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June 6, 2026

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Cartoon of the week – 3 June, 2026

The Echo loves your letters and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, send us your epistles.

Other News

Israel’s rehabilitation

Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians has not ended and it will not end before Israel officially renounces its intention...

Murwillumbah biz networking breakfast cancelled

Join the Murwillumbah business community for their June Business Murwillumbah Networking Breakfast, to be held at at Crystal Creek Estate.

Lismore Lantern Parade returns 20 June

The iconic Lismore Lantern Parade will once again light up the streets of Lismore on Saturday 20 June, kicking off with a full day of markets, live music and exciting activities.

The Greens’ 3-way comp: Ballina Councillor vs Byron candidates for state preselection

Byron Greens members could expect to be asked to take the future of the Richmond River further south into account when choosing a candidate for next year’s state election.

Was the NACC designed to fail?

The sudden resignation of controversy-plagued National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton has served to further highlight the failings of an organisation which began with such high hopes, having been one of the key demands of the first teal representatives and a core promise of the incoming Albanese Labor government.

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Saying Goodbye to a Very Handsome Man

Last week an old friend of mine died. His name was Gary Cook. We met here in Byron Bay, when I was 23. He would have been in his early 30s. He was handsome. And funny. And weird. And self-involved. He used to come to Ringos, where I worked as a waitress. He’d sing to himself, bludge cigarettes, and shine up the serviette holder. He loved looking at himself. He’d laugh and say, ‘God, I’m a handsome man,’ and then he’d laugh this really infectious laugh

August 10, 2022

Byron Shire Echo issue 37.09 – August 10, 2022

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Local News | Comment | Letters | Articles | North Coast Mud Trail | Byron Writers Festival | The Scoop | Bangalow Music Festival | Good Taste | The Good Life | Soapbox | Crossword | Stars | Seven Entertainment | Cinema | Gig Guide | Echo Property | Property Business Directory | Service Directory | Classifieds | Sport | Community at Work | Backlash

In this Issue:

Erection of pods in Mullumbimby

I am writing to you all with the belief that the housing pods earmarked for Mullumbimby are ill conceived and very unfair to ratepayers like me who have not yet gotten over the trauma of the last flood. I cannot...

The solution is absolute transparency

Heilpern's great comparison (20 July) of wars in Ukraine and Iraq, illustrates the USA and all participants commit great evils behind the cover of spin. We witness the culmination of millennia of 'civilised' white man culture. Exploitation of 'other'...

Some truths

In answer to David Lisle’s letter – Backlash Echo Aug 3, 2022. Our rail corridor was only ‘disused’ because of purely political and so-called economics! The ‘economics’ was the ‘saving’ of $5M per year, yet no details to show the...

Fuel stolen from farmer

The cost of fuel continues to be a major consideration in the budget, particularly in country areas where distances travelled are inevitably further for your average daily needs like accessing shops, schools and other activities.

Developer proposes light industrial in Federal

Tasteful, reasonable and useful? Or noisy, oversized and intrusive? This is the question at the heart of the debate over a light industrial development that has been proposed for the heart of Federal.

Bruns playground?

I have been fortunate to travel from Cape York Qld to Cockle Creek Tassie and as a grandparent always check out the kids’ play areas. I would have to rate Brunswick Heads, Banner kids’ park in front of the...

Old man shouts at cloud #3

At a beachside town a couple of years ago I saw a young couple dressed as Goths. Not as cathedrals in that style of architecture, or as members of an axe-wielding Germanic tribe, or as characters in an Emily Bronte novel (though that’s fairly close), but as the black-clothed, black eyelinered Emo youth of the 1980s and ‘90s.

Mud benda rant

Regarding last week’s Splendour Festival and all the ‘haters’ out there. I took along a few seriously fun-deprived teenage boys. It was the most amazing time they had had in this, the dawn of their social and festival lives....

Criminalising protest

In another Sstate government descent into criminalising protest, to protect their own government’s sabotage of a liveable planet, last Thursday new laws were passed in Victorian parliament that will see peaceful Victorian protesters face increased fines of up to...

Mullum pods

First, Hans Lovejoy’s article ‘emergency wedged’ was educational, factual and provided valuable information to the community. Michele Grant’s letter (27 July) was emotive overgeneralisations in need of a little correction. There is no ‘clamour’ or opposition to provision of emergency...

