I congratulate all of the activists, young and old on the fate of the old Mullum hospital.
We learn that councillors passed a motion that, ‘commences work on the development of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Byron Shire Council and Homes NSW to establish a framework for collaboration on housing outcomes across the Byron Shire local government area’.
We learn that the (MoU) is to expedite the delivery of new social and affordable housing. Byron Bay has developed a reputation on being very harsh on First Nation peoples.
A very ‘white’ shire. A shire that enjoys ‘high-end’ living for folks that enjoy the ‘finer things in life’. Yet it has become a shire that promotes development on floodplains. It offers no insurance or effective guarantee of a safe flood-free housing, treats its homeless people with contempt and these folk are supported by activists (and there are many in civil society) that offer necessary life support.
Yet where in the Byron Shire are the First Nation people?
We are aware that they were ‘banished’ during the development of the bypass.
What policies do Council hold and execute, that currently address their fundamental rights? We are aware that globally they are the most-incarcerated peoples
We are aware that Australia defies United Nations charters that uphold the rights of the child and continues to imprison children.
We are aware that deaths in custody are now rapidly rising and being ignored by NSW state government (600 deaths since 1991). None of the royal commission recommendations have been implemented since 1991. I ask will Council remedy this situation and prioritise, under the MoU, social housing for First Nation people? They have not been treated well in Byron Shire.
Humans all bleed. Sadly race structures define a society, as Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King warned 50 years ago – ‘political structures in the future will aim to create social structures that divide humanity, rather than structures that unite us’.
Folks ensure your future rights and work for a ratified Human Rights Act – the Byron Shire needs one.
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. 
