On Sunday, a memorial was unveiled at the RSL Memorial Park, next to the Ballina RSL, to pay tribute to those lost on the night of May 4 on the Ballina Bar.

The Northern Rivers Conservatorium is thrilled to present the grand finale concert of the Northern Rivers Youth Orchestra (NRYO) 2026, ‘celebrating the extraordinary talent, dedication and musicianship of young performers from across the region.’

With a government agency now investigating the alleged clear felling of natives on a large private block in Lennox Head, Ballina Greens councillor Kiri Dicker has told The Echo that contractors were felling trees all morning, ‘trying to get the job done’.

Hundreds of transport workers are protesting nationally at Aldi stores as the Transport Workers' Union highlights dangerous practices in the supermarket’s transport supply chain, from lack of maintenance on vehicles to underpayments and worker injuries.

Older women are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis and financial insecurity. They are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

This year’s festival celebrates some of the most vital and impactful storytelling in Australian literature, with a dedicated program of First Nations writers whose work spans historical fiction, picture books and Indigenous knowledge and whose voices are reshaping how this country understands itself.