Should You Climb Uluru / Ayers Rock Now That It’s Closing?
Should you climb Uluru (or Ayers Rock) now that it’s due to be closed permanently on 26 October 2019? Short answer… no. According to the local visitors guide,
“Aboriginal traditional owners would prefer visitors not to climb Uluru. Anangu have a responsibility to teach and safeguard visitors to their land. What visitors call ‘the climb’ is of great spiritual significance to the local Anangu. The climb is not prohibited, but Anangu ask as visitors to their land that you respect their wishes, culture and law by not climbing Uluru.”
I think the answer is pretty clear. If I went to a foreign country, say Japan, and the locals asked me not to climb a particular rock (despite it not being illegal), then I wouldn’t climb it. I’d feel bad in doing so. What’s the difference if that rock is in Australia or not? Surely we should respect the local people’s wishes.
Uluru was officially handed back to the Anangu people on 26 October 1985. It’s amazing that for almost 34 years, people have been blatantly disrespecting their wishes and climbing the Rock anyway. I’m all for freedom, but if the traditional custodians don’t want us climbing it, then we shouldn’t bloody well climb it.
Recent news stories report that tourists are flocking to the region, camping illegally, trespassing, and dumping rubbish in an “influx of waste’. This isn’t just disrespectful to the Anangu people, it’s also disrespectful to Australia. Nearby resorts are at capacity, which is reportedly forcing tourists to camp illegally on the side of the road.
Curtin Springs station owner Lyndee Severin spoke of the ongoing issues. She said,
“It's pretty hectic… They would like their children to have the opportunity to climb Uluru, and that's why they're up here. There are limited areas to dispose of black waste in Central Australia — it's either Alice or Ayers Rock near here — and we've got visitors who don't want to stand in queues to dump waste. If they are dumping it on the station, then that has the potential to breach organic standards. It's also disgusting. There's just rubbish everywhere, used toilet paper… we are happy for people to leave rubbish bags at the roadhouse — don't just leave human waste and rubbish on the side of the road. Most people have been OK, but I've copped no end of abuse from others. It’s been a real Catch-22. I don't want to be copping a mouthful of abuse, and we don't want people's holidays to be disjointed, but we also don't want this behaviour on our property.”
Marriage celebrant Meredith Campbell spoke of the influx of tourists. She said,
“On Sunday I went to the Ayers Rock campground to meet a marrying couple and at the reception there, they were just like processional caterpillars; caravan after caravan, arriving, arriving, arriving. There were overflowing bins, high volumes of traffic, and long lines for concessions. It's taken days to relieve the stress — there are so many stressed people down there.”
What are your thoughts? Are people entitled to climb Uluru despite the local Anangu people saying otherwise? Or are some of us just being real jerks in our own country? Surely, we would never go to North America and start disrespecting the local Cherokee or Apache by dumping human waste all over their cultural landmarks? Would we?
MUSIC
THE BREAK by Density & Time (
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