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Byron Shire
June 12, 2026

Fairness in IR

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

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'.

The Grigoryan brothers and others

The internationally-acclaimed Grigoryan Brothers – Slava and Leonardo, are set to bring their extraordinary musicianship to Brunswick Picture House...

Cartoon of the week – 10 June, 2026

The Echo loves your letters and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, send us your epistles.

Major repairs for Lismore roads

Wyrallah and Coraki Roads will soon have 15km of road surface restored, as part of ongoing disaster recovery works across Lismore’s rural road network.

Prayers For Peace at Durrumbul Hall, 21 June

A Winter Solstice concert will be held Sunday 21 June, from 6.30pm at Durrumbul Hall, Main Arm.

Climate action arts program announces 2026 recipients

Ingrained Foundation, together with co-founder of the Climate Action Arts Grant Program, Vicki Brooke, and delivery partner Arts Northern Rivers (ANR), are say they are delighted to announce the five recipients of the inaugural program.

The righteous outrage emanating from the western political class and its mass media over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine might suggest the collective West is fundamentally opposed to big strong countries attacking smaller weaker ones.

But recent history proves the United States and its vassals have no qualms committing aggression against impoverished defenceless nations. We’ve seen this over and over again, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya, in Syria, in Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine, in Somalia and Sudan.

The United States and its gang of thugs routinely violate international law and breach the UN Charter when they conspire to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. They do this knowingly, wilfully and with contempt for the rights of others. They believe they’re entitled to behave this way any to their unassailable power and privilege. Only when their power and privilege is challenged by a peer competitor do they suddenly discover an appreciation for rights and fairness in international relations.

What purpose is served by the US quest for dominance in a nuclear-armed world? Why does Australia consistently and enthusiastically embrace America’s imperial foreign policy? Is there any advantage for our country or economy in picking a fight with our biggest trading partner and stoking tension in our region? The US and the UK don’t care about us, they never have, we’re just cannon fodder for their imperial agenda.

Australia should exit AUKUS and distance itself from the West’s warmongering juggernaut before we get sucked into the nightmare of a nuclear conflict. Gough Whitlam wanted to close the US spy base at Pine Gap and his successor, Malcolm Fraser, explains why in his remarkable book, Dangerous Allies, a ‘must read’ for anyone seriously interested in Australia’s geopolitical past and its future trajectory.

John Scrivener, Main Arm



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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...