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New data reveals NSW social housing waitlist blowout
A fresh analysis by Homelessness NSW reveals where people are waiting the longest for social housing, sparking calls to double the supply of social homes and boost services funding.
National News
Domestic violence service calls for urgent action to address crisis
Relationships Australia NSW is calling for urgent intervention from the NSW government to address men’s violence against women, following the horrific murder of Molly Ticehurst.
National News
eSafety commissioner granted legal injunction as X refuses to hide violent content
Australia’s Federal Court has granted the eSafety commissioner a two-day legal injunction to compel X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, to hide posts showing graphic content of the Wakeley church stabbing in Sydney.
National News
Sustainable power from carbon dioxide?
University of Queensland researchers have built an experimental generator which they claim absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) to make electricity.
National News
Deadly fire ants found in Murray-Darling Basin
The Invasive Species Council has expressed serious concern following the detection of multiple new fire ant nests at Oakey, 29 km west of Toowoomba in Queensland.
National News
Reef snapshot details widespread coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef
Latest CSIRO research shows that the fifth major bleaching event since 2016 is still unfolding, but bleaching was just one of the disturbances on the reef over summer.
National News
Statement of faith leaders following attack in Sydney
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper have released a joint statement from a diverse group of NSW faith leaders, in an effort to calm tensions following the recent knife attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in south western Sydney.
National News
Teenager arrested following an alleged stabbing
A teenager remains in police custody following an alleged stabbing at a church in Sydney’s south-west overnight.
Byron Echo
Success for Queensland’s first drug testing at Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival
The sun was peeking through the clouds as festival-goers arrived at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival in Queensland over the Easter weekend.
National News
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation wins major international prize
Australia's Indigenous Literacy Foundation is the 2024 recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children’s literature – a global award given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature.
National News
Friends of the Earth welcome Toondah decision
Friends of the Earth Australia is welcoming the draft decision by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to save an important Queensland wetland from inappropriate development.
National News
CSIRO reveals Australia’s attitudes to renewables
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has today released the most comprehensive survey of Australians’ attitudes toward the renewable energy transition.
Local News
How should the rules around ‘zombie’ developments be improved?
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For the North Coast ‘legacy’ or ‘zombie developments’ have been an ongoing issue with many locals aware of, and part of, community opposition to developments like Iron Gates at Evans Head which the community has been fighting against for more than 30 years.
Byron Echo
Anti-protest laws under review
With a review of 2022 anti-protest laws now underway, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties is calling on the NSW Labor government to include public submissions.
National News
Government wanting advice from young people
Applications are now open for the 2025 NSW Youth Advisory Council. The NSW government says young people aged 12-24 years who are passionate about advocating for issues that affect them are encouraged to apply.
National News
Fire season comes to a close for most of NSW
The last day of March was the end of the statutory Bush Fire Danger Period in NSW. While spring was a busy period of the fire season, summer was relatively quiet, thanks to timely rainfall.
National News
New report highlights gaps in rural and remote health
The second annual Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Best for the Bush, Rural and remote Health Base Line’ report has just been released. Presenting the latest data on the health of rural and remote Australians and evidence on service gaps, it identifies issues in urgent need of attention from service providers, funders, partners and policy makers.
National News
Seize the Decade report outlines benefits of renewables
The Climate Council says many more Australian families can directly benefit from rooftop solar and batteries under a new plan that spells out how we can electrify the nation and cut climate pollution this decade.
National News
Many rental homes barely habitable due to heat
Rental homes had an average indoor temperature of 25°C and experienced two hours a day over 30°C according to a new report, 'Cruel Summers', from tenant advocacy organisation Better Renting.
National News
Australia’s Environment Report card not looking good
2023 was a 'year of opposites' for Australia’s environment, but despite conditions fluctuating between wet and dry, overall conditions remain stable following a bumper year in 2022, according to the latest Australia’s Environment Report, led by the Australian National University.
National News
Tech companies grilled on how they are tackling terror and violent extremism
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued legal notices to Google, Meta, Twitter/X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit requiring each company to report on steps they are taking to protect Australians from terrorist and violent extremist material and activity.
