Fined for Climbing While White

Opposition to the closure of the Mt Warning summit track continues to be a thorn in the side of the NSW National Parks bureaucrats whose gross mismanagement of this natural icon has continued unabated over four and a half years of lies and subterfuge. Community members outraged at the closure, which has caused ongoing harm to locals and businesses in the area, gave that thorn another wiggle by defying the law to celebrate the 95^th anniversary of the National Park on Saturday 3^rd August.

The park was opened on August 3, 1929[1]. The event attended at the summit by over 200 people, mainly children and local and state politicians. They left Murwillumbah at 6:30am, and reached the summit by midday. Festivities at the summit were completed by 1:30pm and the group were back in Murwillumbah by 5pm. The official opening was by the NSW Attorney General Francis Boyce, who travelled from Sydney and rode to near the summit on horseback with his wife attesting to both the quality of the summit track and their riding prowess. Boyce complimented those who worked to create the park and declared the purpose of his visit to open the park “So this gorgeous and beautiful spot is to be dedicated to the people forever.”

Other dignitaries included Mayor of Murwillumbah Arthur Black, who spoke to the children present. He told them

to remember the park was theirs and that each could be a trustee in his or her own way”. He said, “The park was a memorial of the beauty of nature and the bountiful way in which God had blessed the Tweed and the people of Australia.

Byron MLA Arthur Budd who also rode to near the summit, stated that “The opening of the park was an historical occasion, for the area would be a haven for all time, and would be famous for years to come as a tourist resort”. 

 Report on the Official opening ceremony at
Mt Warning National Park, Tweed Daily, 5/8/1929

Fast forward 95 years and we find the park in deep trouble and the public, including the grandchildren of those present at the opening, banned from the summit, with no timeframe announced to fix the problem. The economic cost of the 4.5 year closure now exceeds $60 million with 30 per cent being felt locally through closed businesses and lost employment opportunities. The closure has denied about 600,000 visitors from experiencing the awe and wonder of the park and its extraordinary views. The lesson being pushed by the state government is that Australians no longer have the right to access their own country, because they have the wrong skin colour. This warped world view is being pushed by governments across the country at other peaks, lakes, beaches and parks by politicians and bureaucrats who have lost their sense of what it is to be Australian.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service indicate the ongoing closure at Mt Warning, which originally and irrationally used Covid as an excuse, remains closed, although now the reason is “safety”. Meanwhile, consultations continue with its secretive Wollumbin Consultative Group (WCG), the group of Aboriginal outsiders the NPWS consider the sole stakeholder in deciding the park’s future.

The safety issues are bogus. I’ve now climbed the mountain six times since it was closed. The track built by volunteers in 1909 has great bones but requires maintenance befitting its status as a premier tourist attraction. For experienced walkers it poses no major problems and is similar to other Grade 5 walking tracks in NSW.  Look to walks in National Parks elsewhere in the world to see what is possible with sound management.

NPWS have been consulting with the WCG for over 20 years and have more than enough time to sort out indigenous concerns. It’s ridiculous, their claim that more time is needed. The claims made by the WCG that the summit was a men’s initiation site were exposed as a fabrication when they first arose in late 1999. Other Aboriginal elders at the time dismissed the claim that the public could not climb as a “modern day invention”. Weak bureaucrats in NPWS failed to question the claims and the fabrications became entrenched in the Park Management Plan and are promoted as a gospel truth in NPWS literature.

With little options left but to protest a community celebration of the 95^th anniversary of the opening of the park was held in the carpark at the foot of the mountain on August 3, 2024. Those present included Uki and Murwillumbah community members, members of the Save Our Summits Association and Re-open Mt Warning Facebook group, the NSW and QLD Libertarian Party branches along with Ngarakwal custodians and former NPWS staff. Star of the event was Libertarian Party MLC the Hon John Ruddick.

NPWS attempted to spoil the party by sending me a fine of $300 for climbing back in April. This was couriered to me and arrived just as I was departing for northern NSW from Sydney. It will be challenged in court. Their attempt at instilling fear and intimidation failed miserably and about 20 people started the celebrations early with a summit climb to view the sunrise. Amongst them John Ruddick, who may well have been the first sitting politician to climb the mountain in nearly a century.

Climbers arrived back at the base by about 10:30am to listen to a series of speeches (see clip below). Ngarakwal Elder Sturt Boyd outlined the indigenous issues at the mountain. Like his late mother, Marlene, Sturt challenged claims being made by the secretive Wollumbin Consultative Group. He poured scorn on claims the summit was an initiation site and called for the mountain to be reopened for all.

Harry Creamer, ex-NPWS anthropologist involved in interviewing Aboriginal elders in NSW in the 1970s and 80s about their cultural heritage, eviscerated the current Aboriginal Place Management Plan for the park. He pointed out that the only restricted site he was aware of in the park was distant from the summit and nowhere near the summit track.

My contribution was to speak of the events of 1929, noting how NPWS had ruined the fine legacy left us by our forefathers, the good men and women of the Tweed who had worked so hard to preserve this wonderful place for future generations. I called on the current Minister to work towards an Easter 2025 reopening. John Ruddick spoke of his summit experience and the madness of the closure and his intention to work with the community to get the park reopened.

Until NPWS see reason we will continue to be a thorn in their side. People will continue to climb and exercise their cultural heritage, risking fines in the progress. The irrational policy that puts  false Aboriginal ideology and confected ‘history’ ahead of other community interests and heritage is destroying the spirit of the place, destroying Australia.

Put a ring around the date and join us at the Mt Warning’s summit to celebrate the sunrise on Australia Day 2025. We will not give up the fight no matter how many fines the bureaucrats issue.

[1] https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/192173825