THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO
Byron Arts & Industry Estate
Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 23 #12 TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008 22,700 copies every week
P L E A S U R E
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Mayoral candidates, from left, Tina Petroff, Jan Barham, John Lazarus and Ross Tucker. The shoe far left belongs to candidate Jack Sugarman.
arrived with the welcome news that the Mullum Giants had beaten Tweed Coast Raiders 36-30. Another mayoral candidate, Jan Mangleson, sat in the audience and took notes. Mayoral candidates were given three minutes each to convince us of their leadership qualities. It was obvious that those who had held public office also held the advantage of experience. Familiar themes recurred – infrastructure or the lack of it, financial responsibility, heeding the will of the people (with Mr Lazarus going so far as to call us a ‘glorious treasure’) and environmental sustainability among them. As usual Mr Sugarman played the jester, amusing most of the crowd with his call to abolish Byron Shire, which ‘couldn’t win a chook raffle if it bought all the tickets’. Abolitionists might have found hope in his call for the merging of Byron, Lismore and Ballina. Part of our problem, Mr
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An outing for the imagination
First trot for council hopefuls
Michael McDonald Candidates for the September 13 council election had their first public outing last Saturday in Mullumbimby at a meeting organised by the Community Action Network (CAN). Over 100 people filled and overflowed the meeting room, which was once the public library, in the revamped civic hall. As one wag remarked, ‘Just the candidates would fill up half the space.’ Former Northern Star editor Russell Eldridge stepped in efficiently as MC in lieu of an unwell Mick O’Regan – who is recovering – and ran proceedings at the briskest pace possible in Mullum. The interrogation of mayoral candidates by the public was civilised but lively. Five hopefuls for the mayor’s office addressed the crowd – Jan Barham, Tina Petroff, Ross Tucker, Jack Sugarman and John Lazarus. Mr Tucker was delayed by his commitment as ground announcer at local rugby league matches but
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Sugarman suggested, is that ‘we are all egocentrics’. ‘I’m not!’ retorted an audience member. Questions from the floor were mostly intelligent and few degenerated into philosophical ramblings, mostly thanks to Mr Eldridge’s firm hand. They ranged across Council’s finances, climate change, protecting agricultural land, Woolies advent in Mullum, the Rural Residential Settlement Strategy (RRSS), and festival sites, to name a few. The wish for a combined festival site, hopefully near Byron Bay rather than Yelgun or Tyagarah, was dashed when it was learnt that Council’s talks with commercial operators failed to convince them of the value of the proposed sportsground off Ewingsdale Road. Ego and ambition do not always bend to the will of that glorious treasure, the people. Other commitments prevented me staying for the
Story & photo Eve Jeffery It was all Harrys and Hermiones, Poohs and Piglets and Peters and pirates and Tinkerbells, when the pages of our children’s imagination sprung to life in Mullumbimby as a collective of schools celebrated Book Week. St John’s Primary School played gracious host last Tuesday to the children from Lilli Pilli Preschool, Ocean Shores Preschool and Billi Lids, for a procession of mammoth proportions within a circle of sunlight and imaginative costumery, the likes of which can be found around the ring of red mushrooms at the bottom of any local faerie garden or picnicking bear inhabited wood. Each year St John’s tries to create something special for the children to help them explore the joy of reading and this year was no different, the colourful parade being followed by activities and story telling which prompted much serious concentration, squealing, giggling and a few sleepy, dreamy preschool eyes. Book Week is the longest running children’s festival in
Australia, celebrating its 63rd birthday in 2008. Each year, schools and public libraries from all over Australia spend the week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators.
Librarians, teachers and students develop activities, offer competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. This year’s theme is ‘Fuel your Mind’.
Molly ‘Tigger’ Trevaskis from Ocean Shores Preschool ponders the wonders of the world as Queen of Hearts aka St John’s Principal Bernie Thompson refuels her mind.
Small business missing out on renewable energy
A Southern Cross University academic Adjunct Professor Michael Christie, from the Graduate Research College, said renewable energy was going to become one of Australia’s boom industries over the next 10 years but currently small businesses are missing out on participating. ‘Australian governments provide assistance for households and community groups to participate in renewable energy. But at the same time, each year approximately $10 continued on page 2 billion of government subsi-
dies are paid for fossil fuels including to electric power generators,’ Professor Christie said. Professor Christie is critical of the subsidies for big energy generators that are unnaturally supporting the market for electricity, adding to climate change and not allowing for the development of an integrated solution to the climate crisis or to our energy security. ‘Australian small business owners total over 95 percent of business and are currently unable to access the renew-
able energy schemes that are available to householders and community groups,’ he said. ‘Small business is an untapped potential for the Australian renewable energy industry. The premises of small business can have large roof spaces and there are farming properties where economies of scale for renewable energy technology can be achieved.’ Professor Christie said mobilising small business owners as renewable energy participants would be highly effective.