THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 27 #06 Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
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T O E R R I S H U M A N , T O A R R I S P I R AT E
Realtor Mandy bemoans Green Scene Update from Scott Harvey Lizard’s Revenge sagging duds feature Q&A – p46 – p21 protests – p9 – p17
Inside this week
Police want a freeze on northern rivers liquor licences
ENTERTAINMENT Byron Shire Council Notices Pages 42
Jonson Street’s new food gardens
NSW police have sent their strongest message yet that the level of alcoholrelated assaults the force and community experience is unacceptable. Police Association of NSW president Scott Weber said in a statement, ‘It would be irresponsible to grant new licences in the [northern rivers] region until the results of the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing’s research into the relationship between liquor licence density and alcohol-related harms are made public. ‘A freeze is already in place for new licences in areas of the Sydney CBD – that should be extended to the northern rivers and other areas.’ Currently there is an application for a Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy’s, which would be located underneath the Byron cinema. ‘Emergency service workers are sick and tired of getting used as punching bags by boozed-up thugs. We know the Newcastle model works to reduce Jason grabs a kiss from daughter Sapphire while friend Allande explores the Golden Mean within a pinecone at continued on page 3 Sunday’s Wild Food Feast, held at the Byron Movement Gardens in Byron Bay. Photo Crystal Wilkes
The lawns of the historic Norco building at the southern end of Jonson Street in Byron Bay have been transformed into a food-producing garden. Sunday’s open day was blessed with sunshine and quality food, chai and great live music as patrons learned about permaculture and witnessed some innovative food growing. Wild food expert Peter Hardwick also shared his knowledge with around 50 keen gardeners while families enjoyed the landscaped gardens and community art. A petition and signage against CCTV were also set up in the carpark, offering some resistance to the fait accompli of the Byron business chamber, Liquor Accord and police’s plans to install video coverage of the town. Proceeds from the day are earmarked towards a solar installation the Mullum Civic Hall. For more, visit www.byronmovement.com. Q See the video of this story at
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Humpback quota approved after Australian support Sue Arnold & Hans Lovejoy
Australia has voted to allow 24 Humpback whales to be killed by a country that does not comply with International Whaling Commission (IWC) guidelines. The small island nation near the Caribbean, St Vincents and The Grenadines (SVG), has secured an extension of their whaling rights for the next six years but has a long history of infractions at the IWC. Despite the country’s domestic legislation, which does not prohibit killing females and calves (illegal under IWC rules), their whaling licence was approved last week at an IWC meeting in Panama under the Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) policy.
The policy was designed to allow indigenous peoples to hunt otherwise protected whales for local use to satisfy their nutritional subsistence and cultural needs. According to www.bbc. co.uk, the vote overwhelmingly went in favour 48 to 10. But it’s been revealed that it contradicts the indigenous rules for whaling: mothers and their calves are chased by speedboats and are harpooned or brutally shot by a small number of whalers. As calves surface every four to five minutes, they are easy targets. After the calf is either captured or killed, the mother becomes an easy target as she won’t leave. These comments are supported by Louise Mitchell Joseph, chair of the SVG national trust and a barrister,
who added that there is an absence of adequate measures for the collecting and reporting of data in relation to whaling activities in the country. But perhaps most damning is the claims there is no aboriginal whaling history. ‘Never in the history of archaeology in St Vincent and the Grenadines, have there been any findings to suggest that the Kalinago or Garifuna peoples killed whales, interacted with whales, or ate whale meat,’ says Ms Joseph.
Minister response The Echo asked environment minister Tony Burke, who led the Australian delegation, why he voted for St Vincents and The Grenadines quota, despite the country not complying with IWC-AWS regulations.
‘Australia has always viewed aboriginal subsistence whaling as being different from commercial whaling,’ Mr Burke said. ‘The vote on St Vincents and The Grenadines was taken as a single vote, which also included the aboriginal subsistence whaling decisions for remote communities in the US and Russia. ‘Faced with a situation where we agreed that what was being sought for remote communities in Russia and Alaska was appropriate but what was being sought in St Vincents was not appropriate, Australia took the decision to object to the St Vincents proposal when our commissioner spoke, but for the commissioner to vote for the package of three proposals. ‘Fortunately the other claim for ab-
original subsistence whaling, which Australia objected to, was from Greenland and it was taken as a vote on its own. Australia spoke against and voted against that proposal. Had the St Vincents proposal been voted on its own instead of being packaged up, Australia would have voted against it. This was made clear in the speeches on the floor.’
Whaling now ‘bundled’ The ‘packages’ Mr Burke refers to is the precedent set by the US, which ‘bundles’ aboriginal subsistence whaling to allow different species to be hunted. This not only weakens the IWC, but makes a mockery of socalled aboriginal whaling. continued on page 2
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