"Successive governments on both political persuasions have consistently endorsed, once they have been briefed on the capability and that iswhat Pine Gap delivers in terms of bolstered defence capabilitiesmore than offsets the remote risk of vulnerability," he said. Your income also may be subject to tax in the country where you work, depending on that countrys law.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: IRS, A1. For example, although you are deemed to be not a tax resident of Australia, your JDFPG income is taxable in Australia as Australian-source income if it is exempt from tax in the United States due to the foreign earned income exclusion. "One of the questions for Alice Springs citizens is always:'Whatis Pine Gap doing and how do I feel about it?' The Pine Gap Agreement applies only to U.S. employees of U.S. federal government contractors at the JDFPG who went to Australia solely to work at JDFPG. The employee is responsible for IRS taxable income on the local market rental value of furnished housing and the associated utilities. An official website of the United States Government. Given the complexities caused by dual U.S. and Australian requirements for U.S. employees at JDFPG and their employers because of the Pine Gap Agreement, in the 1980s the IRS and ATO developed procedures to allow these employees to avoid withholding of Australian tax installment deductions for their JDFPG employment income and the corresponding need to file Australian income tax returns with respect to that income. These FAQs address common questions regarding how these employees and their employers meet their U.S. and Australian tax obligations in light of the Pine Gap Agreement, including the effect of a closing agreement that an employee might enter into with the IRS regarding the taxation of JDFPG employment income. But how much do we really know about this significant site? As stated in FAQ Q9, if you do not enter into a closing agreement with the IRS, then under Australian tax law, your employer must withhold Australian taxes on your income from employment at JDFPG for the taxable period(s) covered by the closing agreement. [1], The station is partly run by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US National Security Agency (NSA), and US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and is a key contributor to the NSA's global interception/surveillance effort, which included the ECHELON program. Mr Rosenberg described the incursion by the four as "the most serious security breach in Pine Gap's history". Q5. In 1982 the Australian band Midnight Oil released "Power and the Passion", which contains a reference to Pine Gap. Under these voluntary procedures, you may enter into a closing agreement with the IRS, in which you agree that you will not claim the foreign earned income exclusion for your JDFPG income for the taxable period(s) covered by the closing agreement. Location: Pine Gap - Alice Springs, Australia Functions: Unknown Levels: Unknown Tunnels to: Dulce, New Mexico Notes: This base is a massive multi-leveled facility run by the 33rd degree of Zion which, fronting as the Bilderberger organization, is the control and command center with the Rothschild apparatus Illuminati.Pine Gap is a major control center for the New World Order Dictatorship . [14][15] In November 2021, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board of the Philippines ordered Netflix to remove certain episodes that featured the nine-dash line, deeming it "unfit for public exhibition" after the country's foreign department issued a complaint calling the line "illegal" and a "violation of Philippine sovereignty".[16]. The CIA is a US government agency that provides information (what we call "intelligence") on foreign countries to the President, the National Security Council, and other US government officials to help them make good decisions about national security issues. "[It is] the consistent view of successive Australian governments for more than half a century is that it makes Australia safer," Professor Blaxland, the head of International Security and Intelligence Studies at Australian National University,said. If you exclude your JDFPG employment income from your U.S. gross income under the foreign earned income exclusion, however (and thereby exempt that income from U.S. tax), that income is assessable in Australia under Australian tax law. No. The Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap is situated on the outskirts of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory The base is thought to be playing a crucial role in gathering intelligence on Russia's attack on Ukraine Experts say Pine Gap is vulnerable given its importance to US intelligence and surveillance Gus and Jas repair their relationship and Zhou meets with Immy, hinting that she is working for Chinese intelligence. New Alice Springs jobs added daily. Unless you work at Pine Gap, or possess special invisible powers, you wont even get too close to it. Your employer also will be required to withhold from your salary to satisfy your U.S. and Australian tax obligations. Plan and deliver an educational program to the children in your care. [1], Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian gave Pine Gap a critical review, writing that the series was "less a spy drama than an attempt to cure insomnia." Naval Security Group Detachment, Alice Spring was established in October, 1998. The ABC's Pine Gap is a stinker. It basically acts as a satellite tracking station and its remote location makes intercepting signals emitted from within more difficult to decipher. How does the availability of the U.S. foreign earned income exclusion affect my obligations as a withholding agent? Raytheon and the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap