By Tjimpuna of the Anangu Mayatja Council of Elders
To the shock of Anangu* at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park on Tuesday, an 8 year-old child was left abandoned at the base of Uluru while both his parents left him to go climb. He was found by a Park Ranger with no food, water or parental supervision for more than 30 minutes. NT Police took the child to Yulara where after sometime the parents fronted on a ‘misunderstanding’ plea.
Gee, in the NT, we have the Stronger Futures Legislation about Children. If it was an Aboriginal child, FACS would’ve been in like wildfire … Where’s the media, NT Ministers, parliamentarians and NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner voicing on this … You need to show more support to Anangu.
Abandonment of a child while fulfilling your bucket list. Great parenting.
Don’t use my Anangu Country for these types of things. Also, a man was found taking indecent photos of children at the base of Uluru.
With all the illegal camping, rubbish being thrown around, child abandonment and indecent photography taking place in our Park, that has given us reason enough as Anangu Nguraritja and Mayatja to push for early climb closure.
Forget October, close it in August. Immediate action on the compliance of Park Staff as well; can’t blame Anangu because the park in the current instance does not support Joint Management.
Kunta wiya alatjii … Parkaku Waarka tjuta palula Anangu kulinma wiya … Tjukuringkula Waarkaripai wiyartu tjana … Nganana pikarti pulka mulapa …
(No shame this is … The majority of Park Staff does not listen to Anangu … There is no working together agreement being shown on the ground through joint management … this makes us truly angry …)
*Aṉangu is the name used by members of several Central Australian and Western Desert Aboriginal people to describe themselves.
This statement was originally published on Facebook and has been reproduced with permission.
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