Right to Climb

Closing the Rock and the problems of progressive paternalism Mark Powell has a short piece up in The Spectator . You can register free to read it, screenshot below:

In today's Weekend Australian: ‘Closing Uluru climb was a mistake’, says ex-ranger (Ed Truth comes out!) Mr Elliot said rather than explore that, bureaucrats chose to manipulate the rock’s Aboriginal owners toward closing the climb, so they could remove their liability for its poor safety record while blaming someone else. By Amos Aikman It was a decision that captivated the nation and brought thousands of people to the Red Centre for their final chance to climb Australia’s most iconic rock. And now the man who oversaw much of that says it was wrong. Greg Elliot, until recently the head ranger at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, personally supervised some of the last days of climbing. He shepherded scores of domestic and international visit­ors through the gates to march nose-to-tail to the top. Mr Elliot worked in the park for seven years, two as head ranger, before retiring and leaving this week. He looks back on the World Heritage Listed landmark’s most contro