A Victorian rock climbing body has accused the ABC of inflaming tensions with local Indigenous people over its coverage of controversial ‘cultural heritage’ climbing bans.
Climbing Victoria said in a media release that the broadcaster’s recent reporting had misrepresented climbers as being ‘disrespectful towards traditional owners’.
It said a recent article focusing on threats by some climbers to flout climbing bans at Mount Arapiles, in the state’s west, inflamed the racial divide’ by ‘fundamentally misrepresenting the climbing community yet again’.
Melissa, a volunteer for the climbing body told the Daily Mail the ABC had reported on social media posts ‘from a very few loud obnoxious people’.
‘The people who are respectful, patient and waiting and learning and trying their best to understand – those voices aren’t being heard,’ Melissa said.
Melissa said towns surrounding Mount Arapiles had become deeply fractured over Parks Victoria’s handling of the bans and the report risked adding to the problem.
‘I have messages and threats from people telling me “you’re a coloniser”, “you’re a racist”,’ the volunteer said.
‘People are sending people in town anonymous letters and death threats. No one’s reporting on that.’
Climbing Victoria volunteer Melissa said climbers have been hit with a barrage of hateful comments online. Pictured is an exchange in which Melissa was accused of holding a ‘colonial viewpoint’
Local climbers say the online hate they have been largely ignored by the media. Pictured is a slew of comments by one social media user about Melissa, describing her as a ‘shame job’
Melissa said the harassment by the loud few goes both ways, but media reports tended to focus only on abuse towards traditional owners.
Climbing groups in the nearby Grampians had received ‘anonymous death threats’ and have been ‘harassed and bullied’, Melissa said.
‘There’s people that have had coffee thrown in their faces in town,’ the volunteer added.
‘The media has plenty reported on the racism, but they’re not reporting on the actual breakdown of relationships and social dynamics in town.’
An ABC article cited by the climbing body was titled: ‘Rock climbers’ defiance grows over Mount Arapiles cultural site requests’.
It referred to a series of comments on the Climbing Access Discussion – Victoria Facebook group, where multiple users advocated for climbers to ignore the bans.
It cited complaints raised by Climbing Victoria over the bans but failed to mention the many climbers who have obeyed the restrictions since they began five years ago.
Melissa said the isolated incidents of disobedience she was aware of tended to involve tourists unaware of the bans or locals confused about their extent.
Local climbers hope the restrictions at Mount Arapiles won’t be as severe as those at the Grampians (pictured) which affect the vast majority of climbing routes
Of the Facebook comments cited by the ABC, Melissa said they are just ‘keyboard warriors’ who don’t represent ‘how the majority of climbers are behaving’.
Daily Mail does not suggest the ABC made any misrepresentations, just that the accusation has been brought by Climbing Victoria.
Parks Victoria has requested climbers avoid five areas within the park – covering some 300 climbing routes – designed to protect sites of Indigenous significance.
Climbers have largely observed the restrictions since they were introduced in 2020 despite a failure of messaging by Parks Victoria, the climbing body said.
Parks Victoria released a draft plan in November last year that would exclude all off-track walking and prevent climbing across more than 60 per cent of the 3,300 climbing routes at Mt Arapiles.
Local climbing guide Aaron Lowndes said the restrictions, which have been shelved as consultations continue, would decimate his business.
‘We were like, oh my god, we’re gonna shut down, right? We can’t operate if this goes ahead,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Mr Lowndes acknowledged climbers are frustrated, including an ‘angry minority’, but insisted the majority, like himself, hope to work constructively with traditional owners and supported restrictions where necessary.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) declared she ‘will never put a padlock on our public forest’ just months before the shock closures were announced
Climbers are pictured at Mount Arapiles near Natimuk in Victoria’s west
Climbers are now awaiting the release of a new management plan covering the park, with hopes the restrictions will be less severe than under the draft plan and those at the nearby Grampians.
Parks Victoria introduced sweeping bans across nearly 80 per cent of climbing routes at the Grampians in 2019, the majority of which remain in place.
A Victorian Government spokesperson told the Daily Mail work on the Mount Arapiles management plan has been put on hold.
‘The great outdoors are to be experienced and admired, not locked away. Our focus is to bring more families to the bush and more jobs to the regions – while still protecting our environment,’ they said.
‘Work on the management plan has been paused while the Community Working Group works together to create more diverse and inclusive opportunities for people to enjoy and access Dyurrite.’
Other states are now considering introducing their own climbing bans for cultural heritage reasons, including New South Wales.
Climbing Victoria is the peak body representing climbers and climbing organisations in Victoria, representing more than 20,000 individual members.
ABC declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail.