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Editorial

Editorial – Time for a little respect

Aslan Shand - October 16, 2026 0

In 2020 unpaid care was estimated at three million unpaid carers in Australia that provide approximately $80 billion of unpaid care a year, that is $1.5 billion a week.

Byron Echo

Why bribe government when you can just buy it?

Sunil Badami - October 15, 2026 0

Say what you like about Clive Palmer – although given how notoriously litigious he is, maybe don’t.

Byron Echo

Byron needs a pause and review on development

Brooke Crowle - October 14, 2026 0

Byron might be complex, disparate, and sometimes misunderstood, but if there is one thing the community seems to agree on, it’s the height limit.

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Big Problem with Small Print

Mandy Nolan - October 14, 2026 0

Who ever thought putting menus in an 8-point font was a good idea? As a woman with reading glasses, who often forgets said glasses, I take it personally. It says: go away old lady. It feels like a restaurant or cafe for people with perfect vision. There may be a disabled toilet but I’m just not feeling the inclusion.

Articles & Columns

Right wing ratbags gather in Brisbane for CPAC

David Lowe - October 12, 2026 0

Just wrapped in Brisbane, this year's Australian Conservative Political Action Conference featured a galaxy of nutters vying for the votes of the disaffected, disorganised and dangerous.

Editorial

Editorial – Keeping the fire at bay

The Echo - October 9, 2026 0

While the federal and NSW governments continue to approve and extend coal and gas mines, that regardless of where the fossil fuels are burnt will have negative impacts on all our futures, there are a few things you can do to prepare.

Byron Echo

Wait for reforms – Byron Council’s rate rise should be deferred

The Echo - October 8, 2026 0

Council hasn’t advised the community of the current state government proposed reforms to support councils. The reforms are in response to the parliamentary inquiry titled: Ability of local governments to fund infrastructure and services.

Byron Echo

Why We Still March to Reclaim the Night

Mandy Nolan - October 7, 2026 0

Imagine being raped or killed and being blamed. That’s how it’s been for women in a patriarchy that instead of holding the perpetrator to account, asks ‘What was she wearing?’, ‘Why was she walking on that street at that time of night?’, ‘Was she a sex worker?’ These are the wrong questions.

Articles & Columns

David Shoebridge takes the helm at a time of crisis

David Lowe - October 5, 2026 0

Surprising many inside the party and out, David Shoebridge has been chosen as the new leader of the Australian Greens, with Steph Hodgins-May as deputy.

Byron Echo

Beware the Thucydides Trap

The Echo - October 2, 2026 0

President Xi Jinping gave a sinister warning to President Trump that would have gone way over his head and baffled his dwindling band of MAGA fanatics.

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: The Joy of Boredom

Mandy Nolan - September 30, 2026 0

Are we at risk of losing our ability to experience boredom? Will boredom soon be extinct?

Byron Echo

Neglecting Australians, and our international commitments, for big business

Veronica Lyon - September 29, 2026 0

‘We’ve had one policy; we landed it, a 2030 target of 43 per cent, net zero by 2050, both of them legislated’, said Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, on 10 June, 2024.

Articles & Columns

What’s wrong with this picture?

David Lowe - September 28, 2026 0

Anthony Albanese’s recent performance on the world stage in New York was a breathtaking piece of rhetorical acrobatics.

Byron Echo

Democracy does not equal liberalism

Aiden Grandsimon - September 25, 2026 0

In recent years, democracy seems to be taking sides. In political commentary, opinion columns, or even conversations with friends, after each major election, there appears to be a preferred ‘democratic’ candidate.

Editorial

Does Byron’s bum look too big?

Aslan Shand - September 25, 2026 0

Byron Shire Council charges more for residential rates, farmland rates, water, sewer, and waste when compared to Ballina, Lismore, Clarence and Richmond shires. Only Byron’s business rates are lower.

Byron Echo

Time to create a new politics

Catherine Cusack - September 24, 2026 0

Climate change is happening faster than we thought and Australia is set to fall well short of its 2030 renewable energy target of 82 per cent.

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Lets Talk About Dementia

Mandy Nolan - September 23, 2026 0

This week is Dementia Action Week. Some of its purposes are to raise awareness, reduce stigma and build understanding. We don’t talk about dementia because it scares us.

Articles & Columns

The second algorithm: why government control is the wrong fix

Chaiy Donati - September 22, 2026 0

It is not often that a minister describes the most sweeping power she has ever asked for with the words 'I guess'.

Articles & Columns

DV peak body responds to horror weekend

The Echo - September 22, 2026 0

Domestic Violence NSW (DVNSW) has released a statement responding to what has been a particularly tragic weekend, even by NSW standards, noting that domestic violence doesn’t have an age limit, and it doesn’t stop being a national emergency because it happens behind closed doors.

Articles & Columns

Tony Burke and the immigration iceberg

David Lowe - September 21, 2026 0

In a speech to the National Press Club, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has attempted to redefine the immigration debate. But what lies beneath?

Editorial

Editorial – Time for free oral

Aslan Shand - September 18, 2026 0

Most of us have had a toothache. It is bloody painful and at times I’ve fantasised taking a pair of pliers and ripping the agonising tooth out while I wait for attention from a dentist to help me – please just help me with the pain!

Byron Echo

Graphic violence is fine, but pot smoking? Never

Professor David Heilpern - September 17, 2026 0

There is a new computer game called ‘Halloween: The Game’ that builds on the hyper-real and brutal violence of the film.

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: How do you view the world without taking your view from the world?

Mandy Nolan - September 16, 2026 0

Sometimes people will say something, and the words just land inside me. Like a bird flying home to their nest. Like an ant finding the cool underside of a rock. Like a salmon swimming upstream to the place where they were born.

