazley endorsed the deportation without giving further reasons.

There are a couple of articles posted on Webdiary (one by me) here,with links and further information.