Editorial

Editorial

Editorial

Shark culls not the answer

Aslan Shand - June 19, 2026 0

It has been a confronting and devastating year with a 12-year-old killed by a shark in Sydney and another shark attack in Coogee over the weekend. The NSW government has said there is nothing off the table in response to the latest shark incident. But it is vital that we don’t just start going out there and randomly culling sharks.

Editorial

Fear and ignorance should not drive abortion debate

Aslan Shand - June 12, 2026 0

I did not think I would need to defend the right to safe abortions again. Abortion is no longer a criminal offence in Australia. There are well-reasoned and effective legal structures around abortions based on healthcare and women’s choice. It is broadly accepted that if you’re pregnant, it’s your decision to have children, or not.

Editorial

Drugs: a health problem needing law reform

Aslan Shand - June 4, 2026 0

The 2024 Penington Institute’s Annual Overdose Report stated that, ‘in 2022 there were 2,356 drug-induced deaths in Australia, equating to approximately six lives needlessly lost each day’.

Editorial

Give me a lecture – please!

Aslan Shand - May 29, 2026 0

We have seen the government ban under-16s from social media over concerns for mental health which include isolation, loneliness, anxiety, depression, body image issues, and low self-esteem.

Editorial

Free public transport needed

Aslan Shand - May 22, 2026 0

Victoria is side-stepping the rising cost of fuel by offering free public transport. If only public transport was an option in the Northern Rivers, let alone it being free!

Editorial

A future with One Nation

Aslan Shand - May 19, 2026 0

‘I want my country back. I want to bring back prosperity.’ As we listen to the strains of Pauline Hanson and her calls about how existing parties have ‘run this country into the ground’ following the One Nation win in the Farrer by-election I have to reflect on how her good mate Donald Trump has made America great again (MAGA).

Editorial

Community housing should be primary focus for Mullum Hospital site

Aslan Shand - May 8, 2026 0

The community frustration at Byron Shire Council was palpable on Monday night as they sought to understand why the draft development control plan (DCP) for the former Mullumbimby Hospital site failed so effectively at reflecting all the contributions they had made to the process.

Editorial

Who really needs a helping hand?

Aslan Shand - May 1, 2026 0

So what is really necessary for Australia’s bottom line? What is ‘unavoidable and urgent’ to ensure our budget bottom line?

Editorial

Can Byron Shire councillors drive housing innovation?

Aslan Shand - April 23, 2026 0

Byron Shire councillors currently have in their control one of the key pieces of publicly-owned land that is flood-free, within walking distance of the...

Editorial

Balancing safety and individual rights

Aslan Shand - April 17, 2026 0

ASIO (the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) plays a key role in keeping all Australians safe in a troubled world. But, according to their governments,...

Editorial

Approving the uninsurable

Aslan Shand - April 9, 2026 0

Speaking at the Northern Rivers NSW Business Economic Breakfast recently, Alan Kohler AM noted that the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has questioned the...

Editorial

Change comes from connection and hope

Aslan Shand - April 3, 2026 0

On Monday night, it was standing room only at the Top Pub in Mullumbimby as the community came together to hear the top-five short...

Editorial

Electrify and tax gas profits

Aslan Shand - March 26, 2026 0

While Trump may deny climate change and be pushing for greater fossil fuel extraction, the result of his actions of attacking Iran with Israel, without consulting the UN or any other countries he has since called on for help, is that he is creating the conditions for Australia to take decisive action on electrification, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and the call for greater tax on gas corporations.

Editorial

Marching to save our future

Aslan Shand - March 20, 2026 0

This Sunday is the national March in March for Forests day where thousands of people come together across Australia to demand an end to...

Editorial

Drip, drip, drip

Hans Lovejoy - March 13, 2026 0

With the US and Israel’s war on Iran unlikely to end soon, Australia’s lack of fuel security is worth a closer look.

Editorial

Editorial: Stop landbanking our homes

Aslan Shand - March 6, 2026 0

The NSW government keeps harping on about the length development applications (DAs) take to be processed by councils, and recently it announced it is removing the DA approval process from councils’ hands

Editorial

Driving our own path forward

Aslan Shand - February 27, 2026 0

Whether you agree with the community members who are listened to or not, it’s a powerful vote of confidence in democracy when community voices are heard, and policy is changed, even at the local government level.

Editorial

All creatures great and small

Aslan Shand - February 20, 2026 0

The lack of a place to live because of the pressure on land, droughts, fires, and floods, are all increasing as a result of the impacts of climate change and continue to affect lives, and the future, yet the NSW state government still refuses to take decisive action.

Editorial

Prime public and affordable housing site languishes

Aslan Shand - February 6, 2026 0

The community is becoming frustrated as Byron Shire councillors call repeatedly for affordable housing while they allow the old Mullumbimby Hospital site to languish with no tangible public, social, or affordable housing plan or development of the site.

Editorial

Editorial – Australia at the table or on the menu?

Aslan Shand - January 30, 2026 0

It is time for the Australian government to take a clear and firm stand for justice, equality and moral independence from the current US administration, as the US spirals further into chaos both internally and on the world stage.

Editorial

Being the spark of positive change

Aslan Shand - January 23, 2026 0

A few days ago one of my kids asked me how long I thought it would be before the next world war broke out.

Editorial

Inspired by Brazen Hussies

Aslan Shand - January 16, 2026 0

I sat down with my kids and watched Brazen Hussies recently.

Editorial

Editorial – Oil is back, baby!

Hans Lovejoy - January 9, 2026 0

Which country is next? Quagmires ahoy! Yabbering about his next move is what the 79-year-old US reality TV president loves.