Local News

The life and wins of local sports legend Ric Light

The Echo - September 15, 2026 0

Ric Light’s influence on sport in Byron Bay started with his father who was the much-loved English master at Mullumbimby High.

Articles & Columns

Angry energy, from digital duty of care to forests

David Lowe - September 14, 2026 0

The government's draft bill for a new approach to online safety is currently up for public discussion, and various people are getting hot under the collar about it, particularly those whose political and business model relies on Australians being as angry as possible.

Editorial

Pill testing: just a small step

Aslan Shand - September 11, 2026 0

The NSW Minns Labor government has recognised that drug and pill testing is effective in reducing risks and harms associated with illicit drug use, including for festival attendees.

Byron Echo

How pissed off are you?

Jo Immig - September 10, 2026 0

There is a crisis of trust in the world – trust in governments, institutions, media, science, and in each other, is plummeting. According to research, younger generations are losing trust fastest, and honestly who can blame them?

Articles & Columns

Rage in the Machine

The Echo - September 9, 2026 0

I have always been afraid of male rage. Growing up with a violent, alcoholic dad I got to witness that rage first hand. I saw the legs of a chair go through a door, a fist in a wall, hands on my mother.

Byron Echo

The law of silence: how Labor made ASIO’s powers permanent

Chaiy Donati - September 8, 2026 0

On Thursday, 20 August the Federal Senate passed the ASIO Amendment Bill (No. 2). A compulsory questioning warrant lets ASIO require a person who has never been charged, and may never be, to appear and answer questions. Refusing is a criminal offence...

Articles & Columns

Government sells out Pacific, NT, Australia

David Lowe - September 7, 2026 0

Last week the government demonstrated its flagrant disregard for science and common sense; from Washington to Palau, and from Canberra to Darwin.

Byron Echo

We don’t just need more housing: we need it where it’s needed most

Sunil Badami - September 3, 2026 0

With news that the last of Byron Shire’s pod villages will be closed by the end of the year, both residents and the wider community are asking: where will they go in a region where vacancy rates are less than 0.5 per cent?

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Warning: Choking Hazard

Mandy Nolan - September 2, 2026 0

There is no safe way of choking someone.

Articles & Columns

Honeyeaters of the Wallum

Byron Bird Buddies - September 1, 2026 0

To the untrained eye, Wallum might appear to be a chaotic tangle of vegetation intersected here and there by foot-made pathways through the sandy soil. But this surface view belies the intricate and complex web of life woven over epochs.

Articles & Columns

Lessons from Secret Harbour

David Lowe - August 31, 2026 0

Held by Labor since 1989, Pauline Hanson's One Nation has comfortably won the Western Australian state lower house seat of Secret Harbour in Saturday's by-election, sending shockwaves across the country.

Local News

Katie Milne responds to Tweed’s draft housing and employment strategy

The Echo - August 28, 2026 0

The former mayor of Tweed Shire Council, Kate Milne, has shared her submission to Tweed's Draft Growth Management Housing & Employment Strategy.

Editorial

Editorial – Drug-checking saves lives

Aslan Shand - August 28, 2026 0

No-one would tolerate killing six teenagers with methanol-laced alcohol in Australia, as occurred recently in Laos. But in Australia, you can’t check your drugs to see if they’re safe.

Local News

Lynda Dean – a life of love and making the world a better place

Christopher Dean - August 26, 2026 0

My beloved Lynda Dean was the rock and the heart that held in place not only me and our family, but an extraordinary network of friends and communities throughout the Byron Shire and far beyond.

Byron Echo

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Turn and Face the Change

Mandy Nolan - August 26, 2026 0

‘Changes’ – It’s my favourite Bowie song. How do we change? And I don’t just mean personally. I mean as a large community of humans. As a species? Because we have to change. Now.

Articles & Columns

How to stop overdoses? Dr Will Tregoning has some thoughts

Dr Will Tregoning, CEO of Unharm - August 25, 2026 0

With International Overdose Awareness Day approaching on 31 August, NSW now has the evidence, the tools and record overdose deaths but lacks the will on permanent, community based pill testing.

Byron Echo

Traditional owners vs Adani’s mining operations

Michele Grant - August 25, 2026 0

From bankruptcy to the Queensland government intervening and extinguishing their native title – Adrian Burragubba, a Wangan and Jagalingou Elder has continued the fight against Adani’s contentious mine.

Articles & Columns

Labor and Liberal join forces on multiple fronts

David Lowe - August 24, 2026 0

Last week, government and opposition found themselves singing from the same song sheet in parliament on a range of issues, from the NDIS to ASIO, and big tech to gambling advertising.

Editorial

Editorial – The cost of climate conspiracy

Aslan Shand - August 21, 2026 0

‘A simple conclusion: the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting.’

Local News

Calls on NRPP to defer consent for Mullumbimby’s 57 Station Street DA on Monday

Aslan Shand - October 16, 2026 0

At Thursday’s Byron Shire Council meeting there were multiple calls for a deferral of the 57 Station Street, Mullumbimby car park development application.

Local News

McAuleys estate changes approved, but pet ban and cycle path stay

The Echo - October 16, 2026 0

Developers have secured approval for changes to a contentious Myocum subdivision, but requirements banning pets and providing a cycle path and vehicle turnaround will remain.

Local News

New koala strategy leaves local priorities to later implementation plan

The Echo - October 16, 2026 0

Northern Rivers residents are being invited to help shape a new NSW koala conservation strategy, with specific local actions and investment priorities to be detailed in a separate implementation plan.

Local News

Fish kill follows Belongil Creek opening as Council reviews protocols

The Echo - October 16, 2026 0

A fish kill at Belongil Creek has prompted warnings to avoid the affected area, with Byron Shire Council and government agencies investigating the incident following an artificial opening of the creek.