←Volume 35
February 24, 2021
In this Issue:
Truth
Dr Matt Landos, East Ballina There is the real news and then there is the fake news. The radio news announced recently new economic figures showing better than expected data, and implying a sooner than expected economic upturn from the lockdowns....
Monkey see
Daniel Brown, Byron Bay Back in my early youth growing up in Mt Eliza Victoria in the ‘90s I’d secretly look up to and admire the older kids around the 18–21-year old mark because I thought of them as cool...
Australia’s bastardry
Gareth W R Smith, Byron Bay Australia has a long string of racist and anti-humanitarian policies. These range from its treatment of Aboriginal people, complicity with Indonesia over the invasion of Timor Leste, and occupation of West Papua, training of...
Mt Warning ban
Chris Gee, Byron Bay Indigenous readers be advised that the following letter contains references to persons deceased. I read with some interest and also, I am sad to admit, disappointment, the article by Marc Hendrickx (Echo, 17 February). As a climber I...
‘The Great Reset’
Gary Opit, Wooyung I appreciated the letter by Lucas Wright (17 February) on the Great Reset conspiracy fantasy. With our privileged, western, simplistic understanding of reality, it is quite natural to imagine elites changing the world for themselves. However, the global...
Letting go
Mary McMorrow, Mullumbimby I respect the parents forgiving the drunk driver who killed their four children (one a cousin) as their way of dealing with their grief. But as a public response, forgiveness is a moral cop-out, rather than a...
Ministers misbehave
Keith Duncan, Pimlico Accusations of appalling behaviour by the Liberal Party in covering up misdeeds within its ranks just keep on keeping on. The last one relating to the alleged rape of a junior staffer in a government minister’s office...
Transparency needed
Janelle Saffin MP, State Member for Lismore. I read with interest Mia Armitage’s front page article in last week’s Echo ‘Electorates miss out on bushfire slush fund’, and would like to add my perspective as one of the growing number...
Green Spine parking
Ian Kingston, Mullumbimby I am concerned at the apparent loss of parking spaces proposed in the centre of Mullum under the Green Spine proposal – by my reckoning about 45 spaces from Tincogan to Whian St. It is proposed that current...
Coal scuttle
Alan Veacock, Cumbalum After some serious arm-twisting from the rest of the sane world, led by Joe Biden, the ‘marketing guy’ is being dragged kicking and screaming towards declaring a net-zero-emissions by 2050 target. The Nationals, who have learnt absolutely nothing...
Sing Lisa Sing
Jo Faith, Newtown How very distressing is the recent story of beautiful singer Lisa Hunt. She followed protocol, paid the police and Council for the DA for her proposed musical gig and now SHE is to blame because folks danced...
Bringing down the heat in our ‘hood
How well we survive the future depends on our vision for our towns and suburbs – and on how we bring that vision about.
Resilience through biodiversity and awareness
The Byron Shire Resilience and Regeneration Roadshow will be in Brunswick Heads this Saturday, as part of a series of events across the region tackling the question: ‘How do we create more resilient communities in 2021?’
Constitutional referendum/poll for LG elections for Byron Shire?
Is the wards fight back again? Byron Shire Council staff have advised, in the upcoming agenda, that ‘Council may conduct a Constitutional referendum or poll in conjunction with the Local Government Election, to be held in September 2021’.
Music fest aims to be COVID-19 recovery event
Byron Bay could host a two-day, beachside music and arts festival in June this year, after an application to hold the event was lodged with Byron Council.
Editorial – Ewingsdale development creep rejected by residents
A petition of 294 signatures against rezoning Ewingsdale farmland to commercial use will be presented to councillors for their upcoming Thursday meeting.
Belongil beach hut
L S Lambert, Byron Bay The illegal building on Belongil Beach (Letters, 12 February) is a permanent structure with no health or safety checks or permits. Built without any Council approval. Whether the person who built this is nice and...
Rail trail
Peter Finch, East Lismore At last someone else has put their hand up to question the fluffery and misinformation surrounding rail trails (Chris Sheridan, (Letter, 3 February) Mr/Ms Sheridan has noted that the style the Northern Rivers Rail Trail collective...
Ready for Byron’s latest massive development on Jonson St?
The changing face of Byron as Gold Coast and Sydney developers move in to recreate the look and feel of the town with intense development proposals.
TGA obstructs prescription psilocybin, MDMA
Imagine that some crazy professors convince a bunch of participants at a five-day mindfulness retreat to agree to take part in an experiment where half of them are given magic mushrooms, and half of them a placebo.
Council’s power
Matthew O’Reilly I refer to Ian Pickles’ letter, titled ‘Developers’ power’ (Letters, 10 February). Generally, I must agree with most of what Ian wrote in his letter, but I want to point out two glaring errors. Firstly, the NSW Government Standard Instrument...
Facebook fails
Adrian Gattenhof, Mullumbimby American spoilt brat Zuckerberg may have done adults around the world a great favour with his screamy kicky tanty. He’s laid bare the ravenous reality behind the smiley mask of the tech giants – and other transnational...
Entertainment in the Byron Shire and beyond for the week beginning...
Entertainment in the Byron Shire and beyond for the week beginning 24 February, 2021
Interview with Michael Balson, creator of Ocean to Sky
Local filmmaker helps tell the story of Edmund Hillary’s last adventure, in the film, Ocean to Sky
Interview with James McMillan, founder of the Byron Surf Festival
With the Byron Bay Surf Festival just days away, founder James McMillan took a few minutes to talk to Seven about the awesome things planned for the coming weekend.
