Articles & Columns

Fires are raging around the world as climate change continues to impact, and average temperatures continue to climb, and while we may be enjoying what feels like a rare bit of sunshine in the Northern Rivers, with a strong to super El Niño coming our way, now is the time to prepare for the fire season.

As a Mullumbimby resident, I want to raise what I believe is a significant issue facing our community: the disconnect between Byron Shire Council’s (BSC) desire for more housing, and the reality faced by ordinary residents trying to provide it.

Artificial intelligence usage becoming more prevalent and socially acceptable within our society has helped further endanger the mental wellbeing of an already isolated and disconnected generation.

Do you have hope?’ I bumped into a wise friend I hadn’t seen for a while and after the initial pleasantries, and as we leant against the car, hands shielding our eyes from the welcome sun, she asked me that question.

Stop using AI. It’s stealing your ideas. It’s stealing your ability. It’s stealing your job. It’s stealing your soul. It’s stealing your brilliance. It’s stealing you.

For over 20 years, one of Brunswick Valley Landcare’s core activities has been riparian restoration – that is improving the quality and density of native vegetation along the waterways of the Brunswick River catchment.

The big kicker in the CSIRO flood report for Ballina is the trade-off. A new outlet to the sea at Broadwater would reduce flooding. There is no doubt about that and we know that the river did just that in 1890.

Can boring beat bonkers? The Victorian Labor Party apparently thinks so, having chosen Ben Carroll as the state's new premier.

Trying to get a park in Byron Bay these days can be a little tricky with the amount of tradies and construction teams blocking off alleys and sections of road to park and get deliveries. And it doesn’t look like that is changing any time soon, with multiple large developments going through the NSW state government’s State Significant Development (SSD) and Regionally Significant Development (RSD) development approval process – both which bypass Byron Shire Council (BSC).

On a chilly winter’s morning, we’re strolling with a friend through her glorious garden in the heart of the Blue Mountains.

It appears from the polls that Western democracies are lurching to the populist right. Voters across Australia, US and the UK are increasingly dissatisfied with major party duopolies – or as many call them, the ‘uniparty’.

In July 2022 Engineers Australia held a risk seminar at Southern Cross University. It wasn’t long after the floods so naturally the floods came up in panel discussions. An audience member suggested we needed large basins to capture the water to reduce flooding in Lismore. Not one of the engineers on the panel wanted to discuss this because they thought the idea wasn’t worth discussing.

The changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) announced in the last federal budget have been met with vociferous attacks from both directions – for going too far and not going far enough – which the Albanese government has interpreted as meaning they've got the balance pretty much right. So how are these changes panning out for prospective homeowners?

I’ve only just started really listening to the songs of birds. Since the alarming news that the H5 bird flu virus – or HPAI, high pathogenicity avian influenza – was confirmed in Australia, I contemplated the reality that our wildlife could be devastated in the same way as it has been in other continents. I imagined whole populations of our birds decimated. Like our black swan.

The Australian Labor Party's 50th Annual Conference, at the Adelaide Convention Centre, was a tightly stage-managed affair.

Nothing stays static even though sometimes it seems things never improve. There are signs that changes are on the way.

When I picked up the car it had a big red bow. I’d seen this on Facebook. Happy people standing next to a car with a bow on it, and I‘d thought ‘what a wanker’. Now I was that wanker.

More justification of this adage has arrived with Nationals' MP Kevin Hogan's response to the next level stupidity known as the final report of the Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative (NRRI).

The Byron Shire has been renowned for its music, its festivals, and its innovation that has had a huge impact on the Australian music scene.

When I was a child we didn’t have a phone. We couldn’t afford it. If we needed to make a call we went next door to the Clancys’ house and sat at their kitchen bench, lifted the receiver, turned the Bakelite handle three times, and waited for the operator.