‘Intimidation’: Hiker fined $300 for defying Mt Warning ban

A hiker protesting the closure of Mount Warning, south of the Gold Coast, has become the first person fined for climbing the summit – three months after the fact.

A hiker protesting the controversial closure of the Wollumbin Mount Warning summit trail has become the first person to be fined for defying the ban.

Marc Hendrickx from the Right to Climb advocacy group has been a vocal critic of the long-running saga which has seen the world-famous hiking track just south of the Gold Coast “temporarily” closed to the public since early 2020.

Wollumbin has become a lightning rod for debate over access to natural landmarks amid fears it would be “the next Uluru”, with a mysterious committee known as the Wollumbin Consultative Group expressing a wish to have access barred permanently to all but a select group of male members of the local Indigenous population.

In the early hours of Australia Day morning, climbing advocate Marc Hendrickx and local Indigenous elder Sturt Boyd climbed Mt Warning with a group of supporters calling for the trail to be reopened to the public.

The drama has dragged on through a change of government, with the new Labor majority yet to make a final decision on the fate of the trail, but the threat of fines for those who ignore the track closure has been well-known since protesters scaled the peak and posed for photos at the summit on Australia Day last year.

Mr Hendrickx led a group of protesters in a climb of the mountain back in April and was confronted by a ranger from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Mr Hendrickx has now received a $300 fine – express posted by courier, just one day before a planned rally at the base of the mountain expected to attract up to 100 stakeholders calling for the trail to be reopened to the public.

Marc Hendrickx has become the first to be fined for climbing the closed summit.

The rally coincides with the 95th anniversary of the declaration of the Wollumbin Mount Warning site as a national park and has been billed as a “celebration of this gorgeous and beautiful spot”, with speeches to be made by attendees including NSW Upper House MP John Ruddick, who this year tabled a petition to parliament calling for the immediate reopening of the trail.

In correspondence sighted by The Courier-Mail, Mr Hendrickx was told he had breached the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2019 for entering “a park that is closed to the public” – an offence which carries a maximum fine of more than $3000.

Mr Hendrickx said he was shocked to have a courier deliver the fine so close to the rally where he will also be a keynote speaker.

Mount Warning.

“This happened three months ago and we spoke to the ranger and were told to leave the area and I thought if they were going to fine me they would have fined me at the time and they didn’t,” he said.

“For a fine to turn up now looks like it is trying to instil some fear in the community and a bit of intimidation to make sure people don’t climb the mountain.”

Mr Hendrickx was the only member of the group to speak with the ranger and has become a well-known face of the fight through regular public appearances.

He said he would seek “further clarification” from the NPWS and remembered an offer from Sydney radio host Ben Fordham who boldly proclaimed back in March that he would personally pay the fee of a climber fined for defying the track closure.

In a statement, a spokesman for NPWS said a second person had also been issued with a fine and those who breached the climbing bans would “be subject to appropriate law enforcement”.

“We appreciate that there has been community uncertainty about the time taken to resolve this issue,” the statement said.

“It is important however, that we ensure all stakeholders, including the Aboriginal custodians, are appropriately consulted about future management of Wollumbin National Park.”

The Wollumbin trail, which once welcomed more than 100,000 climbers a year and generated more than $10 million annually for the local tourism industry, first closed in early 2020 under the guise of social distancing concerns during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the “temporary” closure has since been extended multiple times with various official explanations, including that the track was no longer safe and that making the trek was against the wishes of the local Indigenous custodians.

The rally, which will also include speeches from local Indigenous people in favour of public access to the mountain, starts at 10am Saturday.

Originally published as ‘Intimidation’: Hiker fined $300 for defying Mt Warning ban