The Ayers Rock Resort land “to be divested to the First Nations communities” and to traditional owners is understood to include all hotels, restaurants, shops and staff accommodation, assets worth several hundred million dollars.

It is unclear which communities are referred to but the nearest are Mutitjulu, at the base of the Rock, Docker River, near the WA border and Imanpa, on the highway to Alice Springs.

The populations are 269, about 300 and 124, respectively.

The Aboriginal Central Land Council, on whose patch the deal is developing, declined to be interviewed.

The resort is in the township of Yulara, adjoining the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park to the north, handed back to the Anangu people by the Hawke government in 1985.

It has not been made clear how the resort will function following a sale of what appears to be its operating company by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC), a Federal Government instrumentality.

It is negotiating a sale to the American owned Journey Beyond Group, which also owns the Ghan.

The ILSC and Journey Beyond are tight-lipped about the details except for those they released yesterday and which we published.

This article appeared on Alice Springs News on 17 September 2025.