Minister in tense standoff with Indigenous group over Mt Arapiles rock climbing ban

The First Nations Minister was accused of being “aggressive” towards traditional owners when they raised one concern over the Mt Arapiles rock climbing ban.

The First Nations Minister was involved in a tense standoff with traditional owners before it was announced that Mt Arapiles rock climbing routes would be shut off to the public for cultural heritage reasons.

The Herald Sun can reveal that Indigenous members in the state’s west told Minister for Treaty and First Nations People Natalie Hutchins they felt abandoned by the government during a forum of Registered Aboriginal Parties in Warrnambool in late October.

This was because the traditional owners of Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park feared a strong negative response from the public when the ban was due to be announced by Parks Victoria.

They wanted support and backing from the government to try to reduce this and raised the issue at the biannual conference.

One traditional owner said their requests for assistance, including how to handle media and for the state to make a joint announcement in support of the management plan, were being rebuffed.

Natalie Hutchins was accused of being aggressive by some witnesses, while others said this was not the case. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

Attendees at the meeting reported a tense standoff between Ms Hutchins and the traditional owner before forum members stood in and said the conversation should be had elsewhere.

Notes taken after the meeting, seen by the Herald Sun, claimed Ms Hutchins was “aggressive” and “unprofessional” when responding to the traditional owners concerns.

One meeting attendee speaking anonymously said: “It’s shameful when Aboriginal people ask for support, and all we get is aggressive, intimidating and discriminatory behaviour from the Treaty Minister.”

“Labor has the opportunity to make history for all Victorians, but Aboriginal people are met with disgusting behaviour and discrimination from the Treaty Minister”.

However, other attendees, who also spoke to the Herald Sun on the condition of anonymity, said the minister’s response to being publicly questioned was not inappropriate; instead, they said it was a complicated subject matter for all involved.

When asked about the meeting, Ms Hutchins said: “Hearing from traditional owners is an important part of my work as Minister for Treaty and First Peoples”.

Days after the forum, the plan to close almost half of the climbing areas in the world-famous park, about an hour’s drive northwest of the Grampians National Park, was quietly released ahead of Melbourne Cup, with no public statement from the government.

The plan has been met with outrage from the climbing community and warnings from locals that the nearby town Natimuk will be “killed off” with tourism set to dive as a result.

One Indigenous advocate told the Herald Sun that handling of the management plan ahead of the Treaty had caused concern across all Indigenous groups in Victoria warning it would “undoubtedly” impact wider community support for the ongoing Treaty process.

There has been strong backlash to the ban on rock climbing at Mount Arapiles.

“The problem is transparency,” they said.

“Victorians see these decisions being made, and then we go into these meetings behind closed doors, and they haven’t been educated on what Treaty means or what’s on the table. It’s basically the referendum 2.0. People don’t know what it is and fear what’s at stake, so they won’t support it.

“The government need to get better at educating the public.”