Editorial

Editorial – Let’s unpack that court loss for Council (and Mullum residents)

Hans Lovejoy - January 2, 2026 0

Mullumbimby residents fought hard for a better outcome than what was proposed by developer Callum Sked on low lying land near the showgrounds. As has...

Editorial

Community expression vital to democracy

Aslan Shand - December 24, 2025 0

Protest and gathering together are ways for people to create unity, to highlight what they see as important, when they see a problem, when the government of the day is not living up to the expectations of its citizens, and when a system is failing and should be strengthened.

Editorial

Reflections on Bondi attack

David Heilpern - December 19, 2025 0

I for one am reeling. I am overwhelmed with sorrow and grief for the murdered and their families, friends, and communities.

Editorial

Gender-based violence an ‘every day’ issue

Aslan Shand - December 12, 2025 0

The alleged domestic violence murder of Ashleigh Grice in September 2025 brought hundreds of people together to grieve and to question how this could have happened in our community. Yet it is happening every day.

Editorial

Make life safer for women

Aslan Shand - November 28, 2025 0

I was once told that I was ‘too feminist’. My response? ‘Yes, I am. And so are my sons’.

Editorial

Drop bear etiquette made simple

Aslan Shand - November 21, 2025 0

I remember a teacher once describing how you eat peas with manners – I’m afraid to say it wasn’t a lesson I took too seriously and to this day I could not tell you the correct etiquette for eating a pea or two politely.

Editorial

Editorial – Drug policy failing youth

Aslan Shand - November 14, 2025 0

Most young people I know smoke vapes. They start there and then often end up smoking cigarettes as well. They are not buying cigarettes for $50 to $80 a packet from your official distributor; they are picking them up illegally and cheaply.

Editorial

Drug policy needs reason, courage

Aslan Shand - November 7, 2025 0

The NSW Minns Labor government has failed in its response to the NSW Drug Summit 2024 report, delivered 3 April, 2025. It is a weak response to the overwhelming scientific evidence that the best approach, to both drug use and drug abuse, is to make them both health issues outside the criminal justice system.

Editorial

Online and lonely

Aslan Shand - October 31, 2025 0

As the Australian government seeks to limit access to social media for under 16s, we might be pushing them further into isolation.

Editorial

Editorial – World hits first tipping point

Aslan Shand - October 24, 2025 0

As politicians in Australia, and around the world, continue to push back against climate change action we have reached our first climate change tipping point.

Local News

Making the best of our lives

Aslan Shand - October 17, 2025 0

We all create a framework or prism in which we live our lives. That framework is made up of social expectations, family expectations, and personal expectations as well as the legal and work frameworks we are part of.

Editorial

Before we become fossils

Aslan Shand - October 3, 2025 0

While Trump was ranting at the UN General Assembly last week, telling countries they were ‘going to hell’, others were leading the way, with Colombia and Vanuatu announcing the First International Conference for the Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels in 2026.

Editorial

When morality beats science

Aslan Shand - September 26, 2025 0

It was Easter 2024 when Queensland introduced its first festival drug-testing accompanied by the opening of two fixed-address drug testing units located in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Editorial

Editorial – Dial before you dig

Hans Lovejoy - September 12, 2025 2

So discovering a sewer main underneath a major ‘affordable housing’ development in Mullumbimby – after five years of planning – is was what it took for Council staff to conclude it was an inappropriate site.

Editorial

Editorial – Help the drop bears now

Aslan Shand - September 5, 2025 11

Koalas may look cute and cuddly – but really, they’re not. But they are facing extinction in NSW by 2050, particularly as a result of habitat destruction, and they do need our help to ensure they don’t die out.

Editorial

Editorial – The right tools for change

Aslan Shand - August 28, 2025 6

There is no doubt that there are challenges ahead in order for Australia and the world to meet net zero emissions and keep the world to a 1.5 degree rise in the average global temperature compared to pre-indistrial levels.

Editorial

Editorial – The cost of climate change

Aslan Shand - August 15, 2025 3

Over the weekend we saw the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival owing to another significant rain event on the NSW east coast.

Editorial

Editorial – Worth taking seriously

Aslan Shand - August 8, 2025 8

A hundred thousand people turned up on a bridge in Sydney to let their government know they wanted a better result, but local government planning matters are often only complained about when they’re built.

Editorial

Editorial – Earth first, then let’s strip mine the other planets later

Hans Lovejoy - July 25, 2025 1

Like most modern human endeavours, they originate in pulp science fiction. The idea of deep-sea mining (DSM), for example, dates back to Jules Verne’s 1870 classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The Good Life

Handcrafted delicious French pastries at Mullum Farmers Markets

The Echo - June 23, 2026 0

Allie Godfrey A taste of France has arrived at the Mullumbimby Farmers Market, with local pastry chef Dan introducing his handcrafted canelés to marketgoers each...

The Good Life

Local farming legend retires after 23 years

The Echo - June 23, 2026 0

Thursday, 25 June marks the end of an era for local farmer Kenrick Riley who is retiring from Byron Farmers Market after 23 years. Kenrick...

The Good Life

Highwayman’s Winter Whisky Feast

The Echo - June 23, 2026 0

Highwayman’s Dan Woolley has been working with whisky for over 20 years, and started to fill his own barrels here in Byron Bay over...

Byron Echo

Men’s XV: Byron Shire Rebels vs Lismore

Hywel David - June 23, 2026 0

The Rebels Men’s XV put in a dominant attacking display of rugby to see off Lismore 42-17, racking up six tries in a performance...

Support Us

Become one of the supporters who helps keep independent, local journalism alive in the Byron Shire by contributing anything from as little as the cost of a coffee each month.

You're Wonderful, Thank you for supporting independent journalism in the Byron Shire