freediver
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www.ozpolitic.com
Posts: 48814
At my desk.
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Still no sign of a decision being announced, though it was probably made 2 years ago. And I am seeing more news reports of aboriginal groups from around the country pushing for more racist lockouts, or generally rent-seeking.
The next Uluru? Hikers and Aboriginal elders await decision on closure of Wollumbin summit
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/05/the-next-uluru-hikers-and-aboriginal-elders-await-decision-on-closure-of-wollumbin-summit?fbclid=IwAR1HvheTE_Jy_Dnq_b6AFoROtB2mwH4-8NpWJNFjtBh3mItntLDeVyUG64M
The NSW government faces a delicate balancing act as it considers the future of a popular walking track, which has been shut for two years on cultural and safety grounds
For more than two years, one of Australia’s most popular walking tracks has been missing a pivotal element – walkers.
Every year more than 100,000 people would venture to the world heritage-listed Wollumbin national park near the northern New South Wales town of Murwillumbah, many of them drawn to the 4.4km track that leads to the 1,157 metre summit of the mountain that shares its name.
Wollumbin, formerly known as Mount Warning, is the remnant central vent of an ancient volcano. Since the track to the summit was completed in 1909, countless locals, school groups and tourists have relished the chance to stand atop its peak.
However, many Indigenous elders have watched them do so with a sense of disappointment, frustration and, in more recent times, anger.
The suggestion Wollumbin might close for good has attracted the attention of self-described “right to climb” advocates such as geologist Marc Hendrickx, who previously railed against Uluru’s closure.
“Mount Warning is a national treasure and the treatment of it by the people who are supposed to be looking after it is reprehensible,” he says.
Hendrickx claims there are differing Indigenous opinions about the mountain’s significance, pointing to Marlene Boyd, a local elder who told the Tweed Daily News in 2007, towards the end of her life, she had no qualms with walkers scaling the mountain.
“I do not oppose the public climbing of Mount Warning,” she said, explaining that her family’s tribe was the original custodian of the mountain and her mother Millie was its Gulgan (keeper). “How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation?”
When told of this testimony, Knight highlights the sensitivities of the debate by revealing “Nanny Millie” was his grandfather’s sister and his grandfather was against non-elders climbing Wollumbin.
“Nanny Millie was a keeper and that’s totally different to being a law person,” he says. “My pop was a lawman who spread the law about culture. As a lawman, his voice carried weight.”
A NSW NPWS spokesperson told Guardian Australia that an Aboriginal place management plan had been completed and was prepared in consultation with the Indigenous community, including the Wollumbin Consultative Group, which represents a range of Aboriginal groups and families with connections to the mountain and has provided advice to national parks service since 2000.
“The Aboriginal community has expressed a clear view that public access to the summit of Wollumbin is not culturally appropriate or culturally safe,” they said.
A delicate balancing act
The NSW national parks service is not alone in facing the challenge of balancing popular walking trails with traditional beliefs.
While the 2019 ban on climbing Uluru received extensive coverage, local Indigenous groups have made similar calls regarding the likes of St Mary Peak in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, Bluff Knoll in Western Australia’s Stirling Range and Mount Tibrogargan and Mount Beerwah in Queensland’s Glass House Mountains. None of those has yet resulted in an official ban, but Mount Gillen in Alice Springs was immediately closed to walkers when it was registered as a sacred site in late 2020.
Back at Mt Warning Rainforest Park, Bourchier believes NSW NPWS has already made up its mind about the future of Wollumbin.
A NSW NPWS spokesperson told Guardian Australia that an Aboriginal place management plan had been completed and was prepared in consultation with the Indigenous community, including the Wollumbin Consultative Group, which represents a range of Aboriginal groups and families with connections to the mountain and has provided advice to national parks service since 2000.
“The Aboriginal community has expressed a clear view that public access to the summit of Wollumbin is not culturally appropriate or culturally safe,” they said.
A delicate balancing act The NSW national parks service is not alone in facing the challenge of balancing popular walking trails with traditional beliefs.
While the 2019 ban on climbing Uluru received extensive coverage, local Indigenous groups have made similar calls regarding the likes of St Mary Peak in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, Bluff Knoll in Western Australia’s Stirling Range and Mount Tibrogargan and Mount Beerwah in Queensland’s Glass House Mountains. None of those has yet resulted in an official ban, but Mount Gillen in Alice Springs was immediately closed to walkers when it was registered as a sacred site in late 2020.
Back at Mt Warning Rainforest Park, Bourchier believes NSW NPWS has already made up its mind about the future of Wollumbin.
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