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The Forum > Article Comments > Landscape photographers, including you, are losing rights > Comments

Landscape photographers, including you, are losing rights : Comments

By Ross Barnett, published 29/3/2010

A new revenue raising stream for our public spaces - charging landscape photographers fees for permits and insurance.

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We seem to have here an example of the way government exploits opportunities for establishing power and control OVER the citizenry by using arguments developed quite cynically in the first place for a minority segment of the population who are argued to need special treatment. There are some parallels with the way the US government used riot control gear against the anti-war protester citizens in the 1970's when the riot control chemicals and weaponry - tear gas and worse - had originally been developed to use against the citizens of Vietnam. Goes to show - decency needs to prevail at all times and for all people, and differentiating rules lead to abuse. Regarding photography, in particular, maybe we should use this example to question all government fees and charges. Who gave them "ownership" of the scenery. And why must we move to labeling government personnel as "them" - aren't they supposed to be "us". But Australians are a supine lot, overall. Whatever we are entitled/able to see with our eyes should be available to share with others via use of a camera. Perhaps we'll all end up in blinkers, with a government fee attached to removal of the blinkers on a per day charge basis.
Posted by veritas, Monday, 29 March 2010 10:35:42 AM
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I run a media production and service company in Alice Springs and can verify that more than 80% of all filming permits are refused at Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayer’s Rock/The Olgas) due to a mind-numbing bureaucracy dressed as “protecting the environmental and cultural aspects of the Park”. Recent filming refusals include the Royal Ballet, BBC Science and incredibly, the BBC Natural History Unit.

The Park is a nightmare to deal with, We have even had them claim (falsely) that they control the airspace up to 3 kilometres! A Parks Lawyer sent me a threatening letter to remove an image of Kata Tjuta “place of many heads” from my website as I “wasn’t showing enough heads” and that this was “offensive”. I still ponder on which ancient Aboriginal photographic law I breached.

This, despite the fact that Google Earth can take you anywhere in the Park you like (including sacred sites) and that 300,000 visitors a year post their images for all to see on the internet. A Ranger confided that they don’t want to promote the Park for tourism and that the “purpose of World heritage areas is to exclude human beings, not to include them”.

The fact is that you will not receive a permit unless you specifically promote the Aboriginal cultural aspects of the Park. But why? Aboriginal people and people generally have been at Uluru for but a moment in time compared to the Rock itself.

Where is their room for the interpretation of the Geologist, the Artist of all persuasions? What of the billions of Muslims and Christians in the world who believe the Rock was in fact created by God? Sorry, it is not only not permissible to portray these alternative views, the EPBC regulations make it illegal. People go on about things "un-Australian", this truly is.
Posted by oftheinland, Monday, 29 March 2010 10:59:17 AM
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Good to see this article. I was involved in compiling a book on Australia's national parks some time ago. At that time only the Commonwealth and Victorian national parks had this regulation restricting the use of commercial photography. As it turned out I only used photographs taken before these restrictions came into force, in these two instances.

The fee alone at Uluru would have taken up a fair percentage of subsequent royalties and given that it took close to two years to prepare the book I did not plan to hand over most of my meagre income to a bloated and greedy bureaucracy. The biggest shame is that it is the book, postcard and calendar photographers, most of whom are freelancers operating on tiny budgets, that produce the 'wow' effects that help display and publicise these parks to a wide audience and potential visitors. Nowadays, as far as I am concerned, that is the national parks' loss.
Posted by Raredog, Monday, 29 March 2010 2:07:46 PM
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Restrictive revenue raising bureacracy gone mad.

National Parks, towns like Hill End and any number of National Trust listed buildings in country towns throughout Australia belong to the people.

Professional landscape and heritage photographers only enhance the nature and beauty of their subjects for the benefit of us all. Peter Dombrovski landscapes are breathtaking.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24314453

This is one of those times we, the people, should resist against this madness. Ignore it and snap away I say.
Posted by pelican, Monday, 29 March 2010 2:24:55 PM
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I deal with many overseas visitors to Australia, they all complain about the over-regulation and bureaucracy we have here.

I go to Europe and the USA, where they have a fraction of the regulations we seem to need.

It's exciting to be living on the edge somewhere in Europe or the USA, snapping away with no permit or insurance!.

Today the Victorian police were defending themselves against a race driver who accused them of over-regulation. The defence was that it saved some lives and while that is admirable I fear that sort of justification will provide many more regulations not less.

Heaven help us when we all have smart meters on our homes, internet "filtering" (with recording and detection devices) as well as software in cameras and phones to tell where and when we took a photo or movie, for safety and insurance reasons of course.

Many cameras now have in their meta data fields, the facility for Lat/Long positioning and with the accessibility and cheapness of GPS, and Wireless (hopefully cheap wireless) this will all be possible. Imagine, the phones or cameras will know when we're somewhere we need a permit for (everywhere?) and able to tattle tale to a regulator.

So much employment will be available to regulators and inspectors and we'll have massive government.

Perhaps a few lives will be saved by all this regulation, but I don't want to live where there is no free will.

This is so stupid, our money is used to inhibit our activity.

The ALP nationwide is delivering the nanny state instead of services and a better quality of life, e.g. instead of delivering as much water as we need, it's regulated and we should use less - absurd!
Posted by Amicus, Monday, 29 March 2010 2:41:46 PM
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Amicus, you say "ignore it and snap away",but you clearly haven't seen the extraordinary list of civil AND criminal penalties listed (in a pdf) under the EPBC

http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/tourism/uluru/download/The%20EPBC%20Act%20and%20EPBC%20Regulations%20at%20UKTNP.pdf

I'll let you and others go through it but let me just list some of the breaches you will receive a CRIMINAL record for in Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park: threaten a Park Ranger, $46,000 fine or 7 years jail, rolling a stone (I am not kidding) $1,100 fine, possession of a metal detector $3,300 fine, Hold or attend gathering of more than 15 people fine $1,100, carry out scientific research $2,200 fine, hinder a Park Ranger fine $13,200 or 7 years jail.

The EPBC is a law that makes China look positively democratic and free, yet this law IS A FACT in our country!
Posted by oftheinland, Monday, 29 March 2010 3:14:39 PM
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