Reflections from Climbing Victoria

A year since the release of the Draft Management Plan for Mount Arapiles – Dyurrite.

Mike Rockell

Chairperson

Climbing Victoria

4 November 2025

4 November 2024 to April 2025

A year ago, on Monday 4^th November 2024, Melbourne Cup weekend, the state government and Parks Victoria dropped a bomb on the climbing world, the intended closure of over 60% of rock climbing at Mount Arapiles. 

This came by way of the release of a seemingly hastily and poorly written set of changes done in red font over the existing plan which was already 30 plus years old. The release was timed for the long weekend and gave only 28 days for submissions to be made. On top of that, it was stated that the proposed climbing closures were not open to reconsideration. They were a fait accompli, a done deal! 

The reaction from across the climbing community was spontaneous and intense. The news media picked up on it with both print and TV running articles. The Minister of Environment, Steve Dimopoulos quickly realised that they might have miscalculated the reaction and quickly went to Natimuk the following Sunday 10^th November where he got a rather different and sobering story from locals on the impact the closures would have. 

Climbing Victoria managed to secure a meeting with the Minister on Tuesday 12^th November. This meeting took little over an hour but covered a lot of ground, from who we were to highlighting our major concerns. Our big ask at that time was that the consultation period needed to be significantly expanded.

By the time we met with the Minister, he and many other MPs had been flooded by letters and emails from climbers across the country and internationally.  The Minister mentioned that the correspondence they had received was overwhelmingly well written, well argued, and polite, which they appreciated. Collectively, they made a big impact. So, if you were one of those that wrote or emailed MPs and the government give yourself a pat on the back, they made a difference.

Over the remainder of November 2024, actions such as an Open Letter signed by over 10,000 people, climbing organisations and businesses was submitted to the government. This included 1000 international signatories. A petition of Victorian residents which was also organised by the Wimmera community with the assistance of MP Emma Kealy also obtained over 10,000 signatures.

Emma Kealy also raised a question in Parliament on behalf of our community in November 2024 as well and a small ad hoc group of climbers met with politicians on the steps of parliament.

At the same time this was going on, the government was doing some serious behind the scenes work. This culminated in the “resignation” on 28 November of Matthew Jackson, the CEO of Parks Victoria.  The Australian newspaper headlined the announcement “Parks Victoria boss Matthew Jackson has left the organisation, and a review will be held into it after the rolling chaos caused by cultural heritage climbing bans”.  The advice we had from a government advisor was that the Arapiles debacle was “the tipping point but not the sole cause”.

The next day Climbing Victoria received confirmation from one of the Ministers advisors that the consultation period on the draft management plan would be extended through to February of 2025. This was really our first victory, a victory achieved by the whole climbing community. 

With the increased consultation window, people and organisations were able to put together much better prepared submissions on the draft plan. For Climbing Victoria this was not only making our own submission, but also, we had a legal submission done on our behalf by law firm Gilbert + Tobin. This helped get the message across that there were substantive grounds for a legal review given the poor administrative process to date and a lack of proportionality of the proposed closures, “extending beyond what is necessary and proportionate to protect Aboriginal Cultural Heritage”.

After Matthew Jackson’s departure, Gus Dear took over as Interim CEO for PV. Essentially this became a holding pattern for the government for the next few months, until they found a new CEO. Gus did a lot of “listening” to the community and initiated the formation of the Dyurrite Community Working Group (CWG). Around 4 meetings were held under his leadership, but not a lot was achieved and at that time the BGLC was not a part of the group.

May 2025 to now

On 30 April Minister Dimopoulos announced the appointment of Lee Miezis as the new and permanent CEO for Parks Victoria. On 16 May myself and one other from Climbing Victoria met with Lee for the first time. We came away from that meeting feeling immensely buoyed that things might be changing for the better. One of the things Lee said, was that he and his board had been given clear instruction from the government that the parks were to be open for recreation as much as possible.

Subsequently we have seen this backed up by the annual Statement of Expectations from the Minister to Parks Victoria that “It is my expectation that Parks Victoria will focus on ensuring that our parks and reserves are open, safe and accessible to Victorians” August 2025.  In the same document it states, “it is my expectation that Parks Victoria will build extensive and effective approaches for community engagement”. At face value at least, these are good indications that the government is expecting a substantial change for the better from PV.

At PV itself, not only has the CEO been changed, but the board and the chair have been changed, the whole of the senior executive team has been replaced and pretty much the same for the next layer down. These are major changes for any organisation to undertake and would not have happened if the government was not serious about change. Having met and communicated with Lee Miezis on several occasions now, I have so far found him to be consistent, honest and well intentioned in his dealings with us. 

Other key developments over this period have been the BGLC joining the CWG. This gives the opportunity for us to better understand each other’s perspectives and expectations.  The Terms of Reference for the Working Group has now been agreed, and it has been established as an advisory body, but the decision-making authority lying with Parks Victoria.

At the same time work on revising the management plan as been paused. Recently a government spokesman said to the Australian newspaper “The great outdoors are to be experienced and admired, not locked away. Work on the management plan has been paused while the community working group works together to create more diverse and inclusive opportunities for people to enjoy and access Dyurrite”. 

While we are hearing the right words and seeing the opportunity for genuine consultation developing via the establishment of the CWG, Climbing Victoria has continued to keep pressure on the government and Parks Victoria to act responsibly. By August we had issued to them our Position Statement. This was a 15-page document that detailed the concerns we have and outlines a way forward. 

This document and others can be found on our website at: Climbing Victoria news

What Next?

Compared to this time a year ago, which if left unchecked, would have meant that climbing at Arapiles would have been decimated by March of this year, there is now the opportunity for a much better way forward. The building blocks have been put in place with a massive staffing shake up at Parks Victoria, encouraging signals from the Victorian government about making sure that our parks are as open as possible for recreation and the establishment of the CWG, the final outcome remains uncertain. At the same time Climbing Victoria has continued to explore and develop our understanding of the legal landscape, not just as a plan B, but to better inform us on our rights and expectations for the existing process that is emerging.

Hopefully, by this time next year, we can write about an outcome that achieves protection of the Aboriginal cultural values, but without applying substantial closures to the wonderful and unique climbing at Arapiles. The two should be able to co-exist in close proximity and Arapiles -Dyurrite can be a richer and better place, where we can get back to enjoying and relishing the landscape.

Note about Climbing Victoria:
Climbing Victoria represents a collective of outdoor recreational climbing groups across the state, including organisations such as the VCC, WVCC, CSV, Climbing QTs, and the RMIT Outdoors Club. We also welcome associate member organisations and individual members. Our work is entirely volunteer-driven and funded through donations and membership fees, with our team dedicating weekends, evenings, and time off work to keep things moving.