Once upon a time, Australians were told Pine Gap was a space base. Then we were told it was a weather station. But now, of course, we know the installation deep in the Northern Territory outback is a US spy base. Which isn’t to say it’s any less secretive – we still don’t know a huge amount about what goes on there.

Today, editor of Declassified Australia and contributor to The Saturday Paper Peter Cronau, on how he discovered the base’s new technology and what it means for Australia’s safety.