Special Features

Nimbin’s HEMP Party is urging voters in the Page and Richmond electorates to vote for The Greens in the House of Representatives after receiving no reply from the Nationals and Labor to questions related to ‘the war on drugs’.

The number of apprenticeships in the Page electorate has fallen by 31.5 per cent in two years, according to Federal Department of Education figures. Federal Labor candidate for Page Janelle Saffin said the drop in numbers equated to 666 apprenticeships, with the figures replicated across Australia.

The next federal government must address the youth unemployment crisis in the Page electorate, which has left 21.6 per cent of young people out of work, according to the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Christopher Macfarlane, Ocean Shores. I am stunned and appalled that after just 25 days in government, the Labor Party has announced a deal with coal billionaires Adani to dredge and expand the Abbot Point coal port in the Great Barrier Reef.

Environmentalists have welcomed the announcement from NSW Labor leader Luke Foley, that if elected premier he will ensure that cable logging on extremely steep slopes will not be introduced but have lamented that the coalition plans to plough ahead with it,.

Jeff Johnson, Independent candidate for Ballina. On the important local issues the Nationals have let the community down. Their ongoing support for coal seam gas (CSG) mining in the northern rivers proves that they no longer represent the community.

Paul Spooner, Labor candidate for Ballina. The rail trail is an excellent initiative that should benefit both locals and tourists, and I think it will be well frequented. But we shouldn’t rip up the existing train lines to make the corridor solely a bike trail.

Brigid Beckett, Alstonville. As a voter in the Ballina electorate I received a flyer headed 'CSG we don't want it here'. Turning it over I was gobsmacked to see that it was promoting the Nationals, who are the party who last December renewed the license for the largest PEL in the region. It includes the area of Lismore, Kyogle, Nimbin and Woodburn and covers the water catchments of Byron Bay and Ballina.

Tamara Smith, Greens candidate for Ballina. Last week, major mining firm AJ Lucas moved to buy coal seam gas licences in the northern rivers and other parts of NSW for $2.5 million. It's an ominous sign for our community.

said Jeff Johnson, Independent candidate for Ballina. $50 million to rip up our rail line is unacceptable while the need for improved public transport grows.

The NSW Labor opposition has made a bold pitch for support from Tweed Coast communities at the upcoming election with a pledge to build a new $40 million high school at Pottsville which for years locals have campaigned for.

A contingent of northern rivers farmers has delivered bags of manure to the office of Lismore MP Thomas George, and are now on their way to Nationals campaign office in Ballina.

The NSW Labor opposition’s promise to ban coal seam gas (CSG) on the northern rivers and not pay compensation to miner Metgasco for cancelling its exploration licence has riled the company’s managing director.

A true OzRock icon and distinguished member of the ARIA Hall of Fame, Russell Morris is one of Australia’s most enduring performers, and just one of the great acts playing over the weekend in the northern rivers.

 Artist In Focus Laura Targett – mother, musician, fourth-generation artist and self-confessed ‘art-nerd’ – first exhibited in the Ocean Shores Art Expo in 2006 as...

Chris Anderson, Byron Bay. Though hardly surprised to read yet another tiresome anti-Green rant by John Vaughan, his take on the facts cannot go unchallenged.

Today, I'm wearing a toga. Well, it's not really a toga. It's a sarong, which I have draped over one shoulder as well as around my waist, but I'm in a Roman frame of mind since the election, so... it's a toga.

The Senate-voting was a bit of a shambles. Here are three ways to improve Senate-voting procedures: 1: Do not force voters to number every square...

Nationals leader Warren Truss has confirmed that, if elected, the coalition will abolish the $2.5 billion Regional Development Australia Fund, slashing the money available for regional development projects by almost two thirds.

Nationals Richmond MP Matthew Fraser falsely accused sitting member Justine Elliot of controlling local media at last night’s Richmond candidates forum, to the disgust of many in the audience.