Flights to Uluru suspended after Indigenous community forms park blockade fearing Covid-19 risk
Flights to Uluru have been suspended after the Mutitjulu Aboriginal community, worried about the risk to locals from visitors flying in from interstate Covid-19 hotspots, blockaded the gates to the park yesterday.
The blockade, which is still under way, forced Parks Australia to close the gates and triggered a meeting of the Yulara resort managers, Voyages, with Parks Australia, the Mutitjulu community and traditional owners in an effort to resolve the standoff.
The blockade by the Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation (MCAC) followed the arrival of a Jetstar flight from Brisbane on Saturday, with 42 passengers on board.
Brisbane was declared a Covid hotspot on Friday evening. On arrival, under the Northern Territory’s strict Covid regulations, three passengers were taken to Alice Springs for mandatory quarantine, but the other 39 passengers were taken to the resort, Yulara.
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Voyages CEO Grant Hunt told ABC radio that Yulara resort management had followed all of the NT health regulations, while the NT government said it was also doing everything it could to keep people safe.
Members of the Mutitjulu community are still maintaining the blockade at the gates of Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park with cars and 4WDs. They said they do not want the park to reopen until the 39 visitors are tested for Covid-19 and are given the all clear.
“People are just sitting here, waiting to hear whether the people currently at the Yulara resort will get tested,” MCAC CEO, Thalia Bohl-van den Boogaard said. “We are just waiting for confirmation that testing can be done, then the park can reopen.”
Jetstar confirmed this Thursday’s flight from Brisbane, will be cancelled. A spokesman said the small number of affected customers will be contacted and offered options.
Further discussions will be had to determine whether flights from Brisbane will resume in coming weeks, he said. Flights between Brisbane and Uluru are part of the Federal Government’s minimum viable network to keep communities connected and deliver medical supplies and mail.
The NT opened its borders to interstate travellers on 17 July provided they do not come from a Covid hotspot. People who arrive at Uluru by road who meet this criteria are welcome, Bohl-van den Boogard said.
Under the NT’s border regulations, anyone who has been to a declared Covid-19 hotspot – which includes Victoria, Sydney and Brisbane – must do 14 days mandatory supervised quarantine on arrival.
“There will be no more planes landing in Yulara from Covid hotspots,” MCAC CEO, Thalia Bohl-van den Boogaard said.
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The Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu is inside the park and has expressed concern in the past about the vulnerability of community members – considered some of the people most at risk of the worst outcomes from contracting the virus – who frequently visit the Yulara resort to shop and for their medical needs.
Last week, MCAC called for the closure of Yulara airport and the suspension of flights which it said pose an unacceptable health risk to the community.
“Those people who want to fly here should just not come because we don’t want that pika (sickness) here,” MCAC chair Gloria Moneymoon said in a statement.
MCAC director Craig Woods said flights to Yulara defeated the purpose of keeping people from hotspots contained.
“People’s lives are more important than money,” Woods said.
Parks Australia and Voyages have been sought for comment.
