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Byron Shire
June 24, 2026

Culture in the Byron Shire for the Week Beginning 21 November 2019

Latest News

NSW budget and the Northern Rivers

The Minns government says it's handed down a budget which locks in major funding for North Coast health infrastructure, alongside targeted cost-of-living relief designed for regional households and disaster recovery, as locals continue to face higher costs.

Other News

Tweed Water Alliance and the future of the region’s water

Community concern about large-scale water extraction in a quiet rural area, the use of heavy vehicle trucking on narrow, winding, country roads and unsustainable one-use bottling led to the formation of Tweed Water Alliance.

Consultation closes Friday on Lismore’s 60,000 population plans

The future of Lismore is now up for discussion, with Council's Strategic Planning Framework currently out for public exhibition. Now is your time to have your say – consultation closes 26 June.

Trumpism

Is it naïve to think of a promise in the political context as no more than intention to do...

Shark culls not the answer

It has been a confronting and devastating year with a 12-year-old killed by a shark in Sydney and another shark attack in Coogee over the weekend. The NSW government has said there is nothing off the table in response to the latest shark incident. But it is vital that we don’t just start going out there and randomly culling sharks.

Tweed keeps rate increase below rate of inflation

Tweed Shire Council says it has adopted one of the lowest rate increases in the cross-border region for 2026/27, with the average household bill rising around 3.6 per cent once all charges are counted. This is below the current annual rate of inflation of 4.2 per cent.

Artist Gerwyn Davies exhibits at Tweed Gallery

From 3 July, a major new body of work by Gadigal/Sydney-based artist Gerwyn Davies will be exhibited at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre.

auditions

Auditions at the Drill Hall

For its 2020 season, the Drill Hall Theatre Company, Mullumbimby, requires two actors for Joanna Murray-Smith’s thriller Switzerland and Andrew Bovell’s epic When The Rain Stops Falling. In the two-hander Switzerland, a young actor is required to play the part of a publishing representative who visits Patricia Highsmith (played by Liz Chance) – best known for her series of Tom Ripley novels – to persuade the irascible, opinionated, hard drinking author to write one more Ripley novel. In When The Rain Stops Falling they are looking for the right person to play forty-two year old Henry Law – a Londoner with a dark secret. The role, in an Australian classic about climate catastrophe and facing truth, is challenging.

Auditions; Friday 22 Nov, Sunday 24 Nov, and Friday 29 Nov at the Drill Hall – for audition times contact Greg Aitken at 0421 984 024 or [email protected]. Audition bookings are essential.


Brunswick rock Pier

Vicki Stavrou Coastal Muse Exhibition Opening

Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah  |  Friday 29 November  |  6pm

Byron Bay artist, Vicki Stavrou’s exhibition Coastal Muse at Tweed Regional Gallery starts this Friday, with the official opening the following Friday 29 November, at 6pm. The exhibition features wild coastal locations and Vicki’s passion for the ocean. 2 Mistral Rd, South Murwillumbah.


Tim Winton Smith

Tim Winton-Brown, Book Launch

Drill Hall, Mullumbimby  |  Saturday 23 November  |  6pm  |  Entry by gold coin donation

When Tim Winton-Brown broke his neck in 1998 at the age of 18, his whole life changed. Tim was a golden boy, completing secondary high school at Trinity Catholic College, Lismore, in 1997 with a TER of 98.5. He was Vice-Captain of the school and topped the year in Drama. From there he went on a Rotary Student Exchange Program to Semarang, Indonesia, where he had an accident and broke his neck. He damaged his spinal cord in multiple places, and this rendered him quadriplegic.

Now, 21 years later, his memoir is being launched at Mullumbimby’s Drill Hall Theatre on Saturday, at 6pm. Detailing the difficult emotional terrain of a quadriplegic injury and his subsequent ‘incomplete’ partial recovery, it is a book that addresses some of the real vulnerability of living with spinal cord injury and disability.

‘Growing up in this region, I was always encouraged as a child and a teenager to express my feelings, but this had been more difficult than I could’ve imagined. It can be really hard work, and a bit weird,’ Tim said.

He is looking forward to launching his memoir and sharing his story Saturday 23 Nov, 6pm at the Mulumbimby Drill Hall. Entry by gold coin donation; kids welcome.


happy sad man

Happy Sad Man

Palace Byron Bay  |  21–27 November  |  4.40pm and 6.40pm

Following her smash hit I Am Eleven, Australian filmmaker Genevieve Bailey was inspired to find more diverse and positive portrayals of men exploring their emotional selves. Happy Sad Man journeys from Bondi Beach to the outback, exploring the inner worlds of a war photographer traversing global conflict zones, a farmer, an outreach worker from rural Victoria, a musical nomad and a sensitive dog-loving artist. Each portrait is an intimate and heartwarming look into vulnerability, friendship and compassion.

21–27 November, 4.40pm and 6.40pm at Palace Cinema in Byron.


Mark Swivel: A man of many hats

Mark Swivel and Friends: Manbaggery

Drill Hall Theatre, Mullumbimby  |  Monday 2 Dec  |  6pm
Food available from 6pm  |  Smokey Fields and Friends show at 7pm

After Together’s Senate campaign in the May election, Mark Swivel devoted himself to building up Barefoot Law, an experiment in ‘access to justice’ that’s become a bit of a juggernaut. In September 2019, a play called Avalanche: a Love Story ran at the Sydney Theatre Company – which contained an account of Mark’s marriage to Julia Leigh, the writer and filmmaker (The Hunter and Sleeping Beauty).

Mark has never said anything about this (or the book it’s based on). But for one night only he’ll tell all… for a good cause – free from bitterness and the risk of defamation! Mark says ‘A week after Avalanche closed, an old friend died, Richard – who taught me ocean swimming, lived through the events surrounding Avalanche and was at uni with me and Julia. These days I often hear stories from clients that stretch and distress me. The discord and pain, and good things, that live next door. Manbaggery is a story of loving and dying, the communities we live in… and the stories we choose to tell. It’ll be funny and warm, loving and heartbreaking. Trust me, I’m a lawyer.

Manbaggery at The Drill Hall Theatre, with proceeds going to the Mullumbimby Neighborhood Centre to assist with legal fees for clients who are experiencing domestic violence. Mark is joined by Smokey Fields, with Dodsy and Gully performing their much-loved Woodstock Revisited show at 7pm! Monday 2 December, 8pm. Tickets $20 minimum donation to mdnc.org.au/donate-womens-resource-services.  Limited tickets at the door.


Robert_Delaunay__Nude_woman

Sketch Appeal

Brunswick Picture House  |  Thursday 28 November  |  10am-12.30pm

It seems everyone is doing what they can to raise money for those affected by the recent fires. Mandy Nolan will be taking her clothes off and donating her time to the good people at Sketch Appeal for their regular drawing class.

Enquiries to [email protected]



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Appeal to locate missing woman

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a woman missing from the Kempsey area.

Citizen science last line of defence for threatened species

Native forest logging is again in the spotlight in NSW, following Monday night’s Four Corners investigation into Forestry Corporation NSW’s failure to protect nationally endangered species.

Site confirmed for future high school at Pottsville

The NSW government says it has secured a site for a future high school in Pottsville, delivering on its commitment to future-proof public education for the growing Tweed community in the Northern Rivers.

Eleven winners at Byron Bay Herb Nursery

The Byron Bay Herb Nursery continues to create constructive pathways to achievement with twelve students from Byron Bay Herb Nursery’s disability support program recently graduating with a Certificate II in Horticulture.