I think that most of the problems surrounding the climbing or otherwise of Uluru would disappear if the Anangu owners simply started charging a fee for the privilege of climbing on their rock.

At, say, $50 a pop it could be a self-regulating, nice little earner for the community. I imagine that anybody who'd be willing to pay $50 to climb Uluru would be inclined to respect it.

The viewing platform sounds like a total debacle.

CJ

I think your idea is brilliant - $50 it is enough to prevent the hoon contingent (well mostly) and having done the climb it is well worth it. My experience at Uluru can only be described as numinous (I think there is some pagan in my ancestry) and a well remembered highlight of my life.

Cheers

Unfortunately, the noble savage myth has a good foothold at OLO. Most likely, people go and see a tourist dancing troupe of aborigines or discuss aboriginal stuff in a trendy cafe with other beard twitchers with cardigans, and then make a heap of noise about how wonderful black people are and how crap white people are.

2 stories I heard from people visiting Ayers rock, an older white woman who wasnt about to climb it anyway saying they should ban climbing out of respect, and an aboriginal woman of a similar vintage saying the cost was way too high and unjustified.

It still seems we miss the point, that people are only human. You could give me Ayers rock, and I'd probably do the exact same thing; make a few bucks from it. I could argue that making a few bucks is traditional practice for white folks.

The viewing platform fiasco is typical of any government scheme, often the funding just has to be spent on any old thing rather than give said funds back. It also inflates the operational budget, when you have to doze a platform each year and cobble another together at short notice.

Such an attraction should belong to all Australians, and be preserved for the future. It does not, and the present holders of tenure dont tend to worry about the future.

Interesting.
Im off to dance around naked on the roof of the local church.
Whats the difference?

First PatTheBogun's post then mikk's, now I need a sponge to wipe the keyboard and a fresh cup of coffee. Very funny and good points too.

The difference, I suspect, will escape you. By all means dance naked at every chance, but I suspect workcover would want decent scaffolding at least a metre all round the edge of the roof. Intoxication, darkness, and rain make church roof dancing a dangerous business- persistence will be the key.
The rock may be an inspiration for worship of one kind or another, but the community right next to Ayers rock demonstrates this environmental concern is selective to say the least.
If the young lady was naked amongst the rock paintings in Kakadu or invading a ceremony and streaking naked, that would be poor form. This is simply a beat-up about a tourist attraction, most likely they are trying to scam some extra photo fees or something.