THE BYRON SHIRE
Summer Daze
Volume 30 #30 Wednesday, January 6, 2016
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
p18–19
P A P E R H A T , + 1 0 A G I L I T Y, + 6 C R I T I C A L S T R I K E
CAB AUDIT
Mungo on Heydon and the union louts, thugs, bullies – p10
American Falls pix, more presidential election bulk fun – madness – p17 p30–37
Silver foil charms Falls youth
Online in
netdaily
Big trends in renewables in 2016
www.echo.net.au/ten-big-trendsin-solar-wind-and-storage
Brunswick warms up for annual chop champs Brunswick Heads will be hosting the annual Festival of the Fish ’n’ Chips, which attracts champion axe-wielders from across Australia and from overseas. To get things warmed up, the festival will stage a family fireworks display in Banner Park at 9pm on Saturday January 9. From Wednesday January 13 to
Sunday 17 the 56th annual woodchop carnival will see the chips flying. Some 80 axemen, women and juniors will contest the 34 events. They are coming from all of the eastern states and WA, New Zealand and Canada. To foster the family atmosphere, women, junior boys and girls compete in single and mixed continued on page 2
Blazing through his fourth decade in the music industry, king of parody Weird Al Yankovic had the Falls crowd, most young enough to be his children, singing along during his seven-costume-change set. See more photos on page 30 and online at www.echo.net.au/byron-falls-spreads-good-vibe. Photo Tree Faerie treefaeriefotos.com
Organisers of the the third annual Falls Music and Arts Festival over the New Year holiday break have declared it one of the best they’ve held at the North Byron Parklands venue. The festival hosted a mix of international and national acts including UK band The Wombats bringing in the New Year, Bloc Party, Foals, Paul Kelly and The Merri Souls and Disclosure, who closed the festival. The sunshine-filled days helped put most of the 16,000-plus young punters in a good mood, with police praising their good behaviour and many commenting on the event’s relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Organisers said, ‘The new sys-
tem of patrons being able to camp next to their cars was also given the thumbs-up and had the positive effect of patrons taking their camping gear with them rather than leaving it in the campgrounds. There were no major police incidents and the number of people seeking help from medical services was down 50 per cent from the previous year.’ The festival’s emergency first aid director Stephen Barnes said the medical team of 20 staff ‘managed the lowest number of injuries in the history of The Falls Byron and our doctors, nurses and paramedics thoroughly enjoyed their time working at such a wonderful event’.
Director of the festival, Brandon Saul, praised the army of over 500 volunteers helping make the event run smoothly and give it its ‘good vibe’. ‘Everyone commented on how friendly, polite and cooperative the patrons were and that it made this year’s Falls Music and Arts Festival Byron a great experience,’ he said. ‘We were thrilled to host such a successful event in perfect conditions.’ The Parklands’ general manager, Mat Morris, congratulated festival patrons for ‘embracing the new recycling system. We saw record levels of recycling,’ he said.
Champion Western Australian axeman Brent Rees at the 2015 Fish ’n’ Chips festival. Photo Jeff Dawson
SHAMANIC JOURNEYS
PSYCHICS & READINGS
*TWO FOR ONE ON FULL PRICE TICKETS ONLY
YOGA CLASSES EACH DAY
SOUNDBATHS & LIVE MUSIC
WORLD PEACE MEDITATION
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RELATIONSHIPS & TANTRA
RI * & F T RY RS EN THU R ONE O 2F
STARLIGHT FESTIVAL | JAN 7 10 A&I HALL BANGALOW | PROGRAM & TICKETS: STARLIGHTFESTIVAL.COM.AU th
EVENT ENTRY $20 2 DAY PASS $30