Parks fat cats under siege as climbers and Indigenous leaders demand fair go on climbing bans

Parks Victoria is under pressure from all parties to resolve the impasse over rock climbing bans at Mt Arapiles.

Residents of the nearby town of Natimuk faces catastrophe if a Mount Arapiles climbing ban in Victoria goes ahead. Picture: Nadir Kinani

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Parks Victoria is attempting to head off the backlash over proposed bans at Mt Arapiles in western Victoria by consulting more widely with rock climbers and ­traditional owners.

Parks officials will this week hold community consultations in the western Victorian town of ­Natimuk to discuss a report that was conducted into the impact of the proposed climbing bans.

It comes as traditional owners are being courted to become more heavily involved in the management plan process, which threatens to gut climbing in the world-famous location about 3½ hours from Melbourne.

The controversy, reported extensively by The Australian, has led to the appointment of a new chief executive at Parks Victoria, deep political embarrassment for the Allan government, and a rift between traditional owners and local businesses.

The consultations will be held on Thursday to discuss the outcome of community engagement conducted by Parks Victoria.

Climbing Victoria chairman Mike Rockell said it was hoped an overhaul at the upper echelons of Parks Victoria would help the cause.

“Climbing Victoria is hopeful that with major changes in senior personnel at Parks Victoria, that they will be much more supportive of recreation, including rock climbing, taking place in national and state parks,’’ he said.

Parks Victoria was swamped with people concerned about plans to gut climbing at Arapiles, following the move to wreck the industry at the nearby Grampians National Park.

The Grampians bans, more than five years old, have been hard for Parks Victoria to police because of the vastness of the park.

However, Arapiles is much smaller, making it easier to monitor, and the organisation has raised the spectre of reopening its Natimuk office, in a sign that compliance with bans will be enforced.

Parks Victoria says its proposed amendment to the management plan aimed to balance recreational activities with the protection of cultural heritage and the environment. The proposed amendment would update the existing plan to reflect findings from recent cultural and environmental surveys, it said.

It claimed the work had identified tens of thousands of artefacts at Arapiles, scarred trees and rock art, with evidence dating back at least 3000 years.

It claims to have one of the largest Indigenous stone quarry complexes found in Australia, and says it found threatened plants.

It also says that the proposed amendment to the management plan would include designated areas for rock climbing.

But the strategy has outraged climbers as well as locals in nearby ­Natimuk who rely on the climbing economy to keep the town’s businesses viable.

Australian Climbing Association’s Victoria treasurer Mike Tomkins said climbers would not tolerate Parks Victoria wrecking the pursuit.

“People will be up in arms,’’ he said.

“People are going to lose their minds if they take away major sections of Arapiles permanently.’’

Parks Victoria announced last year plans to close 63 per cent of climbing routes at Mt Arapiles/Dyurrite, with a potential permanent ban on more than 54 per cent in the future.

Since Parks Victoria chief executive Matthew Jackson left the job last year amid an outcry over the organisation’s behaviour, Parks Victoria has attempted to consult with stakeholders, as required under its formal statement of obligations.

The issue of rock climbing in Victoria has become a years-long saga that has undermined the ­state government since 2019.

Mr Jackson was being paid more than $500,000 a year, slightly more than the Premier, but fell out with the government amid the wrangling over rock climbing at Arapiles and the way the bans were also imposed at the nearby Grampians National Park.

The 2021 Parks Victoria obligations clearly state the importance of consultation with communities and affected groups.