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March 29, 2024

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Blue skies for Bluesfest day 1

If yesterday at Bluesfest was anything to go by, it's going to be an incredible event and with the weather holding, (so far) the Easter weekend's future is looking bright.

Other News

Dynamic, rustic yet polished

Animal Ventura is the brainchild of Byron Bay-based singer-songwriter Fernando Aragones. Growing up playing punk and reggae in noisy garage bands in Southern Brazil, Aragones ventured to Australia where the eclectic sounds of the Sydney music scene beckoned.

Biz confidence up, says Business NSW

The state's peak body for business says confidence in the sector has increased but cost of living pressures continue to impact customer spending.

Splendour 2024 cancelled

It's official, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

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.

Retired local professor launches book on grief

A leading international thinker and researcher in the development of innovative sport coaching and physical education teaching has returned home to Byron Bay and is launching his first non-academic book, 'Grief and Growth', on April 4 at The Book Room in Byron. 

Editorial – Joyous propaganda! 

The NSW Labor government marked its one year in office this week with a jubilant statement of achievements issued from Macquarie Street HQ.

Ziggi Browning, Mullumbimby

There is an often repeated bald-faced lie about Australia’s contribution to global CO2 emissions that needs to be comprehensively and decisively quashed.

Politicians, shock jocks, and other lackeys of the fossil-fools industry say that Australia contributes only one per cent of emissions and therefore our making big reductions would be insignificant if the ‘bigger polluters’ don’t do so first.

Putting aside that basically everyone else is actually doing much more to reduce emissions than we are, let’s debunk this one per cent bollocks.

That one per cent of emissions puts us around 16th in the world, which is an appalling rank for a country ranked around 55th in population.

Compare emissions per capita and it’s even worse, with our ranking being around 12th behind mostly small island nations and the Arab states who are burning a crap load of fossil fuels to make it possible to live in difficult, isolated locations.

But if you think about it in realistic terms of where the CO2 originally comes from, Australia is much worse than that.

The world is busily burning fossil fuels that were dug up or pumped out of the ground from somewhere, and a huge chunk of them came from right here.

Australia is a massive exporter of coal and gas – we export more coal than anyone else. And what is the most polluting fossil fuel of all? Coal of course.

In terms of country of origin for CO2 emissions, Australia is the third biggest carbon producer in the world with a massive 1.1Gt annually.

There is a climate-change catastrophe unfolding around us. We Australians are contributing more to the problem than almost anyone. As the original source of so much CO2 and also as one of the world’s wealthiest peoples, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to act decisively.


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Retired local professor launches book on grief

A leading international thinker and researcher in the development of innovative sport coaching and physical education teaching has returned home to Byron Bay and is launching his first non-academic book, 'Grief and Growth', on April 4 at The Book Room in Byron. 

Resilient Lismore’s ‘Repair to Return’ funding

On the eve of the second anniversary of the second devastating flood in 2022, Resilient Lismore has welcomed the finalisation of its funding deed with the NSW Reconstruction Authority, which will enable the continuation of its ‘Repair to Return’ program.

Editorial – Joyous propaganda! 

The NSW Labor government marked its one year in office this week with a jubilant statement of achievements issued from Macquarie Street HQ.

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

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