14.9 C
Byron Shire
June 16, 2026

Patient distress

Latest News

Byron Shire Rebels gutsy efforts

A day of contrasting rugby fortunes for the Rebels at Ballina, with the Men’s XV putting in a gutsy...

Other News

Northern Rivers clubs shine at Clubs & Community Awards

Club Lennox and Twin Towns were among Northern Rivers clubs recognised at the Clubs & Community Awards, held last Thursday in Sydney.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Let’s Disappear the Outrage Farmer

There’s super-offensive content making its way around the internet by someone who is NOT Indigenous and is NOT a comedian. I will not say her name. I will not identify her nor will I describe the content. If you think you know what I am talking about: good. And if you don’t: good. Let’s keep it that way.

Israel’s assault on Global Sumud Flotilla – a first-hand account

It hit me like a lightning strike. It was the latex gloves that did it. Those pale blue five fingered clinical sheaths made me want to vomit. Last Tuesday, having just been repatriated from my time on the Global Sumud Flotilla, I was at Tweed Valley Hospital getting a forensic medical examination for my sexual assault at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.

Burn After Dark: Three Blue Ducks

Following a sold-out debut in 2025, Burn After Dark returns to Three Blue Ducks on Thursday, 3 July from...

Tipping point

It is noted in the last edition of The Echo that six new dwellings with swimming pools are to...

Social homes completed in Casino – what else is in the pipeline?

With 17 new ‘social housing’ dwellings being announced for Casino, what other similar projects are underway in the Northern Rivers?

Dr Liz Elliott, Mullumbimby

This week my patients in Accident & Emergency at Mullumbimby hospital waited six-plus hours to have ambulance transfers to Tweed hospitals. This is distressing, substandard and is upsetting the ambulance drivers too. Numbers of cars and drivers have not increased for many years.

Yet the Health Department is to remove night doctors at Mullumbimby hospital and rely on telehealth and ambulance transfers!

One of the reasons for the shortage of ambulances is the excessive use of them by queue jumpers; another, the policy of having two drivers and a car waiting many hours at big hospitals until a bed can be found.

Please come to our Save Mullumbimby Hospital meeting on 2 August at 7pm at the Mullumbimby High School to put our questions to Mr Chris Crawford. Cutting our hospital’s service is neither kind nor economically sound.



For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling.

If you are a local business owner help us and in turn we help you. All The Echo asks for is advertising, not a free ride. It is every advert in The Echo and on www.echo.net.au, which creates the space for all the stories and coverage of community events, happenings and concerns.

If you are a reader you can become a sponsor of The Echo. Your support keeps the us independent.

Even a small one-off or regular donation from you will help keep the echo’s independent voice alive and strong.

Support Us

Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.

You're Wonderful, Thank you for supporting independent journalism in the Byron Shire

You’re supporting The Echo, thank you

Your contribution is keeping independent, local journalism alive in the Northern Rivers.

Because of supporters like you, we can keep every story free for everyone — no paywall, no exceptions. Your money goes directly to funding our newsroom of 40-odd local workers covering the stories that matter to this community.

Tell us what you think, give us your opinion

The Echo loves your letters and comments and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, email us your epistles at editor@echo.net.au.

The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and telephone number.

Online comments are no longer available.

Local boxing legend visits Byron Boxing

Kyogle heavyweight, Athol McQueen, who represented Australia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and famously floored a then-unknown Joe Frazier, visited Byron Boxing at the...

Seas the Day in Kingscliff this weekend

This weekend the fourth NRMA Insurance Seas The Day women’s surf festival is back at Kingscliff Beach with Surfing Australia. The world’s largest female participation...

Interview with Drover

Doing the DIY at Stone & Wood Bobby Conn, Roy Parsons, Rhys Mcilwaine and Molly O’Neil are the key members of Drover, a folk-rock band...

Mullum takes A grade, Byron takes B, Suffolk takes a sausage

The Northern Rivers NET League Finals went down on Saturday, and it delivered some genuinely good tennis, nervous moments, an old school BBQ, and...