Mt Warning closed: Staggering taxpayer bill for guards to stop walkers

Taxpayers are being slugged thousands of dollars a week for security guards to stop hikers climbing the iconic Wollumbin/Mount Warning trail, with the total cost already ballooning to more than $100,000.

Taxpayers are being slugged $7000 a week for security guards to stop hikers climbing the iconic Wollumbin/Mount Warning.

The world-famous trail to the summit of the Tweed Valley volcano caldera just south of the Queensland border has been closed to the public since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, with a succession of closure extensions sparking fears the trail will never reopen.

Last year it emerged that a mysterious body known as the Wollumbin Consultative Group had recommended the trail be closed permanently due to its sacred significance to local Indigenous people, sparking protests in the nearby gateway town of Murwillumbah.

Security guards stopping walkers from going up Mount Warning.

A group of hikers defied the ban by climbing to the top of the mountain on Australia Day before fencing and security guards moved in ahead of the Easter school holidays.

NSW MP Mark Latham, who has been vocal in his criticism of the track closure, issued a question on notice about the cost of the security measures to Environment and Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe in state parliament.

Mt Warning has been closed to the public since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a written response tabled last week, she confirmed a security company was being paid approximately $7000 a week to stop people from illegally accessing the trail.

Since April the total cost has ballooned to more than $100,000.

“Security was engaged to ensure public safety while the park remains under repair and to ensure the current closure of the Summit Walking Track and the Wollumbin Aboriginal Place is maintained,” she wrote.

“It was an immediate response to increased attempts to illegally access the closed park once the barrier across Mount Warning Road was removed.”

She said there were no costs for the temporary barriers blocking the access road as they were owned by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Climbing advocate Marc Hendrickx, who has long campaigned against the closure, said the continued blockade was dividing the community.

“NPWS continues to ignore the local community and local Ngarakbal representatives who support public access at Mt Warning,” he said.

“In March the Reopen Mt Warning Facebook Group with the support of Ngarakbal Women made an offer to NPWS to hold a Working Bee in the park to help clean up the track … at no cost to NPWS (but) rather than engage with locals as a sign of support and make up for the total absence of community consultation over the last 3 years NPWS rejected this gracious offer and instead stationed security guards at the entrance to prevent people from entering the park.

“This has all the hallmarks of an episode of Yes Minister or Utopia.”