Anger as critic of Grampians climb ban banished

Rock climbing instructor banned from teaching in Grampians over opposition to Victorian policy.

Rock climbing instructor Tori Dunn at Mt Arapiles in western Victoria. Picture: Aaron Francis

One of Australia’s most experienced rock-climbing instructors has been banned from teaching in the Grampians National Park over her opposition to Victorian government policy, sparking ­industry outrage.

On Wednesday, Parks Victoria banned Tori Dunn from teaching at the Grampians’ Summer­day Valley after she used social media to express concerns about ­reduced access for rock climbers.

Ms Dunn is concerned about being excluded from new cultural awareness courses that enable her to remain accredited as a ­licensed tour operator in the Summerday Valley area, which has some of Australia’s best and safest climbing routes for teaching children.

“I feel like I’m being targeted and bullied,’’ she said.

However, she intends to teach a group on Thursday in Summerday Valley, opening up the way for potential conflict with Parks Victoria. Parks Victoria said trad­itional owners wanted someone else to teach her climbing classes, heralding a dramatic escalation of the dispute.

Australian Climbing Associa­tion Victoria president Mike Tomkins said: “These intimid­ation tactics towards Tori Dunn by Parks Victoria are totally un­acceptable and are a serious misuse of authority.

“Attempting to exclude an ­individual from public land in this manner has no legal basis and this will not be tolerated.’’

Mr Tomkins declared recently on Facebook that it was “time to go climbing’’ in the government’s declared Special Protection Areas because of the legal uncertainty surrounding their validity.

Climbing is banned in SPAs across 500sq km of the park but ­licensed tour operators, such as Ms Dunn, have been granted limited access to Summerday Valley. The government is threatening climbers with fines if they venture into the SPAs, which contain signific­ant rock art, although no one knows ­exactly how much.

Mr Tomkins’s position on whether to return to climbing in the SPAs was supported by Ms Dunn on social media.

A Parks Victoria spokesman confirmed the concerns had been raised by traditional owners and that Ms Dunn would need to be part of a mediation process. “Gariwerd (Grampians) traditional owners have raised with Parks Victoria concerns about disrespectful online comments made by some members of the rock-climbing community,’’ he said.

“A tour operator (Ms Dunn) permitted to operate in the Summerday Valley area of the Grampians National Park has been asked to attend an independently facilitated discussion with Gariwerd traditional owners, to ­respectfully address some of the concerns raised before their cultural induction can take place.

 “As part of the licence conditions to operate in Summerday Valley, all licensed tour operators must complete a cultural heritage induction.”

The government failed to properly consult with climbers before imposing the bans, climbers have said.

The ban sparked a backlash but the government and trad­it­ional owners have accused climbers of damaging cultural heritage.