Queensland tourism boss defends Uluru-Mt Warning closures

Queensland’s new tourism boss has revealed a little-known reason contributing to the closure of sacred sites like Uluru and Mt Warning.

New Queensland tourism boss Grant Hunt has defended the controversial closure of indigenous sacred sites such as Uluru and Wollumbin-Mt Warning, saying there are “deep and meaningful reasons” why First Nations people don’t want tourists climbing them.

Mr Hunt, who takes over as Tourism and Events Queensland chairman this week from Virgin Australia co-founder Bret Godfrey, is a leading indigenous tourism player with major business interests at Uluru and Mossman Gorge in North Queensland.

The closure of sites such as Uluru and Wollumbin-Mt Warning in recent years – and proposals to block access to other icons such as the Glass House Mountains – has upset many walkers and climbers.

Mt Warning-Wollumbin, near Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales, has been closed to climbers since last July.

Uluru was closed to climbers in 2019 while Wollumbin-Mt Warning in northern NSW – which attracted about 100,000 visitors a year – has been closed indefinitely since July last year.

Mr Hunt said First Nations people were not only protecting their own culture but also the safety of tourists who were killed or injured clambering over sacred sites.

“From a tourism point of view, those decisions (closures) are disappointing initially but I think what it encourages us to do is to sit down with the traditional owners and try and understand why it is and what it is that they’re after,” he said.

“Some of it’s about cultural concerns – having their precious culture and story denigrated, which is just not acceptable. It wouldn’t be accepted in our culture so it’s not accepted in theirs.

Tourism and Events Queensland chairman Grant Hunt.

“It’s (also) often a concern for safety. We used to lose one person off the rock (Uluru) a year.

“One of the old men likened it to having friends over for a backyard barbecue and one of their kids drowns. It’s a similar thing, right?

“They (First Nations) people feel really hurt and saddened by that. Connection to country is so important for them.

“They don’t want people – whoever they are – getting hurt, injured or dying on their land. It’s extremely hurtful for them.”

Mr Hunt said since climbing Uluru was banned in 2019, tourism “hasn’t missed a beat”.

He said new attractions including the Wintjiri Wiru drone and light show had been developed with First Nations locals and visitor numbers were “off the charts”.

“It’s not as simple as ‘oh they’ve closed it … bugger’,” he said.

“I know there are often quite deep and meaningful reasons for things and there are always ways around them by working together.”

Mr Hunt said he would like to see more indigenous and nature-based tourism in Queensland because it offered the sort of “meaningful” experiences many tourists craved and also gave First Nations people a pathway to “economic self-determination”.

“It’s got advantages if done well,” he said.

Originally published as Queensland tourism boss defends Uluru-Mt Warning closures