Letters/Articles
North Coast news daily:
Sharing is caring: it’s all good I went to my usual food-sharing place in Mullum the other day – Woolies. Then Liberty shared some petrol with me, and the local bottle shop some alcohol. I can hardly wait for that ride-sharing outfit Über to arrive locally. Such a caring, sharing society we’re becoming, eh. Then there’s that other boon to society, the holidaylet industry. Holiday letting used to mean renting out your house over Chrissie, then Easter was included
and now you can rent it out to holiday-makers anytime at all. Just don’t call them tourists; house-sharers maybe. Look, it’s all good. The state minister for innovation Victor Dominello went public the other day lauding the ‘collaborative economy’ and the half a billion dollars that outfits such as Über and AirBnB contribute to the local economy. You probably weren’t aware that in the bad old days the money that people now spend on non-tourist
tourism and non-taxi taxis was simply flushed down the toilet and was therefore totally lost to the economy. That’s right. In other words the minister’s portfolio of innovation is focused not only on recycling obsolete words and giving them dynamic new meanings, but on recycling funds that would otherwise be wasted. That has to be a good thing, doesn’t it? Fast Buck$ Coorabell
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with companies that hold contracts in Australia’s system of mandatory detention’ and to ‘only support and/or contract companies, institutions and organisations that refuse to support or profit from prac-
tices which abuse the human rights of asylum seekers’. I understand that Broadspectrum (formerly Transfield Services) and Wilson Security (of the Wilson Group) are the two companies that hold contracts to provide security in Australia’s system of mandatory detention and continue to contravene obligations to respect fundamental human rights as set out for businesses in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Let me be clear, these companies supervise the abuse that keeps being revealed – on our behalf. As a ratepayer I have an expectation that my shire council will operate with a deep concern for the broader social issues in our country. Thus I also expect that my council will demonstrate strong ethical business leadership and practices by adopting the motion to not outsource work to these or similar companies. If you agree with me that our council should not be spending our money dealing with these organisations I strongly urge you contact your favourite, or least favourite, councillor and tell them to vote for the motion. Andrew Winton-Brown Possum Creek
Therefore, I now write to support the upcoming motion to Council titled ‘No business in abuse’. In particular, for Council to ‘not consider any future business relationships
Peace Education Program Discover Your Inner Resources for Living in Peace
Clarity Inner Strength Contentment MEDIA BASED WORKSHOPS 10wk x 1hr per week
Start: February 10, Wednesday 7pm Where: Brunswick Valley Community Centre South Beach Rd, Brunswick Heads (opp. Surf Club) Cost: Venue Hire/Materials: total $25 entire course
RSVP sweetlife@aapt.net.au
Coffin of the goose So our philanthropic benefactors the Elements resort are about to gift the shire a 3km rail service enabling their guests to travel into town avoiding the traffic jam. How`s the irony in that those who derived their wealth from coal mining in NSW are being permitted to impose an antiquated and polluting diesel loco on the residents. Driving into Byron suffering the crawl to turn left at Bayshore Drive, securing a park and meeting the proposed hourly train service only to be dropped off at Simmo’s Caltex servo and repeating the procedure on the way home is ludicrous! 12 January 27, 2016 The Byron Shire Echo
netdaily.net.au
Mullum characters feature in local artist Solveig’s new calendar Keen to kick off 2016 in style, local artist Solveig has released a portraits calendar of 12 iconic Mullumbimby characters. Drawing together two years of work across two collections, Colourful Mullumbimbians and Beautiful Blondes, the calendar features comedian Mandy Nolan, actorvist Tony Barry, community champion Jeannette Martin, singer/ songwriter Rebecca Ireland and many more. Solveig, who owing to popular demand also appears in the calendar, said it was a pleasure to bring these colourful characters to a large-format, full-colour calendar: ‘I wanted to celebrate my unique community and it’s been joyful work meeting, collaborating with, and painting these beautiful people.’ Jeannette Martin, instigator of the Mullumbimby Community Garden, said she was honoured to be included in this ‘wonderful calendar’. ‘It depicts some of the colourful people you may know or have seen around town who add so much to the creativity of Mullumbimby,’ Jeannette said. Why not create a walkway/ cycleway with solar-powered lighting for all to use 24/7, being greener and cheaper, and supply Elements’ guests with a fleet of new cycles or, heaven forbid, electric bikes. Alas, another nail in the coffin of the goose that laid the golden egg. Ron Land Ocean Shores
Regarding Palestine In response to Gareth Smith’s latest letter, I certainly do not accept the claim that Israel ‘confiscated’ the land on which the Israeli suburb of Gilo is located. Nor do I accept that this area was a part of ‘Bethlehem’s northern lands’. Gilo is located on a hilltop in the southern part of Jerusalem. Bethlehem lies further to the south and is separated from Gilo geographically by a deep gorge. Archaeological excavations reveal that Gilo was the site of an Israelite village for many centuries from the beginning of the Iron Age onwards. Modern Gilo was built as a suburb of Jerusalem in 1973. According to Jerusalem-born scholar and urban planner Israel Kimhi, Gilo was established on land that had been legally purchased by Jews before World War II, much of it during the 1930s. They were the legal owners
Solveig’s painting of community champion Jeanette Martin with a couple of unnamed local chickens.
The calendar costs $25 and is available now at Mullumbimby Newsagency, The Bookshop, Mullum Mac, the Magic Pot (formerly Japunu-
mop Noshery) and online at www.solveig.com.au. Copies of the individual portraits and Solveig’s other works can also be purchased online.
of the land when the area was captured and illegally occupied by the Jordanians during the 1948 war. In 1967, after repelling a further attack against it by the Jordanian army, Israel captured the West Bank, including the parts of Jerusalem which Jordan had previously occupied, and Gilo was restored to its Jewish owners. For this reason the Israelis say Gilo is neither illegal nor a settlement, while Palestinians claim that the land on which Gilo is built belongs to the Palestinian villages of Sharafat, Beit Jala and Beit Safafa. Unlike Mr Smith, I do not propose to act as judge and jury over what appears to be a complex legal dispute over private ownership of land. What is beyond dispute is that in every proposal and counter-proposal that Israel and the Palestinians have discussed for a two-state solution, the major settlement blocs that are contiguous to the pre-1967 armistice line, including Gilo, have been included within Israel, and that Israel has offered to include an equivalent part of its pre1967 territory in the State of Palestine. What has been at issue is the extent of the land swap, the range being between four per cent and eight per cent of the total area of the West
Bank. Nobody, not even Bob Carr who is quoted by Mr Smith, has disputed that there should be a land swap. Vic Alhadeff CEO, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Q Regarding Palestine, might we not wonder why Vic Alhadeff seems to have continual access to the letters column. He is not a local. Hopefully the Murdoch-free Echo is not being subtly influenced by some sort of supremacist agenda. The Jewish Board of Deputies sounds as though it has some authority, but is in fact only a private special-interest group. If current trends continue there will soon be no Christians living in the land where Jesus walked. Vyvyan Stott Mullumbimby Q Mr Alhadeff is usually
responding to comments mentioning him in other letters. The Echo’s plan for world domination does not include adopting anyone else’s agenda. – Ed
Complex issues My letter regarding ‘Climate Change or System Change’ in The Echo of December 13, 2015, elicited an unusual reply continued on page 14
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo