Farewell Disneyland

Farewell Disneyland

The text and slides below are from my Presentation at this year's Friedman Liberty Conference given on May 24, 2019. 
Ayers Rock is not remotely reminiscent of Disneyland but if it was, what sort of mongrel would seek to shut it down?

On the 26th of October in just 155 days the Board of the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park with the blessing of Parks Australia will ban the climb to the summit of Ayers Rock. Along with the ban on climbing Park Authorities will also be removing the Summit monument, chain and 5 memorial plaques on the Rock. In breach of the lease agreement that requires Parks Australia to preserve, protect and manage cultural heritage to the highest possible standards we are about to see one of the greatest acts of cultural vandalism in recent history and barely a whisper has been raised in opposition. The exhilarating climb that reveals world heritage listed views has been undertaken by over 7 million visitors since the Park was declared in 1958. The climb is not only special to tourists but it is important to Aboriginal Culture.

In its explanation for the ban the Park Board stated: The climb is a men’s sacred area. The men have closed it. It has cultural significance that includes certain restrictions and so this is as much as we can say. If you ask, you know they can’t tell you, except to say it has been closed for cultural reasons.The official reasons relate to 3 subjective criteria slipped into the Park Management plan in 2010. This was despite strong support for the climb by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and the majority of the Australian Public.

If you read my book you’ll find that just about everything Parks Australia and the Board say about the climb is a myth and I just wanted to share two of those myths today. If the facts about the climb were known in 2010 I doubt any sensible politician would have allowed the ban to pass through parliament. In facts there is a strong case to be made that Parks Australia has mislead Parliament on this issue.

As you approach the base of the western climbing spur you are faced with a sign that supposedly expresses the views of the Traditional Peoples of Uluru, the Anangu people. The sign reads “Under our traditional law climbing is not permitted”. In the 1990 Management plan this view was expressed for the first time in the form “We never climb”. Well, it doesn’t take much research to work out this “We never Climb” message is false.

There is in fact a wonderful history of Anangu men and women climbing and supporting visitors climbing that deserves to be celebrated and not denied. The first human’s to arrive at the rock did so about 30000 years ago at the height of the last ice age. There is no doubt in my mind that the first people who saw the rock climbed it. Because it’s a natural thing for humans to do. We climb stuff to get a better view or for the view, to look for food, to look for water, for ceremony and to keep an eye on rivals, we climb because it’s there, we climb for the thrill. The first hard evidence that locals climbed comes from the stories about the summit and summit features that were revealed to anthropologist Charles Mountford by numerous Anangu informants in visits he made in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. You will hear nothing about these wonderful stories in the official guides. In aboriginal culture stories are passed on at the places they occurred, so the stories about the summit preserve a climbing culture that goes back to the time Anangu culture first emerged about 4000 years ago.

I’ve listed some names of Anangu men who climb from early last century, the most notable of these is a fellow by the name of Tiger Tjalkalyirri. He the man on the right in the left hand photo. He was one of the first climbing guides. In any other universe his statue would stand at the base of the Rock but the current board pass him off as someone who was only interested in chasing the white fellow’s money. Nothing could be further from the truth. Tiger was a man who bridged and united cultures. He was closely involved in the handover and stayed true to his Aboriginal roots to his death. The board’s statements about him are a great insult and slander his remarkable legacy. You can read more about him in my book, but sadly you’ll find nothing about him in official park literature.

The photo on the lower right is also important. It was given to me by David Hewitt a long term NT resident and someone who has worked in Ayers Rock area from the 1960s to early 2000s. It shows two Anangu women, daughters of Anangu elders climbing the rock. This photo busts the claim that the climb is a special men’s area. If these women had breached traditional laws it’s likely they would have been killed.

One of the most important people in the Park’s recent history is Paddy Uluru regarded as the Principal Owner of the rock. Another is Derek Roff who was the longest serving Ranger from 1968 to 1985. The men were close friends and had great respect for each other. In an interview with NT archives Derek indicated that in his 17 years at the rock the issue of tourists climbing was never raised by Traditional Owners. In relation to traditional owners climbing he says: “Paddy Uluru used to tell me about climbing the Rock. It seemed to me that it was mainly the senior, traditional people who climbed, rather than everybody. But there was no doubt about it, that ceremonies were carried out in certain areas up there, that people did climb it. So, I must say, certainly it was climbed — not maybe by everybody, but certainly by the traditional people.”

