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Byron Shire
June 11, 2026

Dutton must go or Turnbull will

Latest News

School is the beating heart of Bruns

From floods to festivals, Brunswick Heads Public School has long the been the anchor of village life.

Other News

Taxing labour vs capital

Catherine Cusack (Echo, 27 May) says she believes ‘Australians are fine with fairness for housing. The issue is messy...

Missing man

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a 35-year-old man missing from Tugun on the southern Gold Coast since 9 June.

Wanted: citizen scientists to check on our creeks

The Richmond River upper catchment is currently sitting on a C- in the Richmond River Ecological Health Report Card. It's not a number we can accept without doing something about it.

Here’s to the Flotilla

The Global Sumud Flotilla is about brave people doing exceptional things with skill, compassion, colour, spirit and gruff chutzpah. Would...

Lismore residents call to stop the demolition of homes

Community group Reclaim our Recovery are urging Lismore residents to join a gathering at the Lismore QUAD this Saturday from 11am to 'stop the demolitions of our Big Scrub heritage homes — and the NSW Reconstruction Authority needs to know we are not going away'.

Council appeals for help as deliberate tree destruction spreads

Tweed Shire Council is appealing for community help after a spate of deliberate destruction of trees on public land across the Tweed, including the poisoning of mature Norfolk pines at Cabarita Beach and damage to established trees at a local cemetery.

Open letter to the prime minister of Australia, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP

Is your position untenable?

For the last month you have as our leader in government had the following issues placed upon you namely:

  • Mal Brough MP who by all accounts has either lied to Nine Network or the cabinet;
  • Jamie Briggs MP who had some sort of scandal in Hong Kong whilst on diplomatic business with a female; and
  • Immigration and border protection Minister, Peter Dutton MP who ‘mistakenly’ sent an offensive text message to a journalist being key points:
  • Dutton called  The Sunday Telegraph’s political editor Samantha Maiden a “mad f***ing witch” in a text message sent intended for Briggs.

Given the magnitude of the perverse actions, especially a minister that has a responsibility for his staff and in particular, refugees and border protection, gaffs like these are either deliberate to unsettle your future ability to be the leader of the nation or total stupidity on behalf of your government members of parliament.

To this end, I see no reason as a voter considering the LNP as my preferred vote to the elections this year given that you can’t control your parliamentarians shooting off at the mouth or worse, being discriminatory towards the opposite sex.

There is no room for any form of domestic violence in the public, especially in government and as your aware, domestic violence is not only physical but mentally abusive.

Minister Dutton must resign as he has squandered all of his resources of being totally incompetent in his position as minister.

As the Prime Minister of Australia, you need to desperately reign in these factional bodies and bring intelligent harmony to the position of leadership by all members of the LNP.

Roger Graf, Fingal Head



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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.

Voters are not ‘always right’

The mantra ‘voters always get it right’ is repeated after every election by winners and losers. The decision of voters must be respected, blah, blah.

Lismore councillor pay rise divides chamber at June meeting

The sharpest debate from Lismore City Council's 9 June ordinary meeting saw a majority vote to increase councillor and mayoral fees, following a 3.7 per cent rise determined by the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal (LGRT) – a figure tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12 months to February 2026.

Here’s to the Flotilla

The Global Sumud Flotilla is about brave people doing exceptional things with skill, compassion, colour, spirit and gruff chutzpah. Would I leave my comfy chair...