During a meet the candidates broadcast on Bay FM about a week before the election, Nationals candidate for Ballina, Kris Beavis, was quizzed about the controversial developments planned for the Brunswick Heads foreshores.
The presenter noted it was the front page story on that week’s edition of the Byron Shire Echo after a quarter of the town’s population turned up at a community meeting to voice their disapproval.
Beavis arrogantly wrote it off as a minor issue and remarked ‘not everyone reads the Echo’.
The previous week the Echo reported Greens candidate Tamara Smith had pledged her support to fight the Liberals/Nationals against their aggressive and unnecessary development plans that a local survey showed 95 per cent of the town were totally against.
If the Nationals are trying to work out what went so horribly wrong after a 30 per cent swing against them, they might start by looking at how well they listen to their constituents and, heaven forbid, this may even mean taking the time to peruse the electorate’s most read newspaper.
Sean O’Meara, Brunswick Heads
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. 