The board and Parks Australia tell us the act of climbing is disrespectful of the owners. I argue that it’s the board that is being disrespectful in ignoring the views and actions of past elders. Men and women who climbed and had no issue with visitors climbing. These people grew up at the rock. They were initiated at the rock and I would maintain they would know more about the rules of access than a board made up of people who come from elsewhere. So we have Tiger who we know guided tourists up the rock and encouraged visitors to climb. We have the Pope of the Rock Paddy Uluru who told Alice Springs News Reporter Edwin Chlanda that If tourists are stupid enough to climb the Rock, they’re welcome to it. He also said the physical act of climbing was of no cultural interest. In the early 1970s Derek Roff asked the owners where tourists were allowed to go. 35 of them including Paddy Uluru told Derek that the only place that was off limits, the only place, was Wakayuki the men’s initiation cave. This is on the northwest corner of Uluru well away from the climbing spur. Paddy’s brother Toby Naninga confirmed this in an ABC This day tonight interview in 1975. When asked by the reporter where tourists could go Toby said aside from Warayuki anywhere else was alright.

It’s not only a few Anangu men who felt this way. In the early 1980s during a time of great tension between the NT and Federal government, the federal Minister Clive Holding sought assurances from the CLC and PLC about the views of the local people about tourism and got this telex from them reading it into Hansard. It confirmed the locals had no issues with the current arrangements for tourism and that Basically for the visiting tourist it will be business as usual. At the time about 75% of visitors climbed.

So the notion that the climb is especially sacred, that it’s a men’s area, the idea that it’s not appropriate for visitors to climb, the claim that the locals don’t climb and the claim that it goes against traditional culture is completely busted.

Let’s quickly bust another myth. Parks Australia have been pushing the message that the climb is a high risk, dangerous activity since they took control of the park in 1985. In fact as Arthur Groom found after he climbed with our man Tiger in 1947 the climb is nothing else but a strenuous and spectacular uphill walk.

The chief success of the climb as a tourist activity is that it is something that can be safely enjoyed by people of all ages. From the very young to the very old. This is what makes it such a special activity for visiting families.

The question as to how many people have died on the rock is an interesting one. Parks Australia claim 37 tourist deaths since the first in 1962. When asked for the details Parks Australia wouldn’t oblige. The head ranger gave an interesting insight to the way those numbers are totalled just after the ban was announced. He said… “Yeah, look over 30 people have known to have died from climbing, and what I mean by that, people could, um, you know, potentially climb it, go to the resort and then you know, could have a heart attack later.”

I can see why they didn’t want to hand over any data. Scouring the records I managed to find evidence for 18 deaths ON the rock 6 falls and 12 from heart attacks. There have only been 2 deaths on the rock this century the same number have died at nearby Kata Tjuta. Guess we should ban that as well.

 

In the area of risk assessment we sometimes use the concept of a micromort to describe and compare risks. A micromort is a unit of risk and one micromort equates to a one in a million chance of death from a given activity. When we apply this to the climb we find the average risk for responsible climbers is about 2 micromorts. This is the same risk people are exposed to when they fly to and from the rock from Sydney or Perth. The same risk as driving to and from the Rock from Alice Springs. Another myth bites the dust! The safety message from Parks Australia has been grossly and irresponsibly exaggerated. It’s time to end this nonsense.

 

So why should you care? The underlying reason goes to the heart of why we have National Parks and world heritage areas in the first place. These are examples of outstanding natural beauty that belong to all of us, all of humanity, not just a few. The starting point for our National Parks should be that we are all free to enjoy these places on our own terms without being fettered by petty Bureaucracy or the religious views of others. In the case of Uluru if the locals want to withdraw from the promises they made prior to the land being handed back to them that is fair enough, it’s their land and they can do what they want with it, but if they do break those promises and continue to unfairly limit access then in all fairness it ceases to become a National Park and they should run it as a private park without the support of the tax payer. We currently cover about half the costs of running the place. Yes the Land belongs to Anangu but the Park belongs to all of us, and while that is the case we all have a right to decide what goes on and where we can go.

Thanks to Ian Plimer for contributing the foreword to the book. Anthony Dillon, Adam Giles and Dick Smith for providing comments on the back cover supportive of the Climb. Thanks to Anthony Cappello for having the courage to publish more dangerous ideas and to Julian MAlnic for providing some of the photos used in this presentation. Thanks also to Friedman Conference organisers.

Australia... where they ban joy and Wonder.

Video from the ATA... Friedman Conference Environment and outdoors session.