Mt Warning/Wollumbin defiance: Hikers rally against ban on climbing ‘sacred’ Tweed Shire mountain in northern NSW
Close to 100 campaigners backing the reopening of Mt Warning/Wollumbin in the Tweed say they plan to climb the mountain in protest – with no fear of authorities – following a fiery Australia Day rally.
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Close to 100 campaigners supporting the reopening of Mt Warning/Wollumbin say they plan to climb the mountain in protest with no fear of authorities following a fiery rally in the Tweed on Australia Day.
Members of the group Save Our Summits (SOS) were leading the rally at the Uki sportsground, with North Coast indigenous elder Sturt Boyd echoing cries to see it open again to the public.
Police conducted several drive-bys of the rally to ensure it remained peaceful.
SOS president Craig Evans – who started the organisation when similar issues impacted walking trails across Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains – said the widespread closure of natural spaces was “devastating”.
“We live in the most beautiful country in the world with some of the most stunning natural attractions,” he said.
“We’ve got all of this natural beauty around us, these mountains have been here before the first man walked upright and we will not be locked out of it.”
Indigenous elder Sturt Boyd challenged the crowd to speak up if they disagreed with his “mission” to reopen the mountain.
“I challenge any Bundjalung to come up here right now and share your views. Take the mic out of my hand,” he shouted.
“I love you all and I will get our mountain back.”
Campaigner Marc Hendrickx, who wrote the book “A Guide To Climbing Mount Warning”, said the national park and the summit “deserves better than the misguided treatment it has received from the current authorities”.
“The late Marlene Boyd recognised our connection to our land in what she said about visiting the Mt Warning summit: ‘How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation’.”
Mr Hendrickx said the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service “let the country down”.
“The closure was based on lies and falsehoods about the environmental impact of visitors and the safety of the walking route,” he said.
Mr Hendrickx also took a swipe at last year’s report on the alleged sacred indigenous role the mountain has, and called for closer scrutiny.
“We need to call on NSW Government to establish a royal commission to deal with the Aboriginal claims over Mt. Warning,” he said.
“Our national parks belong to all Australians and access to them via long established tracks and trails is the right of everyone.
“The trail to the summit of Mt Warning is 115 years old this year.
“Access to our natural wonders must not be limited due to the views of others or petty bureaucratic restrictions that do nothing to protect our parks.”
Local trail running champion Liam McKenzie, who achieved a record time running from the car park to the summit, said not being able to access the mountain impacted his mental health.
“Since moving to the community I have had a very close connection with the mountain and it’s extremely hard to look out at it each day and not be able to go up there,” he said.
“I just hope we can achieve something and see it reopened again.”
‘Next Uluru’: Hikers rally against Mt Warning climbing ban
Earlier: For the second year in a row, hikers have defied a climbing ban at Mount Warning/Wollumbin to scale the summit for an Australia Day sunrise.
The popular hiking trail in the Tweed Valley just south of the Queensland border was “temporarily” closed in early 2020, officially because of social distancing concerns during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Almost four years later the trail remains closed, with a succession of different reasons and excuses given for the continued closures, with a report last year recognising the mountain’s sacred and spiritual role in local Indigenous culture.
The NSW department of National Parks released an extensive report recommending stewardship of the mountain be handed over to a mysterious outfit known as the Wollumbin Consultative Group.
That recommendation has outraged climbing enthusiasts and other Indigenous groups alike, who see the mountain as “the next Uluṟu” in a movement to declare special places off limits to the public.
In the early hours of Australia Day morning, climbing advocate Marc Hendrickx and local Indigenous elder Sturt Boyd climbed the peak with a group of supporters calling for the trail to be reopened to the public.
Mr Hendrickx said the group made their climb with the blessing of Mr Boyd, whose mother Marlene has been referred to as the custodian of the mountain.
A rally is planned at the Tweed Valley village of Uki later in the day.
A third-party security company had two guards stationed at the entrance to the climbing track on Friday.
They said they were there to catch unsuspecting climbers making their descent back to the car park.
The guards, from Sydney-based security contractor Allied Security Management, said they would take number plate details of climbers and forward it to their employer.
They refused to state whether they were working with NSW National Parks or the police, but claimed fines could be issued.
But Save Our Summit group members said they believed they could not be fined by the security company, and that a number of rangers on site early Friday “ignored” them.
The group acknowledged they made the sunrise climb with Mr Boyd and Mr Hendrickx.
In January last year, Indigenous elder Elizabeth Boyd broke into tears while speaking at a Murwillumbah rally opposing the climbing ban.
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Originally published as Mt Warning/Wollumbin defiance: Hikers rally against ban on climbing ‘sacred’ Tweed Shire mountain in northern NSW
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