History? Forget
about it!

As Quadrant Online readers will know, Marc Hendrickx has been tireless in his one-man campaign to preserve access for all Australians — black and white alike — to the national landmarks increasingly being declared out of bounds to all but those claiming indigenous heritage. He writes to note that today, July 20, is the 150th anniversary of William Christie Gosse (1842-1881) becoming the first white person to ascend Ayers Rock:

Our requests for information about formal festivities for the 150th anniversary from Parks Australia went unanswered. It seems that only heritage of a certain type is now allowed to be celebrated at our world-famous landmark.

Marc has a full post on the spurned anniversary at his Right to Climb blog, where he notes in passing how different (and not for the better) is today’s Australia from that of only 50 years ago:

…the 100th anniversary in 1973 was celebrated in gusto under adverse weather conditions with a re-creation of Gosse’s historical climb complete with camels attended by over 300 people, and a range of activities including a beer drinking contest, BBQ, a corroboree and a gala centenary ball at the Ayers Rock Hotel. Little of this event is preserved but a few photos held by the National Library capture the magic.

Marc’s post can be read in full here.