James
McKenzie

The Man

Stewardship, sawmilling and service

James McKenzie's family has lived and worked the land around the Tweed caldera since the 1800s. A descendant of regional pioneer families, he has spent his life in the agricultural and forestry economy of the Northern Rivers — not as a passive conservationist, but as an active environmental manager.

As an environmental sawmiller he operated multiple mills harvesting Camphor Laurel — a highly invasive species — for export to Asian markets, serving as the last director of the region's Camphor Laurel cooperative and turning an ecological liability into an economic asset. He worked for decades with Landcare and Tweed Shire Council on the Lower Oxley riparian project, managed an irrigation water licence, and partnered with NSW National Parks to donate seeds of the small-leafed tamarind (Diploglottis campbellii) to a cryogenic genetic repository.

His civic record includes Past President of the Murwillumbah Apex Club, Past Chairman and Deputy of Tweed and Coolangatta Tourism, Past Deputy of the Northern NSW Ecotourism Association, and founding President of the Mt Warning Restorers — credentials documented in his 2021 council candidate profile in The Echo.

The Closure

The fight for public access

In 2014 the NSW Government declared the park above 600 metres an Aboriginal Place under heritage law. In March 2020 the summit track was closed, officially for COVID-19 safety — but while other parks reopened, Mount Warning stayed padlocked (NSW National Parks; The Guardian, 2022).

The Right to Climb movement, which McKenzie supports, alleges — citing internal NPWS meeting minutes — that safety chains near the summit were removed in August 2020, and that protection of the historic 1909 stone retaining walls was rejected lest maintenance undermine the case for permanent closure (Right to Climb, 2024; Right to Climb, 2025). The closure has been extended to at least July 2027, with locals reporting threats of $10,000 fines for walking past the gate.

Right to Climb estimates that over 500,000 visitors were deterred in four years — a loss to the Tweed economy it models at $25 million in direct spending, rising to some $54 million once accommodation and hospitality are counted (source).

Contested ground

McKenzie disputes the official custodial narrative outright. He argues the Bundjalung designation is a bureaucratic fabrication, that the true custodians are the Ngarakwal people, and that the mountain's traditional name is Wulambiny Momoli — claims he has pressed since a 2007 meeting with then Aboriginal Affairs Minister Reba Meagher, and through the 2010 Goorimahbah "Place of Stories" controversy (The Echo, 2024; Tweed Valley Weekly).

"How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation."

The campaign continues through petitions and organised civil disobedience (Reopen the summit track — iPetitions).

McKenzie's Mountain

528 acres in the shadow of the caldera

At Eungella, NSW 2484 — the Tweed Valley Eungella, not the Queensland national park near Mackay — McKenzie's property offers 528 acres of wilderness with a kilometre of river frontage, four kilometres of tributaries, waterfalls, freshwater turtles, fireflies at dusk and a thriving platypus population. A herd of 125 head of cattle keeps the pastoral tradition running alongside the tourism (Hipcamp listing; Visit The Tweed; Visit NSW).

Operating through Hipcamp with 110 sites and a 93% approval rating across hundreds of reviews, the property caters to everyone from solitary wild campers to 40-tonne semi-trailers — and sits next door to a Hare Krishna farm offering tours, workshops and yoga retreats.

This is an authentic, off-grid wilderness stay: facilities are basic, there is no potable water — bring your own — and light sleepers should ask for the secluded back-paddock sites, away from the neighbour's entrance bridge.

528 acres · 110 sites · 93% approval on Hipcamp