Last chance to climb Australia's famous rock (Roundup)

Jul 8, 2009, 7:00 GMT

   Sydney - A plan to close a top tourism attraction to visitors because its Aboriginal owners consider it sacred sparked a fierce debate in Australia on Wednesday.

   Parks Australia announced that Uluru in central Australia, formerly known as Ayers Rock, would likely be off-limits by October 2011.

   Each year around 350,000 people visit Uluru, 440 kilometres south of Alice Springs. A third of them vote with their feet and climb the 347-metre monolith despite the traditional owners urging visitors to make do with just looking at the giant sandstone rock.

   The imposing rock, Australia's most photographed physical feature, sits in a dead-flat plain in the centre of the continent.

   'For visitor safety, cultural and environmental reasons, the director and the board will work towards closure of the climb,' a Parks Australia management plan states.

   Northern Territory Tourism Minister Chris Burns said 'we have never supported the full closure of the climb at Uluru and that remains our position.'

   Northern Territory tour operators have complained that transferring ownership of land to indigenous people often means tourists are not allowed to visit or are charged exorbitant entry fees.

   Alice Springs is reliant on the tourist trade and any fall in numbers would damage its economy. Many budget travelers who can't afford to fly to Uluru travel by bus from Alice Springs.

   Vince Forrester, a spokesman for the Mutitjulu community, said the traditional owners had wanted Uluru roped off since it was handed back to them in 1985.

   'You can't go to the top of the Vatican, you can't go climb on top of the Buddhist temples, and so on and so forth,' he told national broadcaster ABC. 'Obviously, you have to respect our religious attachment to the land, too.'