Backlash It will be only 17 sleeps until the NSW election Saturday when this issue of The Echo is published, so it’s probably a good time to start sorting out who you intend to vote for. Obviously the correspondents on page 14 have a fair idea of who they favour. We offer our perennial advice: number all the squares so that your vote keeps travelling. So far it looks like we’ll have at least seven candidates to choose from for the seat of Ballina. Our online coverage is at www.echo.net.au/ election-2015. Q Q Q Q
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KIDS YOGA ARRIVES IN BYRON BAY Come join us this Saturday from 11:30 -12:30pm
Byron Regional Sports & Cultural Complex UPCOMING CLASSES (6-9 yrs) Saturday 14th & 21st March 2015 $12/child; 2 siblings $10/child; 3+ siblings $8/child
To confirm your spot please text or call James on 0413 105 026 yoganauts.com.au
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There has been such a flood of community notices to our Pin This Up section – sometimes amounting to a couple of thousand words in total – that we’re changing the format somewhat. We’re giving them a regular setup – see page 43 this week – and dividing them into two sections: On The Horizon for upcoming events and Regular As Clockwork for ongoing services. The deadline is still noon on Fridays. Please restrict your notices to two short and punchy sentences, because otherwise they will be chopped back. And yes, the space is still intended for non-profit community events, not as a free workaround for commercial ventures trying to avoid taking out an ad. Q Q Q Q
Joe Hockey apparently wants Backlash to delay his retirement to help out the nation’s bottom line – and delay a younger person from getting his prestige job as a consequence, we guess. Well, Backlash would be happy to help out the nation but for the fact successive governments have wasted his tax money on chaplains, imprisoning
NSW Labor’s colossal Facebook meme fail. Who at their social media HQ had the bright idea of associating cats with national parks? Have they ever ventured into the great outdoors? The practice of any political party wanting you to share their social media posts is insidious, winning them ‘support’ that they don’t really deserve.
children, ill-judged military adventures in other people’s sovereign nations, and dodgy election advertising. Instead, Backlash will be going round to Joe’s place to set up a hammock on his front lawn. Q Q Q Q
Would nudity help our politicians loosen up? Is anyone in Byron Shire likely to organise a nude forum for the local candidates? Probably not, but nakedness and cycling got a good outing in Byron Bay on the weekend as part of the World Naked Bike Ride (worldnakedbikeride.org), part of which is a protest against ‘indecent exposure to cars’, and in Perth they set a world record for skinnydipping, clocking in at 790 bare bods, smashing the NZ record of 744. While the jiggly bits can be a distraction from matters of great consequence, surely their presence in government assemblies would be a welcome alternative to the oppressive business suit and tie.
Please join us to experience the culture, music and dance of the amazing beautiful Dayak people of Borneo ‘The Guardians of the Forests’
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You can read in the World section of Echonetdaily that Brazil’s Congress approved
a bill recognising ‘femicide’, or the killing of a woman because of her gender in a country where 50,000 women lost their lives through violence over the past decade. Given that already this year 17 Australian women have been murdered by someone they’ve been in a relationship with, do we need a law like the one proposed for Brazil? It would be better than using the misnomer ‘domestic violence’. There’s nothing domestic about it; it’s plain old murder and assault and a far greater threat to Australia than street crimes labelled as terrorism. Our minister for women, Tony Abbott, might have to get past the Biblical concept of women being only one of Adam’s ribs before he can come to grips with it, however. Pigs all lined up, ready to fly.
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44 March 11, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
Byron Community Centre on March 19
Licence # 207223C
BYRON SPIRIT FESTIVAL MARCH 21–22 Sharon Bele – Verdy and David Metcalf ‘Saving the forests and indigenous Dayak cultures of Borneo.’ Tickets at Community Centre or call Sharon 0457 807 422 greenbeautifulfoundation@gmail.com
STORM SEASON IS HERE WILL YOUR ROOF COPE THIS SUMMER? Please Call: 0401 821 204 www.mickshomeimprovements.com.au
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo