ACANSW at State Parliament

This time last week, the ACANSW was represented at the NSW Parliamentary hearing into public land access. President, Vanessa Wills and Operations Manager, Neil Monteith attended the hearing as witnesses on behalf of rock climbers in NSW. They outlined the difficulties that rock climbers face due to misrepresentation of climbing in the media, plans of management that are not fit for purpose, land management that favour blanket bans over open discourse and collaboration and the ongoing crag stewardship carried out by climbers across the state. 

This followed on from our submission in July to the Select Committee. This is available to read here (97) and was followed up with a supplementary submission (97a) specifically related to the closure of Mt Alexandra, near Mittagong, which exemplifies many of the issues climbers in NSW currently face. 

 

We tabled a map of major climbing areas in NSW that have been off limits, a montage of climbers involved in the many crag care activities from this past year and a copy of the 17 Down Under climbing book pages for Mittagong. The book was launched a week earlier, with one of the featured areas recently closed by the local council (Mt Alexandra). 

Only a few of the 826 individuals and organisations that presented submissions were invited to appear as witnesses on 9 December. Our session included Outdoor NSW and ACT and Rogaining Australia, but we monopolised much of the 45 minutes due to questions coming our way. There may be further hearings in the new year before a report is handed down. 

 

The Committee comprised of members of the Legislative Council. It was chaired by Mark Banasiak of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party and attended by Liberal MP Rachel Merton, Nationals MP Scott Barrett, Greens MP Sue Higginson and Labor MPs Anthony d’Adam and Bob Nanva.

 

The sessions prior to ours included representation from pig dog hunting, four-wheel driving, horse riding and motorsports (rally car driving), and the sessions after ours saw representatives from Forestry products and apiarists. 

 

Although people may hold strong views around some of these activities, the people presenting were engaged, passionate about their activity and had ideas worth consideration. 

 

Of the 826 submissions, only 11 mentioned climbing and 9 were supportive, including, somewhat ironically, one from Wingecarribee Shire Council (given the recent events around their closure of Mt Alexandra). The low frequency of mention of climbing may be because it was not specifically stated in the terms of reference. However, it suggests that there is no systematic opposition to climbing on public land in NSW. The two non-supportive submissions were against many activities and demonstrated a lack of understanding of the recreation, citing "cheap thrills" and public safety.

 

Initial questions to us centred around the reduction in public access to Wollumbin/ Mt Warning which was mentioned briefly in our submission. The full transcript of the hearing is available here with our session on pages 30-37. 

 

The following day, there was a follow-up from Rachel Merton MLC on Facebook where she said: 

“Yesterday we held the first day of hearings of the NSW Legislative Council Select Committee inquiry on Access Restrictions to Public Lands and Waterways. It was productive to discuss the corrosive impact of closures and blanket bans on climbing and access at places like Mt Warning.  

No negotiation and blanket bans on access to these sites is no way to manage these assets that belong to everyone in this State.  I look forward to our inquiry getting some positive outcomes for the people of NSW. “

Sue Higginson MLC was interviewed on Northern NSW ABC radio the next day primarily about Wollumbin/ Mt Warning access (starts at 1:07:40). She also referred to the hearing and our submission. 

 

Hopefully, the message that land managers need to bring parties together and seek consultation from relevant stakeholders in a meaningful and targeted way has cut across the political spectrum. To date, the habit of keeping stakeholders apart, failing to consult, and opaque decision-making is socially divisive and leads to harm for everyone.