Police assault charge heads back to local court

The NSW Supreme Court has found that a decision by local magistrate and former police officer, Michael Deakin, was an ‘error of law’.

Power of the people

Katherine (Letters, 3 August) asked ‘can the power of the people compete...’? The answer is in the recent federal election: YES! But the real power re: development of Byron, resides with the State government, so, next State election, can we PLEASE...

A long and chequered career in cooking

When she was just 16, Elizabeth Jackson was kicked out of a home economics class – not because she burnt a pot or had a collapsed sponge, but because she made a black wedding cake.

No letup in the struggle for climate justice

The 43 per cent emissions target passed last week in the House of Representatives lacks the ambition needed to radically diminish Australia’s contribution to global warming. It’s too little, too late.

Flood on Prince Street

It seems that the strongest impediment to the Prince Street temporary housing is the addition of fill to the site, which will add to local flooding.  If the housing was built on concrete poles that put them above flood height...

Byron Council to vote on major flood recovery works  

Major drainage enhancements in flood-affected areas, and the employment of a Council officer to help residents rebuild and return to their homes, are among a raft of measures proposed by Byron Council under the latest round of disaster funding.

Car park housing

In recent weeks the idea by Council to develop the existing car park in Station Street has dropped out of the news and out of the minds of many residents. The concern over the sudden State government start of...

Secrecy surrounds govt’s Reconstruction Corp

Echo questions remain unanswered around the advisory board appointments for the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation, which the NSW government says will help with ‘rebuilding flood-affected Northern Rivers’. 

Bruns underground car park reconsidered 

Byron Council’s decision to approve a controversial mixed-use development in Brunswick Heads that would include the town’s first underground car park could be overturned at this week’s meeting, with a group of councillors moving a rescission motion.

Good news for the Sepik people

The proposed Frieda mine Papua New Guinea with its huge tailings dam, would be built on the Frieda River at the headwaters of the Sepik River – an earthquake-prone area – creating the risk of repeating one of the worst environmental disasters.

Developer sparks storage stress

Byron-based property owner/developer, Josh Thompson, has created a shitstorm within the community after trying to evict customers renting 160 units at his ACE storage facility within a week, to make way for 26 warehouses.

Flat Earth Byron councillors

In face of the facts, an approval of the development application (DA) for a basement car park in Brunswick Heads at Council’s meeting on 11 August can only mean we have councillors who must be members of the Flat...

More wildlife please

When a wallaby loped across the dirt road, my heart leapt. It used to be common to spot wallabies cavorting on the beach at dawn, but it had been years since I’d seen one alive. I’ve been walking up...

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: For Sale: Moral compass

Some weeks it’s hard to navigate the big feelings I have around injustice; the kind of injustice that occurs every day, everywhere, underwritten by the privilege of some at the expense of the many. The shit stuff people get away with! The shit stuff no one notices. Shit stuff always happens to people who don’t have much to start with. I sometimes wonder how you can hear story after story and not realise the system is broken. Capitalism sucks. Let’s go break stuff – like, the dominant paradigm! We haven’t managed to subvert it – so can we smash it into tiny pieces? Please?

Cartoon of the week – 10 August, 2022

The letters deadline for The Echo is noon Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. The publication of letters is at the discretion of the letters editor.

Marooned yacht on rocks near Ballina

A local photographer has shot a marooned yacht at Flat Rock, in Ballina Shire. It's the second boat to be washed ashore in recent months

Echo celebrates 40 with awards night tomorrow

Tickets are selling fast! Come join a fun-filled night of community celebration – This Saturday (tomorrow) The Echo is set to mark its 40th year in style with a ’30s swing-era style party and community awards night featuring the dynamic sounds of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.

Author Tristan Bancks follows up with Two Wolves sequel

Local author Tristan Bancks launched his new book for readers 10+, Raised By Wolves, at Byron Book Room last night (Thursday 4 June).

Lismore City Council recognised for environmental leadership at LG awards

Lismore City Council has been recognised for outstanding achievement in environmental leadership, resilience and community infrastructure at the 2026 LG Professionals NSW Local Government Excellence Awards.