Australia Day - Reopen Mt Warning and other natural wonders

Reopen Mt Warning Australia Day celebration

Gerald Parker Park, Uki 1.30pm (NSW time) 26 January 2024.

See event page... https://fb.me/e/gyPPeKaSM

Happy Australia Day for the 26th of January!

I'm a proud Australian. I'm proud of what this Country has achieved and represents, and of the Western values of Liberal Democracy that underpin that success. There are dark forces out there that want to see this country fail. Sadly some of these people are the very politicians and bureaucrats we put our faith in the run the country for everyone and not just for large corporations, or a few selfish entitled minorities who see themselves as perpetual victims rather than active citizens. We need to ask ourselves what we can give this great nation rather than what we can take from it. We are all Australians regardless of race, religion or how long we have been here. We need to reinvigorate a sense of national pride as we face an uncertain future in troubling times, or we face extinction.

One of the foundations of our Australian identity is our interaction with the unique Australian landscape. This sunburnt country, of sweeping plains and ragged mountain ranges we live in has helped forge our Australian character. Our bonds of mateship, our ingenuity and ability to bounce back after disaster, and our sense of humour originate to a large extent from the land around us. Without access to our country we risk losing the very essence of what makes us Australian.

And this brings me to Mt Warning. Its summit provides a platform that reveals remarkable views over World heritage listed rainforests, coastal plains and beaches, and the eroded remnants of the walls of a 23 million-year volcanic caldera. The summit provides a vantage point to appreciate the beauty of our natural world, inspires awe and wonder in our surroundings and reminds us, Warns us, of how special this place is, how fragile, and how important it is to preserve it for future generations. For the last 20 years or so, rather than work for everyone who has a stake in the mountain, the people we have trusted to look after it on our behalf, our National Parks Service, have let the country down. This has been done based on lies that stack as high as the mountain itself. These lies are exposed in my book A Guide to Climbing Mt Warning.

Our National Parks belong to all Australians and access to them via long established tracks and trails is the right of everyone. The trail to the summit of Mt Warning is 115 years old this year. Access to our natural wonders must not be limited due to the religious views of others or petty bureaucratic restrictions that do nothing to protect our parks. These places belong to all of us. Our National Park authorities seem to have forgotten this. It's the very reason they were founded in the first place. It's time we reminded them of it. It's time to Reopen Mt Warning and other wonders, like the summit of Ayers Rock, and lay in place provisions that will ensure other places of awe and wonder can continue to be accessed by everyone and not a privileged few.

See you at Uki on January 26. Gerald Parker Park 1:30pm.

See some of you earlier!

Mount Warning: Aboriginal claims about summit climb are contested

"How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation." Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd RIP NSW NPWS have the following description about Aboriginal attitudes to people climbing to the summit of Mt Warning on their webpage about the walking track: Wollumbin, which means ‘cloud catcher’ to some Aboriginal People, is a traditional place of cultural law, initiation and spiritual education for the people of the Bundjalung Nation. Under Bundjalung law, only certain people can climb the summit. Out of respect for their law and culture, consider not climbing the summit. These claims, including the very name applied to the mountain, are contested and it seems there is another story that NSW NPWS have not properly acknowledged and have long kept from public attention. We came across this article from the Daily News February 24 2007 about Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd that makes for interesting reading. ...

17th death on the Rock

17th death on the Rock ABC report that a 76 year old Japanese man collapsed on the steep part of the climb and despite first aid, was not able to be revived. The elderly Japanese man likely died as a result of heart complications, probably brought on by existing (perhaps unknown) medical conditions and over exerting himself. He appears to have died revelling in the opportunity life provides. RIP Brother of the Rock. Our thoughts with his family and the first attenders who did their best to treat him. It's sad, but life goes on, and so should the climb. His death marks the 17th death ON the Rock since 26 May 1962 when 16 year old school boy Brian Strieff, on a school excursion with Carey Grammar, wondered off the main path in heavy fog on the way down and fell to his death. ABC's report indicate it is the 37th death, but these figures from Parks Australia have not been substantiated. It seems that many of the deaths Parks Australia claim to have occurred ON the Rock occurr...

Mt Warning closure - 4 years of lies and misinformation

Mt Warning closure - 4 years of lies and misinformation March 30 (Easter Saturday) marks the 4-year anniversary of the "temporary" closure of the Mt Warning summit track. Some thoughts and rambled musings below. I spoke with Ben Fordham about the anniversary on the Ben Fordham Breakfast show on 2GB. Ben's response a classic: "If you want to climb, just climb it!" Link to that interview HERE . 4 year anniversary of bureaucratic madness We know the exact date of the closure thanks to bushwalker: Tertia Starr Maynard, who posted a photo of a note left on her windscreen by NPWS rangers to the reopen Facebook page . It was dated and read “NPWS advises Wollumbin National Park is closing from today due to covid19. Gate is not locked but please close behind you as you exit. Thanks NPWS.” Photo by T Maynard - the last walkers out. In the 4 years since, after other parks were reopened, Mt Warning remained closed and the reason for the temporary closure morphed to in...

Right to Climb

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