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Byron Shire
June 25, 2026

Victory for the Common People

Latest News

NSW budget and the Northern Rivers

The Minns government says it's handed down a budget which locks in major funding for North Coast health infrastructure, alongside targeted cost-of-living relief designed for regional households and disaster recovery, as locals continue to face higher costs.

Other News

Tweed Water Alliance and the future of the region’s water

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.

E-bikes destroyed by police in Tweed

Thirty-five e-bikes that were seized during police operations near Tweed Heads have been destroyed, say police.

Tweed keeps rate increase below rate of inflation

Tweed Shire Council says it has adopted one of the lowest rate increases in the cross-border region for 2026/27, with the average household bill rising around 3.6 per cent once all charges are counted. This is below the current annual rate of inflation of 4.2 per cent.

Shark culls not the answer

It has been a confronting and devastating year with a 12-year-old killed by a shark in Sydney and another shark attack in Coogee over the weekend. The NSW government has said there is nothing off the table in response to the latest shark incident. But it is vital that we don’t just start going out there and randomly culling sharks.

Dancing and fundraising for our children’s future

The recent premeditated killings of several children in Australia by their fathers has raised the issue of filicide (the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child) alongside the issue of domestic violence (DV) and femicide (the intentional murder of women or girls) as key areas that need research to help understand why these things happen.

Cartoons of the week – 24 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.

Bottom: L-R – Sam Tourle (brewer), Sophie Kempnich, Drew Tourle (brewer) Top: L-R – Janelle Morse, Jay Kempnich
The two brewers at Common People are brothers, raising the question of exactly how many brew teams in Australia are brothers? Sam is a highly experienced brewer with over 12 years of experience in the industry, and has shown his brother Drew the ropes over the last few years. Drew is now a very competent brewer in his own right.
Sam, Drew and Jay all grew up in Kyogle, all went to live in various places in their younger years, but in more recent times have returned home to the Northern Rivers with their partners to raise their families, although luckily for us they use their time off to brew award-winning beer.

Small, Bangalow independent brewery Common People Brewing Co. received medals for five of its beers at the recent AIBA beer awards, as we mentioned briefly last week. Held in Melbourne each year, the AIBAs (Australian International Beer Awards) are the world’s biggest beer competition. Beers from breweries around the world are entered into specific categories and judged blindly by industry experts.

Needless to say, the Common People crew were stoked, saying ‘Our Villager’s Pale Ale, Moonless Midnight Stout, El Sabro Hazy IPA, La Grande Belgian Strong and Protesters IPA were all awarded medals in their categories this year. Given that we are a very small, independent brewery, run by family and friends, we are very pleased with this result.’

‘All our award-winning beers are currently available in our taproom, in the industrial estate in Bangalow. All beers are lovingly brewed, canned and packaged on site between Monday and Wednesday, then the taproom and kitchen is open for business from 12pm till late from Thursday to Sunday.

‘Common People Brewing Co is your home away from home, and is a great place to relax with friends and family. There’s an ever-rotating range of thirst-quenching craft beers and wines to enjoy. The kitchen offers authentic woodfired pizzas, shared plates and more. There’s a breezy garden deck, cosy fireplace for the colder days, board games, Friday happy hours, special events, great tunes and dogs are welcome too!’



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Appeal to locate missing woman

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a woman missing from the Kempsey area.

Citizen science last line of defence for threatened species

Native forest logging is again in the spotlight in NSW, following Monday night’s Four Corners investigation into Forestry Corporation NSW’s failure to protect nationally endangered species.

Site confirmed for future high school at Pottsville

The NSW government says it has secured a site for a future high school in Pottsville, delivering on its commitment to future-proof public education for the growing Tweed community in the Northern Rivers.

Eleven winners at Byron Bay Herb Nursery

The Byron Bay Herb Nursery continues to create constructive pathways to achievement with twelve students from Byron Bay Herb Nursery’s disability support program recently graduating with a Certificate II in Horticulture.