CANBERRA - Tourists in Australia may be allowed to keep climbing Uluru after all, with a federal plan to ban the practice apparently dropped.
National Parks wanted to close the climb to respect the indigenous owners and for safety reasons. There were also concerns about visitors using the rock as
a toilet and leaving rubbish.
Now Peter Cochrane, director of National Parks, has told a Senate estimates hearing the plan to close the climb had been revised.
He would not reveal what the change was, but said he had paid close attention to complaints by the tourism industry about the impact if the climb was closed.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who opposed the plan to close the climb, appears to have made his mark too.
"The board noted that those comments were made," Cochrane said of Rudd's intervention.
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham welcomed the step-down.
"It seems madness that we would shut down one of our own premier experiences."
He said Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who has expressed sympathy for indigenous owners who would like to see the climb closed, had been overruled by Rudd.
The board expects to complete its recommendation and pass it on to Garrett for approval by the end of this year.
- AAP