did not respond to requests for a comment. Joshua Blundell-Thornton, the industrial officer for the Australian Manufacturers Workers' Union who is representing the employees, said it was disappointing to see such a large organisation refuse to pay redundancy entitlements. Politics and a joint defense intelligence base at Pine Gap are the main themes in this movie. He also criticised the series for what he regarded as its poor story-writing and unsatisfactory acting, giving it one out of five stars. Boeing Defence Australia has revealed it is bidding to regain an operations contract for the Pine Gap satellite intelligence facility near Alice Springs that it lost to rival Raytheon almost seven years ago. A country is appealing for help as China upped its aggression in the South China Sea. Pine Gap spy base contractor Raytheon locked in redundancy payout dispute. It is taxable in Australia because your employee earned the income while working in Australia. According to Ball, since 9 December 1966 when the Australian and United States governments signed the Pine Gap treaty, Pine Gap had grown from the original two antennas to about 18 in 1999, and 38 by 2017. According to Nautilus report released this year, Australians are completely enmeshed into the management structure at the station. Share via SMS. As the serie progresses, the tension on the world stage increases and that means tension in A-crew increases as well. "Once their positions were made redundant they were retrenched, they were entitled to redundancy payment.". Set in the intensely secretive world of intelligence and the enigmatic US/Australia joint defence facility in central Australia, the spy-thriller Pine Gap delves into the famously strong alliance between the two countries. He explicitly confirmed the western interest in Beijing's activities, saying Pine Gap - the installation near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory - was "crucial to, let's say . He said the average person would be lucky to get within a kilometre of it. "That will give the US firstly assurance that Putin is not launching those nuclear missiles, but more relevantly to the war, tracking the locations of these missiles that the Russians are firing," he said. Does the Treaty supersede the Pine Gap Agreement? "They'll be listening to Russian military activity nationwide, precisely because that nuclear alert, they'll be watching all nuclear facilities," he said. Pine Gap features prominently in the third and fourth thriller novels of the Jack West Jr. seriesThe Five Greatest Warriors and The Four Legendary Kingdoms, respectivelyby the Australian writer Matthew Reilly. Alice Springs News co-founder Kieran Finnane (pictured) appeared in the program. repeat your search with the omitted job postings included. By Helen Razer | October 11, 2018 |. Q4. A former US agent lifts the lid on some of the top secret projects he worked on while at Australia's remote Pine Gap "spy station". [11], Pat LaMarco of The Daily Free Press described the series as a "dull and sluggish attempt at a thriller". Pine Gap is a joint United States-Australia military spy base located on Arrernte country near Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Rudy and Ethan strongly believe Jas is the spy. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Leidos. Pursuant to the Pine Gap Agreement, Australia exempts your JDFPG employment income from Australia tax if you are in Australia solely to work at JDFPG and that income is not exempt, and is brought to tax, in the United States. You might be entitled to exclude your JDFPG income from U.S. taxable income (and therefore exempt it from U.S. income tax) under the foreign earned income exclusion (section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code). You are not considered to be an employee of the United States government or of a U.S. government agency for purposes of the TreatyPDF. A Defence Department spokesman told news.com.au it made an important contribution to our national security. A Defence White Paper released earlier this year also detailed how important Pine Gap is to both the US and the Australian governments. Alice Springs author and journalist Kieran Finnane will be launching her latest book this morning exploring local dissent against military operations at Pine Gap facilities. [6], On 11 July 2013, documents revealed through former NSA analyst Edward Snowden showed that Pine Gap, amongst three other locations in Australia and one in New Zealand, contributed to the NSA's global interception and collection of internet and telephone communications, which involves systems like XKEYSCORE. Four of them later broke into the facility and were arrested. The IRS and the Australian Taxation Office cooperated to develop these FAQs. Under ordinary tax principles, your employer would withhold and remit U.S. and Australian income taxes on your behalf throughout the year to the IRS and ATO, respectively, as appropriate. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Lead your team to success. "One is telephone transmissions, radar transmissions, any kind of electronic transmissions, communications or otherwise. The union representing the employees said it believed the Joint Defence Facility may be preferencing the employment of Americans over Australians. This process was developed to alleviate the burden of dual withholding and reporting of U.S. residents income from employment at JDFPG, and it is completely voluntary for the employee. However, as a U.S. citizen or resident alien, you must file a U.S. income tax return reporting and paying taxes on your worldwide income, including your JDFPG employment income. According to Richard Tanter, a professor in the School of Political and Social Studies at the University of Melbourne, most Australians really dont know all that much about it. [11], In late 1966, during the Cold War, a joint USAustralian treaty called for the creation of a US satellite surveillance base in Australia, to be titled the "Joint Defence Space Research Facility". The Alice Springs News enhanced the background of the photo but the shadow of Ms Golding's hand on the base of the antenna shows the picture is authentic. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and since 1988 it has been officially called the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG); previously, it was known as Joint Defence Space Research Facility. [7] Central Australia was chosen because it was too remote for spy ships passing in international waters to intercept the signal. The closing agreement applies for the U.S. taxable year(s) listed in the closing agreement as the taxable period(s) covered by the closing agreement. Pine Gap. Starring: Parker Sawyers, Jacqueline McKenzie, Steve Toussaint. Located about 20km from Alice Springs, the site is considered strategically vital by both the US and Australian governments. A spokesperson from Maurice Blackburn said the two parties could enter into mediation over the matter. The plant is in the town of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia. As a result, the Treaty does not nullify the Pine Gap Agreement, which provides an exemption from Australian income tax when JDFPG employment income is taxed by the United States.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: ATO/IRS, A3. Located deep in the outback near Alice Springs the base staffs up to 1000 people including members of US Army, US Air Force, 704th military Intel, and 743rd Intelligence Battalion Marine Cryptologic command. [6], The facilities at the base consist of a massive computer complex with 38 radomes protecting radio dishes[7] and has over 800 employees. [citation needed]. Secrecy held until the mid-1970s, when the World War II signals intelligence operation known as Enigma was finally revealed, and the role of the US Central Intelligence Agency in running Pine Gap . The show was set around the political scene between 2 different governments, Australia and America, and also with a joint defense intellect facility at Pine Gap. A4. The work of the jointly run US and Australian base known as Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap is vital after Russian President Vladimir Putin puthis country's nuclear deterrent forces on "high alert". That's a really important question," he said. Professor Tanter said Putin's threat of nuclear weapons hadcatapulted world politics back to the Cold War. A highly secretive defence intelligence facility, on the outskirts of Alice Springs, is likely gathering information about the escalating situation in Ukraine. The IRS and ATO expect only that the employees income from employment at JDFPG is properly withheld, reported, and paid, as appropriate, in the United States and Australia. Q2. In The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost, President Richard Nixon claims that Pine Gap is actually the site of an underground facility constructed by extraterrestrials. Q4. Article 19 does not apply to income earned by employees of U.S. federal government contractors. In a statement, the Department of Defence said it would not comment on matters before the courts or between another company and its employees. Get Directions Show Map Hide Map Share via SMS. An employer will, however, be liable for FBT if it has withholding obligations and provides taxable fringe benefits. He said the work at Pine Gap had receivedbilaterally support since the facility's establishment. Belle has an affair with Zhou, whose gas mining deal with the Arrenrte people has been approved by the Australian authorities. R-00102475Description Job Description: Job DescriptionThis position is a 24/7 crew positionThe Integrated Solutions Division at Leidos has an opening for an Intelligence Analyst. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 15:22. Can the dogs of Chernobyl teach us new tricks when it comes to our own survival? "Pine Gap collects two main sources of intelligence," Professor Tanter, from Melbourne University,said. No. The refund is considered an erroneous refund and must be paid back to the IRS. The Pine Gap Agreement was signed in 1966, and it was incorporated into Australian law in section 23AA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936). "While we may not know the exact minutia of what they do on a day-to-day basis, the arguments we are putting forward about a worker being entitled to redundancy when their job is lost, is the same arguments we would be having, regardless of the secret nature of their work," he said. But unless you work at Pine Gap, or have spent decades researching what really goes on here, your knowledge about it is probably fairly limited. Route 982 in Mount Pleasant Township from Tall Pine Drive to Route 130 due to downed trees and wires. We couldn't find the job you were looking for. The IRS and ATO developed procedures in the 1980s to address the complexities caused by dual U.S. and Australian requirements for U.S. citizen and resident alien employees at JDFPG and their employers due to the Pine Gap Agreement. It is 200 km south of the centre of mainland Australia. "These employees have the benefit of an enterprise agreement, and Raytheon has to comply with this enterprise agreement," he said. The West is making a big miscalculation when it comes to a conflict with China and it could be a very costly mistake. Taxpayers receiving erroneous refunds may also be subject to penalties and interest.