Fischer's Rock Solid Support
Illawarra Mercury
Thursday January 14, 1999
Acting Prime Minister Tim Fischer said he regretted having climbed Uluru in the 1960s and urged other visitors not to climb the Aboriginal sacred site.
Mr Fischer was visiting Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, at sunrise on the second day of his gruelling four-day Outback outreach tour.
``It is significant that the traditional owners in fact don't seek to ban people from walking up the rock, but ask people to think carefully about walking," Mr Fischer said.
``I think people ought to do that for practical safety reasons involved - people do die on the climb - or the additional practical reasons for future generations, the increasing discolouration which is now taking place ... but also out of respect for the traditional owners."
Mr Fischer said more than a dozen people had died climbing the rock over the past decade.
But Mr Fischer, an avid climbing enthusiast, admitted having climbed Uluru 30 years ago.
``In 1966, I was through this area," he said.
``There was no cultural information available at that particular time.
``Visitors should respect the polite (request) of the traditional owners not to climb the rock."
Mr Fisher will now fly to Warburton, an Aboriginal community, in Western Australia.
© 1999 Illawarra Mercury
