Right to Climb

Some notes and photos of SOS community meeting and protest climb 12-13 April 2024. Mountain legends (thanks SOS) Community Meeting 12 April Mt Warning Hotel Uki. Thanks to everyone who attended the Community Meeting at the Mt Warning Hotel in Uki on Friday night. Speakers included Craig Evans, myself, the great Andrew Flanagan and Uki local Amulet Ov Acorn with some welcome input, facts and questions from the audience. Video of my speech. For me it was wonderful to meet people who have assisted with our petition and others who shared wonderful stories about climbing and working on the mountain. The petition should break the 10k mark next week (Broke 10k on afternoon of April 15). I understand any debate in Parliament will likely be in the first or second sitting week in May - keep an eye out. To get better than 10k on what is a rather obscure NSW Parliamentary petition system that excludes legitimate stakeholders from SE QLD and the rest of the country is a great achievement. Thank you

Recently appeared on the Bolt Report with Andrew Bolt discussing closure of rock climbing at the world class climbing spot - Mt Arapiles in Victoria and what we can do about it.   Marc on the Bolt Report 8 April 2024 Video link below Help us save Mt Warning by signing our NSW e-petition.- Link HERE 

In a radio interview with Jason Olbourne on TNT radio I missed the opportunity to talk about the Last Log Book of Ayers Rock. In July 2018 when I climbed the Rock with my daughters I left a blank 192 exercise book in a tupperware container at the summit memorial. This was covered in a series of posts in February 2019 (see  LAST LOG BOOK Part 1 ). The book was returned by Parks Australia using the self-addressed envelope I left with it. The first names were ours written at 4pm on the 17th of July 2018. The last date was the 21st of August, 2018. Over that time more than 2400 people had signed the book from 33 countries. The majority of comments were made by families like ours, visiting the summit to gain an experience of the natural world, bask in those glorious world heritage listed views and create memories to last a lifetime. The oldest climber was an 83 year old woman, the youngest not yet born. The contents make a mockery of claims by Parks Australia that few want to Climb. In fac

TNT Radio - a great media outlet for free thinkers. Interview with Jason Olbourne about the unfair closures of Ayers Rock, Mount Warning and other natural wonders. Link to come on this site HERE . At its core the issue is about who gets access to and has the right to enjoy the wonderful natural world around us. Sadly what Australian State and Commonwealth government authorities and politicians are saying about this, based on their actions and policy in banning the public from awe and wonder, is that access and enjoyment of these places should be based foremost on race and ideology and not on your rights as a citizen, not on your rights as a tax payer paying for maintenance and management of the parks, and not on what I see as our fundamental human right to experience nature and enjoy the natural world on our own terms without having to pay homage to anyone else’s beliefs. This is a fundamentally racist policy that is morally despicable and must be changed.

 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

1957 - members of the Petticoat Safari climb Ayers Rock - more enlightened times! Below is a longer version of an essay I wrote that appears in the March 2024 issue of Quadrant Magazine . If you are interested in helping save what was once one of the best family bushwalks in eastern Australia, sign the Reopen Mt Warning Parliamentary petition via the following LINK .  Locked out of the sunburnt country Marc Hendrickx  I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me! -- Dorothea Mackellar Australia’s cultural identity has forever been closely connected with the Australian Landscape. The natural world around us has helped forge our unique Australian spirit from which emerges our sense of humour, creed of mateship, altruism, ingenuity, self-reliance, courage, and resilience in the face of hardship. Despite the fact the vast

 A new E-Petition has been listed in the NSW Legislative council (NSW Upper House) to reopen Mt Warning.  LINK HERE...  https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lc/pages/epetition-details.aspx?q=mIh4VlYuV3MWXOB3MBXJYQ It's a NSW e-petition so technically available to NSW resident only.  An earlier petition available to resident of other states is available HERE. Note this will have no influence to NSW Parliament but nice to sign regardless.  https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/queenslanders-want-to-reopen-mt-warning-summit The e-petition is limited to a small number of words.  Thanks to Ben Fordham and 2GB for their support of this important public policy issue. Our original version read as follows... To the President and Members of the Legislative Council Introduce legislation to reopen Mt Warning’s famous summit track and establish a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into public access rights in the Wollumbin National Park. The NSW government has plans to hand control of all National Parks in N

 Great video that exposes the issues at Mt Warning in a little over 4 minutes. Thanks to the video maker!

Parliamentary Inquiry into My Warning. The Hon. John Ruddick MLC, leader of the Libertarian Party in the NSW Legislative Council is calling for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the on-going shambles at Mt Warning.  In a press release (see below) John Ruddick states: "Racially exclusive national parks are an abhorrent and divisive relic that belongs in the past and certainly not in modern Australia."" We fully support this call. Management at Mount Warning is now the type example of how NOT to manage a National Park.  Please lend your support to John Ruddick and the Libertarian Party! Website:  https://www.libertarians.org.au/nsw Full text of press release below: