Ugly fight between ‘radical rock climbers' and traditional owners over world-famous site

News.com.au

5 hours ago

An ugly battle between traditional owners who want to ban rock climbers from the world famous Mount Arapiles in Victoria and locals has spilled over with a Nationals MP subjected to a humiliating walkout at a conference in Canberra.
Nationals MP Anne Webster has revealed she was left 'shocked' after her speech to the Australian Local Government Association exploded into controversy when she raised concerns over the cultural bans.
Mount Arapiles' traditional owners have lashed out at the Victorian Government, accusing them of consulting a 'radical rock climbing minority' over the decision to close large areas of the world-famous national park.
The stoush echoes the controversy over the decision to ban tourists climbing Uluru in 2019.
But as controversy rages over Mount Arapiles, Ms Webster's remarks prompted a group of attendees to walk out of her address in a move that has become the talk of the gathering of local councils across Australia.
'It's a conversation that I think we need to have,' Ms Webster told news.com.au.
'We are thinking around 20 walked out, and some of the council members who didn't walk out, but know the people on their council who walked out said that they are having difficulty with those members anyway.
'That's for them to deal with. I'm not engaging in that. I was giving three examples of where this is occurring, whether it's a personal business, whether it's private farming land or the Mount Arapiles situation, and people are finding it extraordinarily difficult.'
At first, Ms Webster said she didn't understand what was going on after attendees started to storm out before her speech concluded.
'It surprised me. Certainly. I was like, 'Oh, they must have somewhere else to go?' she said.
'That's what I was thinking as they were leaving.
'I certainly hadn't finished speaking. It's just one of those things, and it's certainly a good learning experience for me. I've been in the job for three weeks. Yeah, so you know a bit to learn. I think it's just, it's all about ensuring that tone is appropriate, that you give space for alternative views.
'I might have emphasised a little more clearly, for example, but this is a conversation, and different views need to be heard. I'm certainly keen to hear alternate views.'
ALGA President Mayor Matt Burnett told news.com.au that the organisation was committed to Closing the Gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and that many members were passionate about the issue.
'As a proud signatory to the National Closing the Gap Agreement, ALGA supports shared decision-making at a community level,'' he said.
'Working side-by-side with other levels of government, we are committed to helping Close the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.'
In a letter to the Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Dylan Clarke, chairman of the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, slammed the push to hold public consultations on the Parks Victoria draft management plan.
The proposal calls for the closure of up to half of climbing routes at Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park.
'Moving forward with an unnecessary and unprecedented consultation extension and Working group creation has the serious potential to draw into question the purposes, objectives, principles and applications of the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010, the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006, and the Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 2018,' Mr Clarke wrote.
'We urge you to remain steadfast during this critical time and not to deviate from the current plan due to a radical rock-climbing minority who have launched a misinformation campaign aimed at undermining cultural heritage laws.'
However, Mike Tonkins, Australian Climbing Association Victoria president warned any move to close Mt Arapiles set a worrying precedent for public land closures across the state.
The latest stand-off comes after huge public backlash to the Parks Victoria plan.
The Allan government is exploring how it can let people continue to rock climb at the world famous Mt Arapiles amid a community backlash.
'If the appalling work that led to Labor's ban on rock climbing in the Grampians and Mt Arapiles warrants sacking the Parks Victoria CEO, then the Minister has no choice to immediately scrap the ban. If these discredited rock climbing bans aren't immediately reversed, the Minister should be sacked too,' Victoria's Deputy Nationals leader Emma Kealy said.