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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Cinema Review – Hacksaw Ridge

Latest News

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Other News

Saddle Road group home DA decision this week

Plans to build Byron Shire’s first permanent group home for women and children in housing stress are moving ahead, with the development application for the project coming before Council this week.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Why Being Seen is Beautiful

There is something profound about being seen. Being accepted and loved for exactly who you are. It’s life changing. It’s simple. It’s transformative. But some people don’t get to experience this. Nearly half of transgender Australians have attempted suicide.That data tells the very real impact of discrimination, stigma and lack of access to gender-affirming surgery. I write this as a woman who was born a woman, who identifies as a woman. I’ll admit, that even in that gender role, that fits within the societal binary, I’ve had my own challenges.

Roller derby rocks the Cavanbah Centre

The Red Kennedys have once again dominated the Northern Rivers Revolt Roller Derby Tournament held at the Cavanbah Centre over the weekend of March 16-17.

Urgent appeal

At last Thursday’s Byron Council meeting a long and dedicated campaign to save rail tracks and restore trains in...

Safety and preparation saves lives on the water

A large number of boaters are expected to hit the water over the Easter long weekend and Marine Rescue NSW is reminding boaters to be prepared and log on to the Marine Rescue NSW app.

A seasoned bard

Guy Kachel had an idyllic entry to the world of music. Born in Tamworth, he was raised on the banks of the Peel River. The landscape was a fertile ground for his imagination. Seeing this rustic world change, as Tamworth developed into an inland city and friends grew to sometimes troubled adulthoods, provided insights for the artistry that later powered his career as a performer.

Mel Gibson is not everybody’s favourite famous Aussie who was not born in Australia. He’s not mine either, but undeniably he knows his way around a movie set.

It’s been ten years since the fabulous Apocalypto, his previous outing as a director, and his latest has not veered from the quasi-religious, primal worldview of sacrifice, suffering and honour that is his guiding star.

Never shy of a gore fest – it’s not so much that he indulges in blood’n’guts as he revels in it – the violence is graphic in the extreme. But as an acceptable caveat, the film is about warfare, and soldiers do happen to get their legs blown off.

The hero, however, is different. Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) was a Seventh-Day Adventist who joined the military to be a medic. Because he refused to carry a rifle he was taunted and baited in the barracks, where the typically tough sergeant with a heart of gold (Vince Vaughn) tried to whip him into shape. Gibson sticks to orthodoxy in these early scenes of military training (which of the guys will be killed? you wonder) and corny home life with the heavy-drinking father who has been mentally scarred by WWI.

Desmond’s meeting with his belle, nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer, from Adelaide – shot in Oz, the cast is loaded with locals), is a classic love-at-first-sight moment as everything runs exactly according to how your standard war flick should. The heavy stuff arrives when the boys are sent to Okinawa and engage in fierce combat with the last-stand Japanese army.

Remarkably, what Desmond achieves is entirely factual. Throughout I was wondering whether his pacifist resolve would be compromised by a basic survival instinct and Gibson, who admires nothing more than courage under fire, provides plenty of crises – like Christ, Desmond is sorely tested. Unarguably, this is a movie charged with testosterone, but it’s balanced by compassion and love. In the end I was extremely moved by it, which was the last thing I expected.


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Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Making Lismore Showground accessible to everyone

The Lismore Showground isn’t just a critical local community asset that plays host to a number of major events each year, but has also been used as an evacuation centre during past natural disasters in the region. 

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Govt cost-shifting ‘erodes financially sustainable local government’

Byron Shire Council looks set to add its voice to the growing chorus calling on the state government to stop shifting responsibilities and costs onto local government.