Yahoo – AFP,
26 Oct 2015
 |
Uluru,
formerly known as Ayers Rock, a large sandstone rock formation and the
world's
largest monolith situated in the southern part of Australia's Northern
Territory
(AFP Photo/Greg Wood)
|
Australia
on Monday marked 30 years since the world's largest monolith Uluru was returned
to its traditional Aboriginal owners with the government admitting it has not
lived up to commitments made back then.
The iconic
symbol of the Outback, also known as Ayers Rock, was handed back to the Anangu
people, the area's original inhabitants who have lived in the area for
thousands of years, on October 26, 1985.
As part of
the agreement, the government signed a 99-year lease to jointly manage the
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park with the traditional custodians. More jobs and
better living standards were expected to flow to the Anangu from the deal.
But
Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said it had not always gone as
planned.
 |
Uluru, a
giant red rock that rises 348m above Australian desert, is surrounded by
thousands of sq. kilometres of desolate Outback and forms a key part of
Aboriginal
creation mythology (AFP Photo/Torsten Blackwood)
|
"The
implicit part of the agreement is that Anangu people do better because of the
things that would come here; they would have jobs, they would have a better
life, they would have more choices," he told reporters.
"The
deal isn't complete, those opportunities have never been provided in the way
they should have been. We need to make that change and we need to make that
now."
He said 254
of the 450 Anangu community members in the area were out of work, despite the
fact the Ayers Rock Resort, 20 minutes away, welcomed 300,000 visitors a year.
"We
can't accept that there's 254 people in Mutitjulu on the dole," Scullion
said.
"We
can't just accept glibly pretty low inter-generational levels of literacy and
numeracy. We can't simply look at that and say it's OK.
"This
should be a reminder to us all to refocus our efforts (across Australia)."
 |
Uluru, the
iconic symbol of Australian Outback, also known as Ayers Rock, was
handed back
to the Anangu people, the area's original inhabitants who have lived
in the
area for thousands of years, on October 26, 1985 (AFP Photo/Greg Wood)
|
Uluru, a giant
red rock that rises 348 metres (1,148 feet) above the desert, is surrounded by
thousands of square kilometres of desolate Outback and forms a key part of
Aboriginal creation mythology. It is also a World Heritage site.
While
artist Malya Teamay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he was pleased
with the way tourists were learning about Aboriginal culture, others said the
Anangu people seemed to be missing out on much of the economic activity.
Sammy
Wilson, chairman of the board of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, criticised the
government for directing much of its funding to the Ayers Rock Resort, which he
said had become the focus of tourism and not the local people.
"It
seems like a big vacuum cleaner is sucking everything away," Wilson said.
"This
place (Uluru) is our culture here, but it (the funding) is ending up over there
(at the resort); it should be here."
Australia marks 30 years since world's largest monolith Uluru returned to Aboriginal owners https://t.co/cEtFnzzDyE pic.twitter.com/PJ72v5vaiY
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) October 26, 2015
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