An extraordinary amount of literary talent calls the Northern Rivers home, and in its 30th year the Byron Writers Festival is celebrating with an incredible local lineup, joining Trent Dalton, Geetanjali Shree, Evelyn Araluen, Steve Toltz, Melissa Lucashenko and others.

I have decided to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON). I have tired of voting for losers, and can sense a wave of support. After all, if they can shamelessly publicly signpost a meeting at Mullumbimby’s Lulu’s Cafe, then they must be on the up. Yep, six per cent is not a great starting point, but that’s all they got in Farrer in 2025 as well.

I don’t usually start my columns with a warning, but in this case I will. Not just a trigger caution for those, like me, who are traumatised by descriptions of sexual assault, but also a ‘how long do I have to keep protesting this shit?’ anger, frustration, disgust, and alarm as well.

The NSW government response to Bondi has seen a huge transfer of power from the courts to the police.

Repeated calls for NSW drug driving law reform with consideration of medicinal cannabis have been heard at the state government’s drugs summit forum in Lismore.

On Sunday, thousands of people at rallies across Australia called on the country’s politicians to protect native forests and immediately end native forest logging. 

A major turning point in his son’s freedom campaign only twelve days away, John Shipton exuded calm and at times, joy, during an intimate forum in Mullumbimby last week.

John Shipton, father of detained Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, is to participate in a Q and A session in Mullumbimby this Wednesday evening, 8 May.

There is something strange going on with youth crime in rural and regional Australia. Normally, I treat hysterical rising delinquency claims with a pinch of salt – explicable by an increase in police numbers, or a headline-chasing tabloid, or a right-wing politician. 

Happy, Merry Silly Season Darrell! It was genuinely lovely to see you at the party the other week. It must be three years. We share such long, hard, deep memories…