Each year Mullumbimby CWA supports the Cancer Council with a Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser. This year they decided to change things up a bit and have a soup lunch and raffles.
The Gimelli family ran a small Italian restaurant on Jonson Street from about 1995 into the early 2000s. It was a classy joint, ahead of Byron’s culinary curve, serving dishes from every corner of Italy.
The Uniting Church Op Shop and Church Hall in Mullumbimby have been broken into three times in the last few months with the television being repeatedly stolen, donated stock stolen, and general damage to the shop.
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.
Six units are proposed at the eastern end of New City Road, Mullumbimby, on a site that was inundated during the 2022 floods.
Submitted by Duncan Band's Kollective, Development Application (DA) 10.2026.269.1 at 73 New City Road is on public exhibition with Byron Shire Council, and sits within the Shire's flood planning area.
All smiles after 2023 NAIDOC Celebration Walk in Ballina. Photo David Lowe.
Yesterday morning saw the temporary closure of River Street in Ballina for the annual NAIDOC Week Celebration Walk. The theme of NAIDOC this year is ‘For Our Elders’.
Despite the rain, which grew heavier, hundreds of people walked from the park near the RSL Club to the Visitors Centre, for a flag-raising and short ceremony, before morning tea and a BBQ. The route took the reverse direction of the ANZAC March, and had some parallels with that event, including the mixture of joy and sorrow and a minute’s silence before the raising of the flags.
Many jarjums joined the march this year, along with their elders, some of whom travelled in buses at the front, led by a police escort.
MC Les Moran speaking after the NAIDOC Celebration Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Reninya Roberts used her megaphone to call for people to vote No in the voice referendum, saying it was a threat to sovereignty, while MC Les Moran later said it was up to individuals to decide how they wanted to vote, and the day was not about the Voice.
‘NAIDOC to me is always special,’ said Mr Moran. ‘It allows us to showcase our culture, our history, our language; and to teach our young ones so that they have something in the future.
‘Culture is very important to us as Aboriginal people. It’s who we are, how we identify ourselves.’
The Celebration Walk was accompanied by beautiful beats provided by a portable PA, making a change to the usual River Street vibe, with the whole event bringing flags, energy and strength to downtown Ballina.
NAIDOC celebrations continue in Ballina Shire all this week. Details are here.
Check out a mega photo gallery of the NAIDOC Celebration Walk in Ballina below (click in for full size pics):
Families gathered after the NAIDOC Celebration Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Elders raise the flag following NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Daniel Roberts doing a great job on traffic control for the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Thanks for lending me the rain jacket Daniel! Photo David Lowe.
Jarjum up a tree just before the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
MC Les Moran and Police Inspector Grant Erickson spoke after the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Lyn Roberts brought some beautiful colour to the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Ballina Community Health joined the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
For our elders. NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Reninya Roberts speaking at the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Bringing the beats to the NAIDOC Celebration Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina 2023 was all about the elders. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Getting ready for the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader listening to the speeches following the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Onlooker enjoying the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Jarjum with flag at NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Down River Street for the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Reninya Roberts speaks after the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Speaking about elders after the NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
Jarjum on the mat after NAIDOC Walk in Ballina, 2023. Photo David Lowe.
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.
If you are a local business owner help us and in turn we help you. All The Echo asks for is advertising, not a free ride. It is every advert in The Echo and on www.echo.net.au, which creates the space for all the stories and coverage of community events, happenings and concerns.
If you are a reader you can become a sponsor of The Echo. Your support keeps the us independent.
Even a small one-off or regular donation from you will help keep the echo’s independent voice alive and strong.
Support Us
Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.
You're Wonderful, Thank you for supporting independent journalism in the Byron Shire
You’re supporting The Echo, thank you
Your contribution is keeping independent, local journalism alive in the Northern Rivers.
Because of supporters like you, we can keep every story free for everyone — no paywall, no exceptions. Your money goes directly to funding our newsroom of 40-odd local workers covering the stories that matter to this community.
Tell us what you think, give us your opinion
The Echo loves your letters and comments 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, email us your epistles at editor@echo.net.au.
The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and telephone number.
The Ballina Concert Band will perform a fun-packed set of jazz, blues and New Orleans favourites at a free gig at the Cherry Street Sports Club in Ballina, this Sunday, 28 June, from 2pm to 3pm.
The finalists for the biennial Wollumbin Art Award, held by Tweed Regional Gallery, have been announced. They are Tweed based artist Kane Corowa, Gold Coast based artist Beth Andrews, and Byron based artists Kirsten Chambers and Monica Buscarino.
Tweed Shire Council say it has secured national support at the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly, with four key motions carried.
Byron Council has formally partnered with Homes NSW in a bid to accelerate social and affordable housing projects across the Shire, with the former Mullumbimby Hospital site identified as a key priority.
This year's Love Lennox Festival went off with a bang and a bark as the much anticipated Dogly Fun Show took over the main stage area for plenty of K9 fun.
Byron Shire Greens Mayor, Sarah Ndiaye, has confirmed with The Echo that she is putting her hand up for Greens preselection for the state seat of Ballina, following Greens MP Tamara Smith announcing she would not be contesting the seat in the 2027 state election.
Choose how you'd like to support local journalism.
$
Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.
✓ You're Wonderful, Thank you for supporting independent journalism in the Byron Shire
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. 
