THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 32 #06 Wednesday, July 19, 2017
www.echo.net.au Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Malcolm raises Menzies’ ghost – p10
12 PAGE LIFTOUT PROGRAM & GUIDE P I LO T I N G S C H R Ö D I N G E R ’ S PA P E R P L A N E
Our mate Flick Rock’n’roll at the Oz gets very dumb needs a hand writersfest on clean energy – p15 – p17 – p39
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netdaily Buttery fundraiser at Linnaeus Estate
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Slava’s grave front for Splendour Fifty per cent increase in Aboriginal people jailed
Pickle Family Funeral Parlour director Slava Pickle’s Yelgun-based business will be operating extended hours for the entirety of Splendour In (or under) The Grass. In another huge undertaking from the crew who brought us the Tent of Miracles, Andy Forbes has dug up a cast of highly trained professionals who are guaranteed to produce some killer comedy, live burials, resurrections and deadly beats, all performed with complete political correctness. Photo Jeff ‘Tomb With A View’ Dawson
There has been a more than 50 per cent increase in the number of Aboriginal people from the northern rivers who have been sentenced to jail in the past four years, according to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics. The increase has prompted the NSW Greens to describe the situation as ‘a justice system in growing crisis’. Greens MP and Aboriginal Justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said, ‘When almost one in four Aboriginal people can expect to find themselves in jail at some time in their life this is proof the criminal justice system is broken and appallingly damaging’. The report shows that more Aboriginal people are facing courts and a greater percentage of those facing court are receiving a custodial sentence. Time in custody is also increasing and a significant driver of this is the ongoing District Court backlog and “broken bail” laws. Major categories of offences like violence offences are seeing 50 per
cent to 133 per cent increases in the number of Aboriginal people locked up on the north coast. What are known as Justice Offences are seeing between 18 per cent and 90 per cent more Aboriginal people in prison in the area. ‘Every time the coalition premier and Labor opposition demand tougher laws and longer sentences remember this: the first and harshest impact will be on our first peoples,’ Mr Shoebridge said. ‘The coalition has been directly responsible for much of this increase through brutal bail laws and under-resourced courts that leave hundreds of Aboriginal people in jail awaiting trial. ‘Pretty much the only answer Premier Berejiklian has to this crisis is to build more and bigger jails. This isn’t the answer; in fact it’s the very problem. ‘At a time of record surplus this government is making deliberate continued on page 2
Future of Bruns fish c0-op site still up in air Aslan Shand
The recent closure of Brunswick Heads Seafood, previously the old fish co-op, has led to a range of questions regarding the development of the site. Owner William Silverman of Whistle Funds Management bought the business 16 months ago and according to an ex-staff member he said at the time that ‘all our jobs are safe and that they would continue to
run the business as was.’ Mr Silverman recently closed the co-op, saying it was no longer a viable business owing to lack of cooperation from Crown Lands. He said, ‘We are unable to sustain financial losses without some clear guidelines and encouragement from the authorities in NSW government’ (Echonetdaily June 19, 2017 echo.net. au/brunswicks-iconic-fish-coopcloses-today). However, the ex-staff member
claimed that ‘from two months in they started over-extending the business.’
Two days’ notice Staff were given two days’ notice that the co-op was closing, with two weeks’ wages in lieu, he said. ‘The way they went about it was really bad,’ continued the staff member. ‘If they had given us more notice we would have had time to look for other jobs.
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‘For some families they had up to four people who lost their income at the same time. ‘The co-op crew ran it for around fifty years, then [the new owners] managed to run it into the ground in 16 months.’ Mr Silverman is currently accusing Crown Lands, which owns the land that surrounds the site, of not being responsive to his ‘vision for a simple working port with food hospitality jobs and training for young
people and community centre. A place for people to come and enjoy simple things like boating, fishing, kayaking and a showcase of local produce for locals and tourists.’ Following a recent meeting with Crown Lands Mr Silverman said that he had ‘confirmed that the [Brunswick] MasterPlan is a sham.’ The Department responded by saying that it has listened to Mr Silverman’s concerns and will consider continued on page 2
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