An activist has become the first person to be fined for defying a climbing ban on a sacred indigenous site.
Marc Hendrickx climbed the Wollumbin-Mount Warning summit trail near Murwillumbah in northern NSW on Australia Day despite the track being closed to the public since 2020.
Mr Hendrickx, a member of the Right to Climb advocacy group, and several of its members made it to the peak in time to watch the sunrise on January 26.
The group ignored several signs on the way up left by local indigenous groups which warned hikers to turn around or risk facing fines.
Mount Warning was ‘temporarily’ closed to the public in early 2020 but remains closed to this day and hikers fear it will become ‘the next Uluru’.
The Wollumbin Consultative Group has been fighting for the mountain to stay permanently closed to all but a select group of Indigenous male members.
Despite this Mr Hendrickx proudly shared photos of his group holding signs at the summit advocating that it should be reopened.
He received a $300 fine for the stunt which was express posted to him on Friday – one day before a planned protest at the base of Mount Warning celebrating the 95th anniversary of the declaration of the site as a national park.
Marc Hendrickx has become the first person to be fined for climbed the Wollumbin-Mount Warning summit trail near Murwillumbah in northern NSW
The climbing activist summited the mountain on Australia Day with a group of protestors who oppose Mount Warning’s current ban on hikers
Mr Hendrickx copped the fine for breaching the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2019 for entering ‘a park that is closed to the public’.
The activist said the timing of his fine was suspicious considering he climbed the mountain months ago and it came one day before his planned protest.
‘For a fine to turn up now looks like it is trying to instil some fear in the community … to make sure people don’t climb the mountain,’ he told the Courier Mail.
‘I thought if they were going to fine me they would have fined me at the time and they didn’t,’ he said.
Mr Hendrickx’s offence carries a maximum fine of more than $3,000 – which he managed to avoided.
A spokesperson from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said a second person from the Australia Day group had also been fined.
They added that anyone who ignored the climbing ban would ‘be subject to appropriate law enforcement’.
‘We appreciate that there has been community uncertainty about the time taken to resolve this issue,’ a statement provided to the publication read.
‘It is important however, that we ensure all stakeholders, including the Aboriginal custodians, are appropriately consulted about future management of Wollumbin National Park.’
Mr Hendrickx however said that he will not capitulate to this ‘intimidation’ and still intends to deliver his keynote speech at the protest.
Another activist group, Save Our Summits, will host the event which is expected to draw up to 100 protestors and will feature a speech from NSW Upper House MP John Ruddick.
Mr Ruddick tabled a petition to parliament calling for the immediate reopening of the Wollumbin Mount Warning summit trail earlier this year.
Mr Hendrickx received a $300 fine for his actions via express post on Friday, which he saw as ‘intimidation’ as he was set to attend a protest for the reopening of the mountain the next day
Mount Warning was originally closed in 2020 in order to comply with social distancing laws but this closure has since been extended several times for various other reasons
Mr Hendrickx became the face of the Mount Warning closure controversy though a string of public appearances since he was apprehended by a park ranger in January.
He said he will seek ‘further clarification’ regarding his fine, which Sydney radio host Ben Fordham already offered to pay in March.
The Wollumbin trail once hosted more than 100,000 climbers a year and brought in more than $10million annually.
From April to October last year, private security guards were paid $7,000 per week to make sure climbers were prevented from attempting the summit trek.
Overall, nearly $200,000 was spent securing the mountain and security is still brought in on occasions such as New Year’s Eve and Australia Day.
It was initially closed in order to comply with social distancing orders during the coronavirus pandemic but the closure has since been extended multiple times.
Reasons for the extensions have included safety concerns over the condition of the trail and that the trek was against the wishes of the local Indigenous custodians.
In 2022, the NSW Department of National Parks recommended fully handing over management of the site on the Tweed Coast to the small Wollumbin Consultative Group who support a ban on visitors to the popular hiking spot.
