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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Self-financing is liberating

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

Records galore!

Byron Bay Easter Record Fair returns again to Ewingsdale Hall. Now in its 15th year, the Byron Bay Easter Record Fair is one of the biggest and best in this country. Matt the Vinyl Junkie has spent years on buying trips to the US and Japan scouring dusty warehouses, shops, flea markets and private collections. He can offer an astounding 30,000 records in one place covering most genres.

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.

‘Smooth stroking’ Rainbow Dragons earn trophies

Rainbow Dragons (Lennox Head Ballina) won three trophies and had a fantastic weekend of fun, fitness and friendship at Grafton Dragon Boat Club’s regatta earlier in March.

Coveted Wollumbin Art Award open for young and old

Are you an artist in the Northern Rivers? Now is the time to get your art ready and submitted to the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre’s coveted biennial Wollumbin Art Award.

Murwillumbah’s Rebecca Whan recognised for tireless work post 2022 floods

Murwillumbah was severely impacted by the 2022 floods and it was a huge community effort to support, rescue and inspire everyone to move forward. 

Adaptive Surf Pro winds up in Byron

A week of mixed weather had seen almost 100 adaptive surfers take on the beaches of Byron Bay in the Byron first international adaptive surfing event to be held in Australia – the 2024 Australian Pro.

Mr Hockey says we must punish students, unemployed etc, while ramping up ecological exhaustion. This he says is in order to pay the interest on previous loans from private banks. No-one questions this, yet it is perfectly possible and constitutional for Australia to create its own credit.

This is what private banks do, they create credit out of thin air and then demand compound interest. Whole countries are indebted, whole families are shattered by this process which transfers vast wealth from the poor to the top five per cent of the population.

Moreover, private banks tend to fuel speculation and housing bubbles, not small business, which creates jobs.

A public bank could create a new era of job-rich prosperity, and weaken the anti-democratic power of the Big Four. Private banks such as Westpac and Citibank and Goldman Sachs have controlling interests in most big corporations, and vast lobbying power.

Australia created its own very low-interest credit with the original Commonwealth Bank. New Zealand, Japan and Canada used to, and the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – still mainly do this. All of these countries boom during the eras of self-financing.

It is easily done, it is proven, it liberates countries. Credit is like the blood of the economy and a public good like roads or water.

North Dakota, with a state bank, is the only American state to avoid the recent GFC disaster. Upcoming GFCs are likely, since all our banks are more exposed than ever to shadow banking/derivative meltdown.

The current private appropriation of a public good is reinforced by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Geneva, which decrees all European states must borrow privately and cannot exceed three per cent deficit, effectively consigning weaker states to being unable to rescue their people via public job creation.

When the world’s people wake up to how simple it would be to create their own independent public banks, alongside the private system, a whole new era of social and ecological wealth could arise.

Dr Liz Elliott, Mullumbimby


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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.