Letters destruction–please opt for tasty vegan foods. Desmond Bellamy PETA Australia, Byron Bay
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What public toilets? If you see skatepark enthusiasts, travelling motorists and walkers peeing in the bushes at Pilgrim Park, please do not be alarmed. The council has demolished the toilets with no community consultation. And if we want the toilets re-established, we’ve been informed the community will have to fundraise for them. Interesting that Council had the finances to demolish them, but not to maintain them! Leigh Rees Ocean Shores
The illegal let Jordan Condo, spokesperson for Stayz, says illegal holiday letting will be penalised and jobs lost if Byron Shire Council applies the law and prosecutes (Echo July 12). The Echo should have asked Mr Condo why parent company of Stayz, US multinational giant Expedia, appears to have paid only $976,000 tax in Australia in its last financial report. Has income Expedia earned in Australia been moved offshore?
Airbnb is worse with apparently no income declared in Australia. They don’t even submit financial reports. Neither company paid GST. This information is from investigative financial journalist Michael West, who presented his findings to the Senate Inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance in July. Information about tax rorting corporations can be found on his website. Mr Condo should have been asked how much corporate tax and GST has been paid by Stayz to the ATO in the past financial year. The federal government says that it has clawed back one to two billion in tax owed by multinationals. A lot more needs to be clawed back. How many more schools, hospitals and other infrastructure assets could be built in Australia if the multinational tax rorters were ethical and paid their fair share of tax? How many more jobs would be created? D Wallace Suffolk Park
Calling for organic
farming proposals Byron Rainbow Farm is calling for expressions of interest from organic farmers wanting to undertake organic horticulture or poultry or dairy goats or honey bees on areas of farmland in Byron Shire. More than 16 hectares of red soil and black soil pasture is available in parcels as small as 2,000 square metres up to two hectares. Two-year + 2-year licence agreements are available including access to irrigation water, roads and facilities. Additional infrastructure requirements can be negotiated such as greenhouses, horticultural netting, farm buildings,hydroponics, piping, pumps, power etc.
Sperm count A new international study in the Human Reproduction Update journal found a 52.4 per cent decline in sperm concentration and a 59.3 per cent decline in total sperm count among Australian and New Zealand men. According to the Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Flinders University, the most likely cause is obesity. The best solution is exercising and eating healthy vegan foods rather than meat, eggs and dairy products. Researchers at Spain’s University of Murcia found that ‘men who eat large amounts of meat and full-fat dairy products have lower seminal quality’ than those who eat more fruits and vegetables. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic recommend fruits and veges, especially tomatoes, which are loaded with spermfriendly lycopene. Plus, eating meat increases the amount of synthetic hormones that you consume, which may contribute to a reduced sperm count and a higher risk of testicular tumours. Even if you aren’t planning a family, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, prostate cancer or inflammations, and hormonal imbalances, cause the vast majority of all cases of impotence. The good news is that medical science suggests that these conditions can be managed or prevented with a low-fat vegan diet. If you’re concerned about any aspect of your performance– not to mention cruelty to animals and environmental
Letters to the Editor
fencing,
For more information and an application form please email: byronrainbowfarm@gmail.com. Expressions of Interest by end August
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
Send to Letters Editor Aslan Shand, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
6685 8129
The local train groups didn’t have any strategies or options in place that would correspond and work with the 2011 Tweed Shire Transport Strategy document, and as such ruined any chance of getting trains for the northern nivers. The Tweed Shire council states in this document (http://bit.ly/2vWPM8Q) that a train system will most likely follow the Pacific Highway corridor as that best suits the population growth regions of their shire. The train groups ie, TOOT and NRRAG, didn’t show any interest or support for this route and instead listed the following options to give this region slow trains.These groups’ options are only trains on the old corridor. These train groups are so blinkered that they haven’t looked at other options for a train system on the northern rivers and we lost any chance of the high speed rail line (that can also be used for normal outer urban trains) that was on the short list for going through Lismore and Mullumbimby to the Gold Coast and Brisbane. We had a chance of getting this but for the noisy and misguided not wanting anything but ‘Trains on our old corridor’. Geoff Bensley Byron Bay
BYRON TAX ACCOUNTANTS Paul Enright Chartered Accountant Office Upstairs 109 Jonson St, Byron Bay
Top quality secondhand goods Large selection of clothes, shoes, books & small electrical items Op Shop Cnr Tweed St & Booyun St Brunswick Heads (next to IGA supermarket) Mon-Fri 10am-5pm Sat 9am-2pm
www.cawi.org.au • Ph 6685 1444
‘There are two things in life for which we are never truly prepared: twins.’ – Josh Billings
Family Law Specialist
> Divorce & Separation > Property & Children’s Matters > Defacto & Same-Sex Relationships > Wills & Estates Legal Aid > Police Matters Clients Welcome > Mediation
Developing Mullum At next week’s Council meeting councillors will deliberate on the proposed development at 35–37 Burringbar Street continued on next page
THE
Level 1, 89 Jonson St, Byron Bay
6680 8525
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 3 August
BENJAMIN WALSH DUO Friday 4 August
GOODRICH Saturday 5 August
SILK & OAK Sunday 6 August
WRITERS @ THE RAILS 2PM / LEIGH JAMES DUO 7PM Monday 7 August
ANDY BURKE Tuesday 8 August
DARK BLUE GRASS DUO Wednesday 9 August
SWAMP CATS DUO The Byron Shire Echo August 2, 2017 13