15 years
Ban something for all because it´s a religious taboo of some? No, with all due respect.
Proposal: Climbers to be banned from Uluru
Travel Talk
Plan to ban climbers from Uluru
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/08/2620080.htm
Climbing to the top of Uluru could be banned in the near future under a proposed draft plan for the popular Central Australian tourist destination.
The Director of National Parks today released a draft 10-year management plan for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which is visited by about 350,000 people a year, about half of whom are from overseas.
The traditional landowners have long been opposed to people climbing the 346 metre high rock, which is considered sacred.
- Comments
15 years
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pm-rejects-uluru-climbing-ban-idea-20090710-dfco.html
ol K- Rudd has shunned the idea. i dont think they will ban the climbing - tourism is too important to the australian economy at present. although apparently the number of people climbing uluru has dropped since the debate began.
15 years
I had a choice of climbing or walking round. I chose to walk round, and it was most enjoyable. But they did exert a lot of gentle pressure on us to discourage us from climbing: we "had to" visit their visitor centre first and read about the history and their spiritual principles, and it does have an effect if you are marginal.
I agree with Klaus in principle, but on the other hand "we" (the white nations) have "invaded" the aboriginal-owned territories; in any other country that hill would be on private property.
But against that, I also believe that "no man has the right to own mountains" (Ewen MacColl, folk song about the first mass tresspass on Kinder Scout, Peak District).
So where do we go from here? :confused:
15 years
There wouldn´t be such a fuss if the Aboriginals were properly integrated into the Australian society. Unfortunately for them, that mountain is one of their biggest bargaining chips so you can hardly blame them for using it.
The Australians (including the Aboriginals!) are responsible to solve this political problem - like we Europeans are responsible to integrate our immigrants into our societies so they don´t have to beg for anything in the future. I might add the same can be said about the Gypsies in Europe.
Uluru is part of a national park, so you can impose all sorts of restrictions without arguing along religious lines or blaming the "white nations" for what they have done with Australia. I haven´t done anything to them.
A possible solution would be to restrict the number of visitors, like they do it in Machu Picchu. Or to ban climbing it without a local, licensed guide. The money the rock makes could be channeled into a foundation for helping Aboriginals everywhere in Australia, like providing education and healthcare. Tourists will accept anything as long as it doesn´t look like a scam or rip-off.
It is a conflict of interests like any other and can be resolved like any other - as long as nobody injects religion into the debate. That´s the safest way not to get anywhere. Ask Israelis and Palestinians.
15 years
klaus, you have some interesting points, but there is still a massive divide between white australia and the aborigional settlements. the town that uluru sits on is home to some of the highest rates of suicide, petrol sniffing and domestic abuse in the whole country. its easy to fix these problems by throwing profits at them, but in reality it doesnt work.
i am an avid rock climber myself, and in victoria there is a mountain called arapiles (shaped much like uluru) which is the best climbing in australia. it has a rich aborigional past as well, but we still climb it... only everyone gives back something to the upkeep of the mountain, national park and the falcons that make it their home. there are no resorts, just basic camping.
i think the biggest problem is that while it is a draw card, we will keep exploiting it, but the tour operators and resorts give nothing back to the poeple of the land. aborigional people have pride in the land, we cant integrate them and erase the history they have so richly built. its a question of how best to stop the massive drug abuse, domestic abuse and sexual abuse that is rife in these communities. if anyone has an answer???? because in australia we have not found one. i guess its black and white looking in on the problems, but living amongst them is a bit different.
15 years
I don´t have a solution and even I think it´s a bad idea to come up with one. The solution will have to come from the Aboriginals themselves or else they wouldn´t accept it - just because it´s not theirs. I think that´s the reason why the problem remains unsolved.
They will have to figure out how they want to be integrated into a 21st-century democratic society without losing their cultural identity. All they can ask the "whites" for is all possible help to sort it out they way they think is appropriate.
Staying on the hook of the welfare system certainly won´t help them in the long run. Blaming the "whites" for the past neither.
The core common sense our societies are built around is that all citizens are equal. Special rights for ethnic minorities might be granted for a while, but in the long run they will erode this common sense.
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