An indigenous group has angrily rejected the idea that the public should be consulted over the closure of popular rock climbing sites.
Mount Arapiles in western Victoria is known for its spectacular rock formations, but this has led to a bitter battle between climbers and traditional owners, who want popular climbing sites in the area closed for cultural reasons.
Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation chairman Dylan Clarke has written to Prime Minister Jacinta Allan blasting a draft management plan calling for public consultation on closing half of Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park’s climbing routes.
Mr Clarke called the planned public consultation alongside working groups “unnecessary and unprecedented” as he accused a “radical rock climbing minority” of “launching a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining cultural heritage laws”.
“Cultural heritage laws for the entire state of Victoria are under fire,” Clarke wrote.
He said the Prime Minister must “remain steadfast at this critical time and not deviate from the current plan” to close the climbing sites or else question the state’s cultural heritage laws.
Mike Tonkins, president of the Australian Climbing Association Victoria, responded by claiming all Victorians should have a say in how public land is used.
“You can’t refuse consultation on public land,” he told the newspaper Herald Sun.
Mount Arapiles in western Victoria is known for its spectacular rock formations that attract climbers
“Parks Victoria must manage the parks, and it must manage the parks for everyone. Consultation with different user groups is therefore absolutely essential to achieve this.’
Residents of a nearby rural town have joined local publican Bill Lovell in speaking out against the ban, arguing the closure would devastate the town of around 500 people.
“If the climbers don’t come here, the staff don’t get hours,” he told A Current Affair.
Amanda Wilson from the Lister House Medical Clinic in nearby Horsham said four of her 17 doctors had moved to the area specifically to be close to the rock climbing monument.
“If we lost 25 percent of our physicians, we would impact 30,000 patients,” she says.
Following public backlash against closing half of the climbing routes, Environment and Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos announced that Parks Victoria chief Matthew Jackson would be leaving the organisation, with Graeme Dear appointed as interim boss.
Accounting firm Korda Mentha has also been called in to conduct an independent investigation into the agency, which will also include its financials and performance.
The review will focus on allowing the agency to open more forests and state parks to the public.
There are a growing number of complaints that the agency is failing to meet its goals in providing public access to vast tracts of land.
Mr Dimopoulos said it was clear that “Parks Victoria’s current operations need to be improved to meet community expectations”.
Mr. Tomkins said firing Mr. Jackson was not the answer to the agency’s fundamental problems and was “an attempt to save Mr. Dimopoulos’ job.”
“It’s not even a Band-Aid, it’s not about the captain of the ship,” he said.
“The review of the Parks Victoria Act is what is needed. It’s the legislation that’s the problem… and climbing is just the tip of the iceberg.’
Ms Allan has plans to convert a further 440,000 hectares of state forest into new national parks.