Still time to climb Australia's famous rock

Jan 8, 2010, 4:30 GMT

Sydney - Australia's government on Friday rejected a proposal to stop visitors from climbing Uluru, one of the country's top tourist attractions.

Its Aboriginal owners consider what was formerly known as Ayers Rock to be sacred and had won the support of Environment Minister Peter Garrett for its closure to tourists, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd championed the right of people to climb the rock.

Tour operators had urged the government to keep the climb open, warning that visitor numbers would slump if the Aboriginal owners succeeded in their campaign to have it closed.

Garrett rejected the proposed climbing ban after it became clear it lacked the support of his cabinet colleagues.

Each year, around 350,000 people visit Uluru, 440 kilometres south of Alice Springs, and a third of them scramble up the 347-metre sandstone rock in defiance of signs urging them not to.

Uluru, Australia's most photographed physical feature, rises from a dead-flat plain in the centre of the continent.

Vince Forrester, a spokesman for the Mutitjulu community, said the rock was sacred ground and traditional owners had wanted it roped off when 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 said when campaigning to keep visitors at a distance. 'Obviously, you have to respect our religious attachment to the land, too.'

Northern Territory tour operators have complained that transferring land titles to indigenous people usually means tourists being banned from visiting or being charged exorbitant fees to do so.

During his years as lead singer of the rock band Midnight Oil, Garrett sang protest songs advocating Aboriginal land rights - even on one occasion in a concert at the base of Uluru.

He told reporters in Sydney that he hadn't changed his mind and would continue to campaign for climbing to be prohibited at Uluru.

'Realistically, I would expect the climb to remain open for at least a number of years,' Garrett said. 'The industry is guaranteed at least 18 months notice before the eventual closure so they have enough time to adjust their tour planning and marketing.'

In 2008, the three-hour climb was only possible on 32 days, sparking accusations from tour operators that Uluru was being closed by stealth.

The Aboriginal owners close the climb when they deem the weather inclement, when there is a death in the community or when they want to hold ceremonies near Uluru.