Man is fined $2,500 for illegally climbing Uluru three years after ban

2022-08-20

Man who illegally climbed Uluru is fined $2,500 and becomes the first to be convicted of scaling the sacred rock since the practice was banned three years ago

Victorian man becomes first person to be convicted of illegally climbing Uluru
Simon Day, 44, found guilty at Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday
Fined $2,500, his charges included walking, riding on a Commonwealth reserve
Ability to climb the sacred rock was outlawed back on October 26, 2019

A man who climbed Uluru despite the practice being banned three years ago has been fined $2,500.

Simon Day, 44, from Victoria, was found guilty of walking or riding on a Commonwealth reserve and entering a restricted or prohibited area at the Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday.

The 44-year-old is the first person to be convicted of climbing the iconic Northern Territory landmark since access was restricted in 2019.

A man who illegally climbed Uluru despite the practice being banned three years ago has been fined $2,500 (pictured climbers before the rock’s closure in October 2019)

Victorian man Simon Day was found guilty at the Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday and was fined $2,500 (pictured are tourists at Uluru before the ban)

Anangu traditional owners of the land had been calling for laws to be implemented to stop visitors climbing the sacred rock, which towers 348metres into the sky.

Tourists were eventually banned from climbing Uluru in October, 2019.

Up until the ban, hundreds of thousands of tourists scaled the rock every year.

The traditional owners consider Uluru an intensely spiritual place, an area where their Tjukurpa (creation stories), which govern their ceremonies, art and rules for living, converge.

The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board voted to unanimously ban the climb

A Parks Australia spokesperson said they take the ‘protection of sacred sites very seriously’.

‘Traditional owners have a cultural responsibility to look after the Uluru rock formation and the surrounding park area,’ they told the ABC. ‘

A fence was installed at the base of the rock in attempts to prevent people from climbing.

Traditional land owners are seen welcoming the closure of the climb at Uluru in October, 2019

Source: Read Full Article