Right to Climb

I asked Hon Mark Latham if he could ask some questions of the new Environment Minister Penny Sharpe about the costs of securtity at Mt Warning. The answer below. It turns out NPWS are forking over $7K per week for security at the carpark to prevent people from exercising their right to climb to the summit. The estimated costs of repair of the track and replacing the chain can be reasonable be estimated to be around $150000. Though Government procurement practises will probably push this up by a factor of 2 or 3 (there's efficency for you!). So since April NPWS have wasted the amount of money that could have been used to repair and reopen the summit track.  A few years ago cars in the carpark at the base of the walk were routinely vandalised with tyres slashed and windows smashed yet NPWS did absolutley nothing about improving security of park patrons. Now they are employing guards to prevent patrons from climbing. Its clear from their actions who NPWS regard as the "real"

Glass House under threat of closure.  The Glasshouse mountains for some time have been  under threat of closure  to satisfy the irrational demands of local Aboriginal Groups and likely the wishes of Queensland government park authorities who are finding it difficult to manage these beautiful places from the comfort of desks in the Brisbane CBD. No one is forcing people to climb. If people don't want to climb and enjoy the adventure, exhilaration, and look over the remarkable landscape to see how special it is, for whatever reason then don't climb. At the same time it is morally wrong to force your opinions and beliefs on others.  QNPS are now giving credence to this morally reprehensible view and endorsing a Naidoc week event at Mt Tibrogargan for which they urge people not to climb. Officially the climb is open - so in respect of our beliefs of freedom of movement in public places I encourage all readers if they live close (Brisbane is about an hour drive away) to make an ef

In 1993 NSW NPWS published a glossy 20 page guide to Mount Warning National Park. It's one of the best park guides I've come across and a great credit to the authors Berkeley Wiles and Lyn Skillings. The guide is no longer available. I found a copy in the NSW State Library (catalogue number 919.44304, ISBN 0731008243). The book contains a wonderful description of the summit walk under the heading "Staircase to the sky" that reads as follows: Staircase to the sky  Mount Warning is different things to different people — a challenge, a rainforest experience, a staircase to spectacular views, a feast of sights sounds and smells that awaken the senses... or just an escape.  Whatever the attraction, Mount Warning is visited by about 60 000 people each year. `Have you climbed Mount Warning?' has become a catchcry amongst locals and visitors alike. Those who have climbed it gain an instant affinity with each other, a common achievement to discuss together.  Age does not a

Writer Robert Onfray has an excellent article on the looming closure of Mt Warning on his forestry blog. This outlines in considerable detail some of the history that got us where we are today with NSW NPWS seeking to close the door on one of the world's natural wonders.   Stealing a mountain - a warning for all of us. Hard as you try, when travelling in the Tweed Valley or passing along the Pacific Highway (now Motorway), you cannot miss Mount Warning. It is a striking feature of the far north coast of New South Wales – the peak is bosomed in the skies! Mount Warning offers the opportunity to see the morning sun first rise over the horizon on the Australian continent. The dominant mountain peak is visible from many points, which is unsurprising as it stands at 1,159 metres high and only 32 kilometres inland. Captain James Cook saw the mountain in 1770 as an important landmark after encountering dangerous shoals off the coast. He later wrote that mariners would always be able to kn