Climbing Mt Warning with a large group of like-minded individuals with the company and support of Sturt Boyd, son of Marlene Boyd, followed by a protest rally in Uki with about 200 people, to support reopening the 115 year old summit track to the public. Probably the best Australia Day experience in my life!
Some pictures below to mark the occasion.
North Coast Locals join Ngarakwal Elder to call for Mt Warning to be Reopened.
January 26, 2024
About 200 locals from Uki, Murwillumbah and surrounds answered an invitation from Ngarakwal Elder Sturt Boyd to protest the ongoing closure of Mt Warning. The meeting was held at Gerard Parker Park at Uki on Australia Day. The famous walk to the summit has been closed by NPWS since March 2020 on the basis of claims made about the mountain by the secretive Wollumbin Consultative Group (WCG).
The event was supported by the Save Our Summits Association. SOS president Craig Evans opened the meeting speaking about the importance of access to the natural world, including summits in the Glass House Mountains and Mt Warning, has on the physical and mental health of the whole community.
Ngarakwal Elder Sturt Boyd then welcomed the crowd with a traditional dance, singing along to a recording of his late Grandmother Millie Boyd. Mr Boyd exerted his family’s close connection and custodianship of the Mountain and challenged the claims of the WCG, labelling them false and for Mt Warning to be reopened for everyone; closing his speech stating: “I love you all and I will get our mountain back.”
Other speakers included Marc Hendrickx, geologist and author of “A Guide to Climbing Mt Warning” who labelled claims of the WCG as “Secret Men’s Business” and called for a Royal Commission; comparing the situation to the fabricated claims labelled as “Secret Women’s Business” that held up construction of the Hindmarsh Bridge in South Australia in the mid-1990s.
Adventurer Andrew Flanagan spoke of visiting the summit with his grandchildren and the harm the closure has caused to the bushwalking community and local businesses severely impacted by the loss of visitors. Businesses along Mt Warning Road and elsewhere in the area have never been consulted about the closure by NPWS.
Uki local trail running champion Liam McKenzie, said not being able to access the mountain impacted his mental health: “Since moving to the community I have had a very close connection with the mountain and it’s extremely hard to look out at it each day and not be able to go up there. I just hope we can achieve something and see it reopened again.”
The meeting was closed by local Amulet Ov Acorn, who spoke about the spiritual significance of the land to non-indigenous people. Highlighting the close connection all of humanity has with nature.
A question from the crowd raised the prospect of a future mass protest march to the summit. When asked who would come along most of the crowd raised their hands in support.
There were no NPWS representatives at the meeting. It seems officials have once again missed an important opportunity to explain their position and to engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders they have ignored to date.
Earlier in the day Sturt Boyd accompanied by a number of other bushwalking enthusiasts defied the official closure and climbed the mountain to see the first sunrise on Australia Day. The climb was undertaken with the blessing of Mr Boyd. At the summit, to the background of a spectacular Mt Warning sunrise, Mr Boyd welcomed the new day, singing along with a recording of his grand Mother Millie Boyd, and spoke about the Ngarakwal connection to country and the importance of reopening the Mountain’s summit to everyone.
The Sunrise
The Protest (Photos by Steven Gibbs)
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