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: IRS, A8. They are broken by a further, larger granite cleft - Heavitree Gap, or "the Gap." Alice Springs is spread out on the other side of the ranges like a baseball diamond, its bottom tip cradled in the Gap. If you were ordinarily resident in Australia before working at JDFPG, then your JDFPG employment income is not eligible for an exemption from Australian tax under the Pine Gap Agreement.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: ATO/IRS, A12. Address: 15 WILKINSON ST ALICE SPRINGS, NORTHERN TERRITORY, 0870 Australia Phone: Employees (this site): Modelled Employees (all sites): Modelled Revenue: Modelled Year Started: Incorporated: ESG ranking: ESG industry average: What is D&B's ESG Ranking? Your IP: . You are not obligated under U.S. or Australian taxation law to enter into a closing agreement; the IRS and ATO expect only that you properly report and pay U.S. and Australian taxes consistent with whether you entered into a closing agreement for the taxable period. There was only 1 season of the political thriller which had six episodes. Pine Gap Jobs Electrical Inspector Amentum Australia The Electrical Inspector is the Code Compliance Manager for all electrical installations and electrical works carried out within the JDFPG. All times AEDT (GMT +11). About Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Pine Gap Facility. [11], Since the end of the Cold War in 1991 and the rise of the War on Terror in 2001, the base has seen a refocusing away from mere nuclear treaty monitoring and missile launch detection, to become a vital warfighting base for US military forces. Kath invites the spies for dinner to gather for information for their investigation. [6] Journalist Brian Toohey states that Pine Gap intercepts electronic communications from Australian citizens including phone calls, emails and faxes as a consequence of the technology it uses. With the closing of the Nurrungar base in 1999, an area in Pine Gap was set aside for the United States Air Force's control station for Defense Support Program satellites that monitor heat emissions from missiles, giving first warning of ballistic missile launches. I entered into a closing agreement with the IRS in which I agreed that I would not claim the foreign earned income exclusion for my JDFPG employment income, but I filed a U.S. tax return claiming the exclusion for a period covered by the closing agreement. Do these FAQs and procedures apply to me? The IRS and I executed a closing agreement in which I agreed that I would not claim the foreign earned income exclusion for my JDFPG employment income. No. Pine Gap is an international political thriller which is set around the Australian and American joint defence intelligence facility at Pine Gap, south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Australia.. Cast []. The six-part series was . The IRS has recently revised the pro forma closing agreement and consent to disclose document for employees of U.S. federal government contractors who wish to enter into closing agreements with respect to their employment income earned at the JDFPG. [6], One of Pine Gap's primary functions is to locate radio signals in the Eastern Hemisphere, with the collected information fed into the US drone program. In addition, an employer that provides fringe benefits will not be liable for Australian fringe benefits tax (FBT) if it has no withholding obligations. 32 Pine Gap Australia Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 32 Pine Gap Australia Premium High Res Photos Browse 32 pine gap australia stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Article 9 of the Pine Gap Agreement addresses how U.S. citizens and resident aliens, who are not also Australian citizens, working at the facility are taxed by the United States and Australia. [19], According to documents published in August 2017, Pine Gap is used as a ground station for spy satellites on two secret missions:[6], Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister of Australia (between 1972 and 1975), considered closing the base which some have claimed led to the downfall of the Prime Minister, who was already in a politically precarious situation. As further discussed in FAQ Q4 below, if you enter into a closing agreement, you must pay tax on your JDFPG income in the United States, but you would not have to pay Australian tax on this income or report this income on an Australian tax return. "Our belief is that there seems to be a concerted effort by the people out at Pine Gap to contract back to American contractors who use American labour," Mr Blundell-Thornton said. In reality this conceals the real purpose of Pine Gap as a CIA-run spy base designed to collect signals from US surveillance satellites in geosynchronous orbit over the equator. The spy base has been operating in Australia for more than 50 years, yet little is known about its activities. Q10. A conditional exemption from Australian income tax in the Pine Gap Agreement was enacted into Australian income tax law. Q2. In the Pine Gap Agreement, Australia agreed that the income of U.S. employees of U.S. federal government contractors at the JDFPG who are in Australia solely to work at the JDFPG would be exempt from income tax in Australia provided that income is taxed in the United States. [13], Pine Gap was removed from Netflix in Vietnam, following an order from the country's Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, as a map with the nine-dash line was shown in two episodes of the series, albeit in a context in which characters criticised China's claim over the waters in on-screen dialogue. The Deputy Project & Construction Manager is responsible for the coordination and execution of the projects in development, through Linfox Alice Springs site require a HR driver to join the team for local pick up and deliveries. An Echelon IV command, NIOD Alice Springs is subordinate to Cryptologic Warfare Group SIX, Note, however, that as a U.S. citizen or resident alien your worldwide income is subject to U.S. federal income tax, subject to any available deductions, credits, exemptions, or exclusions, such as the foreign earned income exclusion. One such authorized disclosure is the disclosure of tax returns and return information to a competent authority of a foreign government that has an income tax treaty with the United States to the extent allowed by that treaty. This is acknowledged in Article 1(1) of the Treaty, which states, This [treaty] shall not restrict in any manner any exclusion, exemption, deduction, rebate, credit or other allowance accorded from time to time . Q9. [1] Cast [ edit] Parker Sawyers as Gus Thomson, an American mission director The only Australians at Pine Gap for most of its history were those hired as cooks and cleaners. Originally code-named MERINO, it is the ground station for a satellite network that intercepts telephone, radio, data links, and other communications around the world. In addition, you would be required to file an income tax return reporting your JDFPG employment income to the ATO. Pursuant to the closing agreements terms and section 7121 of the Internal Revenue Code, a closing agreement that is properly executed by a taxpayer and an IRS official is a final agreement and may not be reopened, except in the event of fraud, malfeasance, or misrepresentation of material fact.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: IRS, A7. "It's quite frankly outrageous that a large, multinational defence contractor like Raytheon, who has lost the contract at Pine Gap through no fault of its workforce, is trying to get out of paying these workers their redundancies," he said. It was only in the 1970s they gained even mid level positions. One day, I'm all "this is a culturally inert toilet remarkable only for its willingness to be shat upon by empire". It is understood the workers who took over the positions of the six former IT employees with the new contractor are all US nationals. "It is disappointing that a company this well-resourced is still trying to dodge their responsibilities and pay the redundancies entitled to these workers.". However, another former employee of the joint defence facility said he did not believe there was a deliberate effort to hire more US nationals for positions at the base. As research and knowledge into the facility grows, we are starting to learn more about what goes on here, including: Run by both Australia and the United States, its official name is the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap. No. Do these FAQs and procedures apply to me? It was set in the titular Pine Gap, a joint defense intelligence facility near the town of Alice Springs in Australia. A1. More. Pine Gap is one of the largest ground satellite stations in the world, at the present time the facility currently contains eight large radomes, an extremely large computer room and 20 or so service, support buildings. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. You therefore must include all of your JDFPG employment income in your worldwide gross income reported on your U.S. income tax return and cannot exclude it from U.S. taxation. But contrary to some ideas, it has nothing to do with flying saucers, nor does it contain dozens of elaborate tunnels. Click to reveal But Melbourne-based photographer Kristian Laemmle-Ruff got closer than most people when he snapped a series of photos of the facility last year. If an international agreement does not contain language addressing the impact of an earlier agreement, provisions of the earlier international agreement, if it has not been terminated or suspended, apply to the extent they are consistent with provisions in the later agreement. Satellite station in the Northern Territory, Australia, This article is about the earth station. While police raid Eloise, Gus decides to remain at Pine Gap after his father believes that he helped save the President's life by making the decision to execute the drone strike. "There's a very high chance that Pine Gap would be attacked quite simply because it provides critical targeting information for the United States in a nuclear war. The physical expansion of Alice Springs, and particularly its expansion west . Terrifying reality of China war laid bare, Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, Independent and Peaceful Australia Network argue Pine Gap and its value to the US makes us a target. See IRS Publication 54. Plan and deliver an educational program for the Kindergarten children. Pursuant to the closing agreements terms and section 7121 of the Internal Revenue Code, a closing agreement that is properly executed by a taxpayer and an IRS official is a final agreement and may not be reopened, except in the event of fraud, malfeasance, or misrepresentation of material fact.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: IRS, A9. Security and intelligence expertJohn Blaxland said Pine Gap's work was vital. (If you have other income from Australian sources, you may have Australian tax reporting and payment obligations associated with that income. He also viewed the show's release on Netflix as a sign of what he regarded as the deteriorating quality of the streaming company's content. 159.89.19.14 Pine Gap employs around 1000 people. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2b9694dfad3836 Any information exchanged under Article 25 is protected from disclosure under the limitations of Section 6105 of the Internal Revenue Code and Article 25(2) of the Treaty.Added: 05-22-2019 Source: IRS, A11. 2018 | Maturity Rating: TV-MA | 1 Season | Political TV Shows. In a statement, the Department of Defence said it did not comment on staff composition or numbers of staff at different facilities.
