A Keilor man was found guilty of animal cruelty this week in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court for violently kicking a dog during a protest in 2021. The man was fined and ordered to pay costs, and put on a good...
‘So divided before the fall, we survived because we’re fighting on the same side after all.’ These words, from the song Northern Rivers Rising, say much about the community’s response to the February floods.
Oops, it looks like we poked the bear. How in the heck is a multinational that made $2.1 billion in profits last quarter, their most profitable year EVER, claiming to be helping Byron Shire’s housing crisis? The fact that Airbnb...
What a pathetic decision by the ACT Court to abandon the Brittany Higgins rape case. The implication is that in future rape trials if an alleged rape victim is pilloried in the media or online enough to drive them to...
It is noted in The Echo editorial (30 November) that ‘Another debated item was held in secret – the Mayoral Fund 2022/23 – Allocation of Funding. Why all the secrecy councillors?’ This action defies the recent Charter of Deliberative Democracy...
The advantage of ‘savings banks’ charging minimal interest is that the high rates of interest are not of significance. Since 1694 the Bank of England has charged exorbitant interest rates. The rate of interest is four times the original...
If we are making claims or allegations about Julian Assange we should not forget ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Assange is in his fourth year of imprisonment without charge. Swedish prosecutors dropped the sexual assault charges in 2019. The 18 indictments...
Amazing stuff, that now we learn that the Vallances Road site for natural burials is unsuitable mainly because, as reported, it is vastly flood prone. Does Byron Shire Council (BSC) actually keep records? Surely when the Vallances Road Waste Water...
Extreme rain and flooding will continue to get worse for decades to come as we have at least another 0.4 degrees of global warming locked in that is likely to be reached by 2030 – in the next ten years.
Severe storm-cut erosion is nothing new in Byron Bay. Recorded history describes beach loss back to the coffee rock in the 1800s. Until the town’s tourist potential was ‘discovered’ 100+ years later and our built environment grew seaward, the beach swiftly rebuilt after these regular catastrophic events.
Two government-run corporations – Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC) and Landcom, have agreed upon a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which they say will deliver housing across the region.
It was a bipartisan vote in 2020 that refused to adopt an amendment to the Financial Sector Amendment Legislation (Crisis Resolution Powers and Other Measures) Act 2018 to explicitly exclude deposits from being used to ‘bail in’ failing financial...
As a bloke who has besmirched Julian Assange’s reputation, my humble opinion probably doesn’t mean much, but it won’t stop when the same regurgitated defence statements keep being made. Virtually all his supporters insist he was going to be sent...
Federal Labor had a cracking week of reform, something that even the last prime minister (Liberal) admitted was their thing.
I’d just like to mention the fact that your publication has been a stalwart in the background of my life for at least 25 years, and that I appreciate the effort your staff and the people who write genuine...
NSW councils have been ‘set up to fail’ with their annual audits ‘because the NSW Government is forcing them to carry the depreciation cost of assets they neither own nor control’, claims the peak body representing councils, Local Government NSW.
A zebra crossing is being installed at a pedestrian safety blackspot near the centre of Mullumbimby, following a long-running campaign by a group of local residents.
So, who are Aboriginal people, what is the three-pronged definition and perhaps more importantly, who decides?
If you want to see the definitive best film of the decade, She Said, is on this week in Byron. It’s about the two New York Times women reporters who broke the story on sexual harassment in the movie...
Andrew Broadley has been named the NSW Labor candidate for Ballina for the March 2023 election.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) has ignored Byron Shire Council’s urgent request to delay the forced adoption of the NSW government’s agritourism policy. The policy came into effect last week in all local government areas (LGAs).
Two major renewable energy projects promised by Byron Council are now facing an uncertain future, after an unsuccessful bid for federal funding left the Council struggling to pay for both of them.
We’re in hot water There’s no argument. How much is enough? How much corruption? How much destruction? How much distraction? The writing has been on the wall for a very long time. Are we all sign blind? Stupid? Brainwashed? Lazy? Is it Destiny? Karma? Or are we too wounded...
We failed Brittany Higgins. Our judicial system is so brutalising the only way to keep her safe was to drop the charges against her alleged rapist.
The great thing about a global temperature target is that the expansion of fossil fuels stays below the target... until, oops, it’s over the target. Oh well, what’s the next target? Fossil fuel investors love that game. Ninety-six per cent...
