Many Natimuk residents and rock climbing enthusiasts alike have reached out to me as the Federal Member for Mallee, shocked and outraged at the Victorian Government’s decision through Parks Victoria to shut down up to half of all the rock climbing routes at world famous Mount Arapiles.  The Save Grampians Climbing group say ‘the literal beating heart of climbing in Australia has been ripped out and discarded’.

It is also hard not to be cynical when the decision was released under the shadow of the American elections and Melbourne Cup to minimise media scrutiny of the decision.  Community members feel Parks Victoria is enabling commercial outcomes for vested interests, not the enjoyment of this special place for all Victorians.

The writing has been on the wall for some time for Australia’s natural wonders, considering restrictions on recreational enjoyment of Uluru, Mount Warning in northern New South Wales, St Mary Peak in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges and parts of Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains.  In Mallee’s north, one well-meaning local family wanted to enable a growing number of local and international astronomers and other visitors to enjoy the stunning reflection of the stars on Lake Tyrrell. Now, thanks to state and federal indigenous heritage claims, this family has effectively wasted $1 million due to state-backed activism that could produce commercial outcomes for some at the expense of others.

I share the community’s outrage at the Mount Arapiles decision, particularly for Natimuk where enjoyment and awe of the mountain has been a major driver of the local economy.

Wimmera and Mallee residents felt this sort of divisive erosion of community enjoyment of the landscape would cease after last year’s comprehensively defeated federal ‘Voice to Parliament’ Referendum.  

Rock climbers and other Australians respect indigenous heritage and sentiments - and the need to conserve the local environment. Locking Australians out of enjoying natural landscapes only fosters further division and alienation.

The Mount Arapiles decision should remind all Australians that under Federal and Victorian Labor, state-sponsored division and activism is carving up community and private land alike for the profit of a select few.

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