Uluru: dancing - and stripping - on solid rock

Closing down the Uluru climb would also remove the one opportunity that visitors have to look out over the park landscape from up high without having to pay for an expensive and noisy aeroplane or helicopter sightseeing tour. And no visitor to this majestic Central Australian landscape would really want to have more aeroplanes or helicopters buzzing about in the desert air.

Of course in the highly controlled drip-feed of information that is provided by Parks Australia, none of this ever gets a mention. And with the Alizee Sery “controversy” still rolling along, the powers that be in this Canberra-based bureaucracy are probably rubbing their hands in glee.

As the Northern Territory News noted in its editorial on Wednesday, June 30th:

Parks Australia has long wanted to close the Uluru climb. Traditional owners ask visitors not to climb The Rock, but most still do. Tour operators say that most of their customers go to Uluru solely or mainly for that purpose. Parks Australia is trying to ease the pain of closure with a two or three-year lead-up before imposing an absolute ban. But Ms Sery's striptease may lead to the deadline being brought forward considerably.

And of course, any repeated news coverage about the Climb keeps mention of the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku fiasco out of the media as well.