Victorian punished for illegally climbing Uluru in 2019

A man was fined $2,500 for climbing Uluru despite the practice being prohibited since three years ago.

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

Since access was limited in 2019, the 44-year-old is the first person to be convicted of climbing the famed Northern Territory landmark.

The ancient Anangu landowners demanded the implementation of legislation prohibiting visitors from climbing the 348-meter-tall sacred rock.

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)

In October of 2019, tourists were eventually prohibited from climbing Uluru.

 

Prior to the restriction, each year hundreds of thousands of tourists ascended the rock.

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

The traditional owners regard Uluru as a profoundly mystical location, a site where their Tjukurpa (creation tales), which regulate their ceremonies, art, and rules of life, intersect.

 

A spokesman for Parks Australia stated that they take the conservation of sacred sites extremely seriously.

 

They told the ABC, “Traditional owners have a traditional responsibility to care for the Uluru rock formation and the surrounding park region.”

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

At the base of the rock, a fence was constructed to prevent people from climbing.

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