Brian Mollet, Mullumbimby
It is with considerable incredulity that I read in last week’s Echo that Byron Shire has a lazy $70 million invested, some of it in fossil fuel (or related) industries.
Now you can call me naive or obtuse, but having read the relevant sections of the Australian constitution, a ponderous and very dry document, it is just not clear to me how this is legal. Local governments are authorised to levy rates and charges on premises and they provide services and infrastructure with the funds generated. Full stop.
Nowhere in my perusal could I find mention of raising moneys to reinvest them in money-making schemes. Meanwhile take a drive east along Whian Street, turn left into Stuart Street, noting as you will the preponderance of potholes and pitfalls that pockmark the pavement. Could someone with more knowledge than my humble self please enlighten me as to how this could be the case?
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. 
