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Byron Shire
July 3, 2026

Keeping lights on

Latest News

Women to the front: the female voices shaping the 2026 Byron Writers Festival

The 2026 Byron Writers Festival program puts women front and centre. Journalists, novelists, and an award-winning columnist bring an extraordinary breadth of stories to Bundjalung Country this August.

Other News

When it comes to real estate, everyone can use an advocate

With 45 years combined experience across both sales and property management, husband and wife team Mark and Michelle Errichiello have recently moved to the Northern Rivers and teamed up with Byron Property Search to provide advocacy services for people looking to buy or sell across the region.

NAIDOC Week and 19th Arakwal NAIDOC Week short film screening

Celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of First Nations Australians, NAIDOC Week runs from 5-12 July with the theme ‘50 Years of Deadly’.

Missing man in Ballina

Police are appealing for assistance to locate a missing man. Caine Tierney, aged 47, was last seen on Ross Street, Ballina, about 12.30pm on Wednesday 24 June 2026.

Top female player shares tips in Byron

Croquet players from across the Northern Rivers area were privileged to spend time recently with Australia’s top female golf...

Eclectic Selection for the week beginning 1 July 2026

Eclectic Selection: What’s on this week is a taste of some of the events that can be found in the Byron Shire and beyond this coming week.

Take sanctuary at this year’s Byron Writers Festival

Thirty years and a stellar lineup is coming your way with this year’s Byron Writers Festival,14–16 August.

If ever there was a political party totally unfit to govern, or even influence governments, it has to be the Greens. They are once again threatening to use their Senate numbers to derail the Labor government’s new laws to cut carbon emissions by insisting the government ban all new coal and gas projects.

The blind ideological stupidity of the Greens defies description. They never learn. World markets are phasing out coal, needing an orderly transition to renewables that keeps the lights on with gas playing a big part whether the Greens like it or not. Any government that allows the lights to go out will not govern for long.

Even with the federal government’s recent intervention in the energy market, both coal and gas prices are still too high. So just what does it take for the Greens to realise that banning new gas projects outright would undoubtedly result in massive compensation payouts, further unsettle the markets and push prices even higher?

The Greens have a shocking history of derailing action on climate change. They forced Kevin Rudd to abandon the CPRS, an election promise, and forced Julia Gillard to introduce a price on carbon, with both decisions resulting in an unmitigated disaster. 

Alan Veacock, Cumbalum



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Osher’s next act: transforming recovery into a toolkit

Byron Writers Festival talks with best-selling author Osher Günsberg whose new book, So What? Now What? is a mental health toolkit and a compelling follow-up to his critically-acclaimed 2018 memoir, Back, After The Break.

BaySounds opens the door for songwriters

Some songs arrive quickly. Others sit half-finished in notebooks, voice memos or guitar cases for years before somebody finally hears them.

Bay FM’s Mia Armitage heads to Germany

Northern Rivers journalist Mia Armitage has been selected for a prestigious international internship with Germany’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle.

Biosecurity strategy up for comment

Feedback is now open on the draft NSW Biosecurity Strategy that the government says will provide the focus for improvements to the state’s biosecurity framework over the next 10 years.