The Central Land Council says if people can’t find it within themselves to respect the wishes of traditional owners of Uluru and support the closure of its climb, then perhaps they should consider it on safety grounds.
The CLC’s director David Ross said a draft management plan for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park that outlines an intention to close the climb is something that traditional owners have been requesting for many years.
“Traditional owners have shared this culturally significant site with visitors for many years now,” Mr Ross said. “They have shared stories about why Uluru and Kata Tjuta are both important to them. They have asked people to respect their wishes for them not to climb and more and more people are accepting that.
“An increasing number of tour operators are also supportive of the climb being closed. Closing the climb is less of an issue to tourists and operators than some would like people to think.
“However, those politicians and outspoken supporters of the climb should also remember that at least 35 people have died on the climb and many more have been injured or fallen ill during it. If the climb was a road and that number of casualties was suffered within a few hundred metres of each other some drastic action would be taken,” Mr Ross said. “In this case the action should be to close the climb.”
Mr Ross said people should remember that the traditional owners of Uluru will be around forever and that others who are arguing for the climb to remain open won’t.
“Prime Ministers come and go,” he said. “Kevin Rudd won’t be around forever. One day he’ll be gone but Aboriginal people won’t. They’ll still be there watching people leave tracks up over their sacred site.”
Mr Ross said if the climb was closed tourists would still visit, albeit a little more aware of the site’s cultural significance, and without families or traditional owners having to grieve for any additional loss of life on it.
10/07/09
