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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Do we not bleed?

Latest News

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

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

Other News

It’s a biggest little town festival! 

Supporters, performers, and volunteers gathered to launch the Mullum Laneways Festival 2024 last Friday. 

Workshop in Creative Writing For Beginners

Have you always felt like you have a novel in you, but don’t know where to start? Or have...

Floodplains

We need a serious talk about development on floodplains with more creativity and sophistication. The recent discussion about development...

Bay FM community radio celebrates digital upgrade

Volunteers from Byron and across the Northern Rivers celebrated nearly $100,000 worth of new studio equipment at Bay FM Community Radio station on the weekend.

Byron Council staff baulk at councillors’ promise of free parking for locals

Will Byron Council deliver on its pledge to make parking permits free for locals across the Shire when paid parking comes into force in Brunswick Heads?

Seize the Decade report outlines benefits of renewables

The Climate Council says many more Australian families can directly benefit from rooftop solar and batteries under a new plan that spells out how we can electrify the nation and cut climate pollution this decade.

A Keilor man was found guilty of animal cruelty this week in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court for violently kicking a dog during a protest in 2021. The man was fined and ordered to pay costs, and put on a good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded, which the RSPCA found disappointing.

The magistrate rightly condemned the unprovoked attack, saying: ‘People should not be lashing out at defenceless animals that are causing no threat to them’. 

The RSPCA prosecutor said that it’s hard to provide enough proof to get convictions, but this attack on the defenceless, leashed dog had been captured by a television camera.

Acts of cruelty to dogs and cats are rarely captured, yet there is plenty of video evidence of massive cruelty in shearing sheds. Hours of eyewitness video footage reveal that workers in the wool industry beat, stamp on, kick, mutilate, and throw sheep around. PETA has released seven exposés of over forty facilities in Australia’s wool industry. Abuse was documented at every farm and shearing shed visited.

If the man who kicked the dog had done any of the things routinely done to sheep – punching them, jabbing them with sharp metal clippers and sewing up gaping wounds with no pain relief, he would have gone to jail. Yet the response of governments throughout the country has been to ban the filming of video evidence, rather than banning the abuse itself.

When the magistrate denounced the man for kicking the dog, saying he should ‘not be lashing out at defenceless animals’, the same principle must apply. This vile industry needs to be closed down.

Desmond Bellamy, PETA


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Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Making Lismore Showground accessible to everyone

The Lismore Showground isn’t just a critical local community asset that plays host to a number of major events each year, but has also been used as an evacuation centre during past natural disasters in the region. 

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Govt cost-shifting ‘erodes financially sustainable local government’

Byron Shire Council looks set to add its voice to the growing chorus calling on the state government to stop shifting responsibilities and costs onto local government.