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Agree BC but the local owners have pointed out that there is so much more to the Uluru experience than just the climb and now that the rock is closed the rangers there can put much more effort into giving people a real sense of the history and culture rather than spending their time rescuing people from the rock which they had to do again today, apparently some guy didnt take enough water and got distressed.
I have never been there so would be interested to hear the views of those who have visited the rock.

No argument there Mike but with ownership comes the power to prohibit anyone from going there. Now that's obviously not going to happen in this case as they're making a nice profit out of it and fair enough but theoretically it could happen....which is why I think some protections should be written into the Native Title Act for places of national significance if it's not already.

Oh hit a nerve did I? Sorry old mate, keep up with the world, tune into talk back and have a whinge to your friends that you can’t be racist or sexist or ignorant anymore without being called out for it. The “good old days” are over. No revolution needed here.

Blunder I happen to support the decision to close it but i also support those who may have a different point of view. When we suppress opposing pov's we are in real trouble and might as well move to China or the USA.

Totally agree SS. But you can see from the above that 58 has no actual point of view to provide other than to default to “no...because...political correctness brigade”. Welcome a debate on this issue (such as BC’s view) but at least provide something meaningful in terms of sensible arguments. Still waiting for 58 to add some value...

I just find it very odd that ownership and total control of something that is 600 million years old can be conveyed to a small group of people who have been associated with it for 0.01% of that time. I'm happy for the original people to take the financial rewards that come with Uluru but surely it's for everyone to enjoy and if that includes climbing the thing then so be it.

Blunder wrote: Climbing Uluru is ignorance at best or blatant disregard and selfishness at worst. If being politically correct means having care and respect for other people then what is so wrong with that. Its a sacred site to these traditional owners so we should all respect that. If it were a Church, Mosque or even your own front garden bed that you care for, you wouldn't want people stumbling all over and disrespecting that space. Too many people feel hard done by because they can't have their own way all the time and its a disgraceful reflection on our society.

If some people find this site sacred then perhaps they should disassociate themselves from the "whitemans" religion & stick to the rock & other objects sacred to them.

yes I'm struggling with Bunder's analogy as well given churches, mosques, front gardens are man made for a specific reason...this is a rock which has been there 600 million years.

I think it’s less about being progressive vs conservative or ownership vs non-ownership and more about just respecting a culturally significant site by not walking over it. It’s not too much to ask. Go visit it, take photos, walk around, but its not too much to ask to not climb over it, defining forever a walk trail that essentially puts a scar on that landscape.

The thing that makes me shake my head is that the challenge of the climb and the satisfaction of being on top are seen as of higher value than listening to and respecting the Aboriginal people who have been custodians/residents of the land for a lot longer than, well, everyone. In this regard, I think there is an underlying ignorance or disregard of what that land represents to aboriginal people (spirituality, culture, language, family, law and identity, etc) which differs to how non-aboriginal people typically consider land to be - eg an asset, resource, etc. This difference in how land or a site is valued drives a lot of this debate and that’s something that may never be reconciled.

As an aside, 37 people have also died climbing Uluru so I think this is just another sensible reason that supports this decision to close the climb.

We’ll blunder, my first opinion is that you need to man up. I had a light hearted dig at you and you’ve been sooking since. You’ve been transfixed on my posts since.

As for the issue at hand, I am against the closure. Reasons being are that the rock belongs to all Australians. Why is it just now that it has become religious enough to basically fence it off? Our tax money goes into the maintenance of the area while others make money from it. The other point
(and the main one) is that it is an issue that continues with the 2 part Australia. While we should be focussing on making this 1 country, 1 people regardless of colour etc, we say, no this rock belongs to the “other Australians”. You can’t have it both ways. I want 1 Australia.