Paul Keating once described The Greens as ‘pixies living down the bottom of the garden path’ and more recently as ‘self-serving opportunists and Trots’.
At the time, I dismissed Keating’s vitriol and continued voting Green believing they were keeping the bastards honest. However, I must say I’m increasingly disillusioned with the Greens, particularly on Byron Council.
Headlines such as ‘Byron Council condemns Israeli occupation of Palestine’ and ‘Byron Council condemns homelessness’ are all well and good. But, what we really want is not grandstanding, but decent roads, less potholes, and the ability to build a roundabout in under 12 months!
While this Council seems to be off with the fairies addressing state and federal government matters, the people of this region are increasingly frustrated with local government failings. Presently, Bayshore Drive resembles Gaza, not because of foreign invasion but because of neverending Council roadworks.
The latest nonsense sprouted by Council is ‘workshops’ to address the horrific volumes of rubbish and illegal dumping littering our streets. Sorry, but I do not need a ‘workshop’ to pick up rubbish on the beach – I do it anyway. What we need is clever advertising against litter and cheaper tip rates.
Council seems to have a similarly useless strategy on the invasive species issues. You’d think the Greens would be the most proactive in protecting native forests and our beautiful region from the tsunami of camphor laurel, giant devil’s fig, tobacco weed, etc. Plenty of private groups and individuals are trying to stem the tide, but all Council can offer is more workshops. Meanwhile, weeds are growing everywhere including on Council land. Won’t be long before we rename Hinterland Way, Wild Tobacco Road.
Indeed, the Northern Rivers council with the toughest approach to many invasive species is Kyogle (with not one Green!).
The last federal election should have been a wake up call for the Greens. Get back to basics. We didn’t elect our local council to take on Netanyahu, we elected them to deliver basic local services in a sustainable and intelligent fashion.
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. 