National News
Nationwide marches for forests this weekend
On Sunday 24 March people from across Australia will march to call for an end to native forest logging. Bob Brown Foundation’s nationwide March for Forests is calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to end native forest logging and securely protect native forests.
National News
NSW bans offshore mining and exploration for gas and oil
The NSW Labor government has now banned offshore mining and exploration for gas and oil in NSW waters. NSW is the first state to...
Local News
Action needed on affordable housing and land banking say regional city Mayors
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Regional Cities NSW mayors have called on the state government to take action on the worsening housing crisis outside of Sydney as they call for affordable housing and a way to stop developers land banking.
National News
Minns Government to throw more kids in prison?
The Greens say the Minns Labor Government is pushing through changes to bail and criminal laws that will result in more children being trapped in the criminal justice system and sent to jail. This is in defiance of the views of civil society, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and almost all contemporary evidence that shows sending young people to prison results in worse outcomes for both the child and society.
National News
A ‘horrific spate of domestic violence related murders’
Domestic Violence NSW says that three women have been murdered owing to domestic and family violence since International Women’s Day, last Friday.
National News
Food security at stake, say NSW Farmers
Australia will be unable to feed itself and farmers will be driven out of business unless radical action is taken to reform the supermarket retail sector, NSW Farmers has told a senate inquiry today.
National News
Mental health experts urge governments to act on prevention
Mental and public health experts are gathering in Melbourne today to discuss the growing number of young Australians experiencing mental illness, and encourage governments to tailor their investments in programs which help protect and promote mental wellbeing.
National News
Hundreds rally against fish farms in Hobart
Yesterday in nipaluna/Hobart, hundreds of concerned citizens joined the Fish Farms Out Now flotilla organized by Bob Brown Foundation, calling for fish farms to be removed from Tasmanian waters.
National News
New event series for women in farming
NSW Farmers has launched a new series of events across rural and regional NSW to provide women in agriculture with the networking and upskilling opportunities required to fast track their professional development in the sector.
National News
Climate pollution cooking the reef
The Climate Council is sounding the alarm on a severe bleaching event unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, with new vision showing the damage that stretches more than 1,100 kilometres from Lizard Island to the Keppel Islands.
Local News
Release of first koala to take part in vaccine trial
Currumbin Wildlife Hospital has officially released ‘Anne Chovee’, the first wild Gold Coast koala to take part in its chlamydia vaccine program.
National News
Simon Kennedy preselected for ScoMo’s old seat
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Having failed to win John Howard's old seat of Bennelong in 2022, management consultant Simon Kennedy has been selected to contest Scott Morrison's seat of Cook for the Liberals, which has been vacated now that the former prime minister has left parliament.
National News
Government convenes Coastal Water Safety Roundtable today
NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib will lead an expert roundtable looking at how more lives can be saved on NSW beaches after more than a dozen coastal drownings this summer.
National News
People becoming severely ill at home due to heat
People experiencing financial and social disadvantage are struggling to keep their homes cool in summer and becoming seriously unwell from the heat, new ACOSS research has found.
National News
Invasive Species Council gives evidence to federal fire ant inquiry
A Senate Committee inquiry will hear evidence today that changes are needed in Australia’s fire ant response – including the creation of an independent eradication authority.
Local News
How would you stop koalas going extinct in the wild?
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The strategy for koala conservation is currently under review and the community is being asked for feedback on the best ways to help NSW’s endangered koalas.
Local News
Housing not industrial precinct say Lismore locals
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Locals from Goonellabah and Lindendale have called out the proposed Goonellabah industrial precinct at 1055A Bruxner Hwy and 245 Oliver Ave as being the wrong use of the site.
Byron Echo
A fond farewell to Mungo’s crosswords
This week we sadly publish the last of Mungo MacCallum’s puzzles. Before he died in 2020 Mungo compiled a large archive of crosswords for The Echo.
Local News
Tugun tunnel work at Tweed Heads – road diversion
Motorists are advised of changed overnight traffic conditions from Sunday on the Pacific Motorway, Tweed Heads.
Local News
Driver charged following Coffs Harbour fatal crash
A driver has been charged following a fatal crash in the Coffs Harbour area yesterday.