Right to Climb

In April I was interviewed by Sam Duncan from Australian Geographic Magazine. We spent a little over half an hour talking about the coming ban on climbing Ayers Rock. A small portion of our discussion ended up in Sam's article " The end of the Climb " that appeared in the July-August print edition but it's now available on line . An edited transcript of our interview appears below an extract from the article. From The end of the Climb  THE DECISION TO END the climb has met with a divided response. The views of the people I meet out here are split 50:50. Marc Hendrickx, a former NT surveyor (ed actually former NTGS mapping Geologist) , is the most prominent voice opposing the ban. He says evidence shows traditional owners in the past have climbed and had no issues with others climbing and that is critical information Parks Australia has misrepresented. Since the creation of Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park in 1958, more than 7 million visitors have “experi

Climbing Tales  This series celebrates Ayers Rock climbing experiences posted online and elsewhere. #12 Norman Camps, 1952 via Maggie Springs I lost four fingernails and was bleeding from the ankles, calves and fingers. I recently received a folder of material about Ayers Rock from a local historian recently (thankyou J!). It included a number of items. One that stood out was a clipping from 'Peaks: Australiasian Mountain Magazine' No.3 December 1980 re-counting a climb up Maggie Springs (Mutitjulu Water Hole) by Norman Camps in 1952. The main part of the article about the climb is reproduced below. Sketch from the article, original caption: The "V: Formation leading down to Maggie Springs (Mutitjulu water hole) at the base of the rock. See for comparison below this wonderful photo the sketch is based on of the hidden valley above the waterhole by Robin Smith from The Red Centre , 1967. The main northwest-trending watercourse above Maggie Springs (

Thanks to Ben Fordham at 2GB for having me on his wonderful radio show again . I spoke with Ben live from the Bankstown Sports Club on Friday 9 August, 2019. Marc Hendrickx, Ben Fordham and that book- A Guide to Climbing Ayers Rock! Ben raised some important points regarding the impacts of the ban on the local community and the prospect of the ban being overturned in the near future and wiser heads prevailing. Ben ... I've got a feeling the ban will come into place for a few years, they'll see the impact on tourism in the area and job opportunities and someone will say this is ridiculous, let's open up the Climb again. Marc ... I think that's the way it's going to go long term. I can't see that the ban is going to be sustainable decades into the future. In 100 years time are we still going the have a ban on climbing that wonderful monument in the centre of our country? A podcast of the interview available via SoundCloud ( HERE ) and the complete sh

ABC Alice Springs Radio Breakfast August 8 2019 (79 days till madness takes its toll). I spoke with ABC's Stewart Brash this morning about the Human Rights Commission's decision to terminate my complaint of Racial Discrimination against the Park Board and the Director of Parks Australia. The termination is based on the HRC's view that conciliation with the Board is not possible and as the ban and removal of cultural objects have not yet occurred discrimination is not possible You can read the full HRC letter HERE . Tiger Tjalkalyirri (standing) and Tamalji at the summit 1947. Photo by Arthur Groom.  Stewart takes a couple of calls after my interview ends. The first is from  David Hewitt  who comments that in a recent trip and in his past experience traditional people have indicated it was ok to Climb.  The link below provides a podcast of the discussion: https://soundcloud.com/user-256364995/abc-alice-springs-8-august-2019 Full program available vis t

Media Statement regarding HRC termination of complaint of Racial discrimination against the Director of National Parks and Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management for banning the Climb up Ayers Rock. The Australian Human Rights Commission has handed down its decision on my complaint of racial discrimination against the Director of National Parks and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management for the ban on Climbing Ayers Rock (full letter below). The HRC delegate Jodie Hall terminated my complaint about the decision of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management that the climb up Ayers Rock be permanently closed because she was satisfied that there is no reasonable prospect of the matter being settled by conciliation. “I have decided to terminate the complaint about the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management’s decision to permanently close the Climb, under section 46PH(1B)(b) of the AHRCA, as I am satisfied that there are no reasonable prospects of the matter being settled by con