David Lowe

With local government meeting practice across the state returning to confusion following the NSW Legislative Council's recent decision, Ballina Shire Council's last meeting included a lot of unanimous decisions and an argument about the remnants of the Big Scrub, in which Mayor Cadwallader used her casting vote to squash Cr Simon Chate's motion.

The sudden resignation of controversy-plagued National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton has served to further highlight the failings of an organisation which began with such high hopes, having been one of the key demands of the first teal representatives and a core promise of the incoming Albanese Labor government.

Seven years since losing his seat in ignominious circumstances, Tony Abbott has returned from his long penance in the wilderness of Sky News and CPAC to become the latest president of what remains of the federal Liberal Party. He was elected unopposed after Alexander Downer withdrew.

The Lennox Kinvara Action Group is calling for email submissions to Ballina Shire Council to stop the development of thousands of houses in a sensitive, flood-prone area, as the full scale of what's planned becomes better known.

In the kind of move that Labor once derided in their opponents, the government used the cover of the federal budget – while most journalists were literally locked up – to deliver its response to the late Peta Murphy's report into online gambling, 'You Win Some, You Lose More'.

A remarkable love story is continuing to unfold this week in Sydney, following the decision of Julie Lee to give her husband Colin one of her kidneys. Col and Julie are both well known in Ballina for their long history of voluntary community work, particularly with Rotary. Their 51st wedding anniversary is this weekend.

Suzanne Whiteman from the Council of Intellectual Disability (CID) says there will be free workshops in Ballina tomorrow (14 May) and Friday (15 May), with a particular focus on women.

The bookies were right, unfortunately. For the first time since 1996, Pauline Hanson has captured a seat in the House of Representatives via the democratic process, and this time it wasn't in Queensland.

On the weekend, the rain stopped just in time for the climax of MardiGrass 2026, the epic street parade, although there were still a few clouds around the streets of Nimbin.

When it comes to drugs like cannabis and psilocybin, as the USA moves steadily towards decriminalisation, regulation and therapeutic reform, Australia's laws remain largely stuck in the past.

At its last meeting, Ballina Shire Council narrowly decided to leave the door open for future urban development on several large areas of land between Lennox Head and Tintenbar. The contentious sites are North Kinvara (CURA B), CURA C and West Lennox Palms.

In medieval times, for a fee, indulgences were granted by the church to rich men to expiate their sins. Since the link between carbon dioxide emissions and global warming has been understood, there’s been a similar vibe around many carbon capture and storage projects, with the existence of this technology providing an excuse for very large companies to continue polluting our atmosphere, rather than transitioning to renewables.

Recent research from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) shows that almost half of Australians aged 50-66 worry that they will outlive their savings, despite Australia having one of the largest superannuation systems in the world, now totalling over $4.2 trillion.

Government is fundamentally about priorities, and we've just seen a striking demonstration of where this government's priorities lie. 160,000 participants are set to be removed from the national disability insurance scheme, presumably because we can't afford it, while multinational gas companies are likely to continue being sheltered from paying a fair rate of tax.

Ballina Shire Council's meeting tomorrow will see not one, but two mayoral minutes from Mayor Sharon Cadwallader.

Last week, while Albo flew around the world trying to secure emergency fuel and fertiliser supplies for Australia, as a result of the international crisis caused by the United States, Acting PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles was in Canberra talking about defence.

Ballina’s Gordon Hayes is virtually riding 1,500 kilometres, to raise money for Save The Children.

Ballina Shire Council met this week, reluctantly, for an Extraordinary Meeting to discuss the Ballina Croquet Club, which is about to lose access to its lawns at Cherry Street.

The latest federal leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, appeared at the National Press Club last week, but anyone hoping for some substance behind the spin left disappointed.

Australian Federal Police yesterday arrested and charged former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith with five war crime murders, which allegedly took place between 2009 and 2012. The Victoria Cross winner was taken into custody at Sydney Airport. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and OSI Director Investigations Ross Barnett later addressed the media.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finally announced some gambling advertising reform this week, tucked into the end of a speech to the National Press Club with a principal focus on Australia's response to the fallout from the war in Iran, the day after he appeared on national television networks telling Australians not to panic.