One of Australia’s most scenic mountains once visited by thousands of hikers and tourists each year will remain closed for at least another year.
Mount Warning (known as Wollumbin among Indigenous people) near Murwillumbah, in the NSW Northern Rivers, has been off-limits to the public for almost five years after the popular hiking trail was shut down to protect the site’s Indigenous heritage.
The controversial ban left many Australians outraged and has sparked protests from hikers, led by NSW Upper House MP John Ruddick and Marc Hendrickx from the Right to Climb advocacy group.
More backlash is expected after the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service announced on Thursday that the summit track will remain closed until December 31 2025, to allow additional time for careful consideration of the site’s future’.
‘NPWS acknowledges the uncertainty the process has caused the community and businesses,’ the statement read.
‘For Aboriginal people there is a deep cultural and spiritual significance of Wollumbin, which is a declared Aboriginal place.
‘Ensuring that all stakeholders, particularly Aboriginal custodians, are meaningfully engaged is critical to any future decisions about the site.’
The department acknowledged the importance of the site’s future to the community, council and businesses.
Mount Warning (pictured) will remain closed to hikers and tourists until at least December 31, 2025
Mount Warning is the highest peak at Australia’s most easterly point and is the first part of the nation each day to get sunlight.
‘NPWS will continue to maintain and develop visitation opportunities in the region to support local communities and their economies,’ the statement continued.
The rest of Wollumbin National Park remains accessible to the public.
Mr Hendrickx described his bitter disappointment in the extended ban as an understatement.
‘It appears the incompetence of NPWS in managing the park for all Australians will continue into 2025 and it seems no resolution will occur now until 2026 or later,’ he said.
‘The track will have been closed for five years in March 2025 and there has been more than enough time for the (NSW government Environment) Minister to complete discussions and make a decision that benefits the entire NSW community and not just a handful of activists.
‘The economic damage caused by the unreasonable decision to close the track continues to impact the local community.
‘Mount Warning National Park should be defunded if the public cannot access the summit based on their ancestry and sex.’
Once visited by 120,000 visitors visitors every year, Mount Warning is the highest peak at Australia’s most easterly point and is the first part of the nation each day to get sunlight.
The backlash over the ban began after the Wollumbin Consultative Group petitioned the former state government to ban non-Aboriginal Australians from visiting the area (pictured visitors at Mount Warning)
The summit trail was shut down in 2020 after the Wollumbin Consultative Group successfully petitioned the then Liberal state government to ban access to non-Aboriginal Australians.
The group, made up of Indigenous families and community organisations, stated the trail has cultural and spiritual significance to the Bundjalung men.
The group also claimed allowing females – including those of indigenous heritage – on the site would ruin its cultural significance.
The NSW Department of National Parks recommended handing the management of the area over to the group completely in 2022.
Prominent activist and author Marc Hendrickx (pictured) has been among the dozens of protestors, who have voiced their opposition to the ban on the hiking trail
The group’s support of the ban has been opposed by members of the local Indigenous community.
Several indigenous elders have claimed the group appears to be extinguishing the ancestral women’s lore sites by claiming everything in the park as exclusively male and Bundjalung.
Mr Hendrickx, who authored A Guide to Climbing Mt Warning, was among dozens of protestors who climbed the mountain on Australia Day this year.
Three months later, the prominent activist became the first person to be fined for climbing the mountain since the hiking ban was enacted.
Mr Hendrickx copped a $300 fine for breaching the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2019 for entering ‘a park that is closed to the public’.
The engineering geologist previously told Daily Mail Australia the move to ban visitors to the site goes against the values Australians uphold.
‘Access to these wonderful natural places is part of what really underlies and builds our Australian character; and if we were unable to access these places, then really it’s like an attack on being Australian,’ Mr Hendricx said.
Mr Ruddick launched a petition in February in a bid to reopen the mountain to the public.
‘I don’t believe it is the Aboriginal version of Jerusalem or Mecca or St Peters,’ he said.
