THE BYRON SHIRE
THE
Volume 33 #09 Wednesday, August 8, 2018
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Tall tales in the sunshine
From top left to bottom: Thomas Keneally, Tim Rogers with Bernard Fanning and Mandy Nolan, Jenny Hocking and poet Lemn Sissay. Jounalist Peter Greste is pictured centre. More photos of this year’s Writers Festival on page 33. Photos Jeff Dawson
Homeless spike hits services Paul Bibby
The young mother stands in the foyer of the Byron Community Centre, her face crumpled in tears. Things have unravelled fast. Within the space of a month she has lost her job and said farewell to a long-term partner. Over the next half hour, she tells centre manager Paul Spooner (also a Byron Shire councillor) that she can no longer afford the rent and is now facing homelessness, along with her two children. ‘The thing that really struck me was how quickly it happened,’ Mr Spooner says. ‘We’re all only two or three unfortunate circumstances away from being in her shoes.’
New snapshot
Extraordinary fables, memoirs, political analysis and tales of hope and tragedy all made for another successful Byron Writers Festival, held at the Elements of Byron resort under crisp blue winter skies. Festival director Edwina Johnson said, ‘We were honoured to have so many writers grace our stages to share their stories and help us find meaning, connection and the power of hope in our fast-spinning world. The connections made at the festival – between the writers and the audience – can be profound and it is my
hope these vital conversations will continue to resonate long after the festival has finished.’ Organisers say more than 12,000 patrons attended over the three days, which also included 117 sessions on the festival grounds, 12 workshops, 14 off-site feature events, primary and secondary schools programs and the Byron Writers Festival Road Trip to regional towns. Incoming festival chair Adam van Kempen said, ‘A lively community atmosphere pervaded the entire festival, owing in large part to the
extraordinary work of 150 volunteers who put everything into delivering the best experience possible for our patrons,’ Numerous sessions attracted capacity crowds including former president of the Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs delivering the annual Thea Astley Address, ‘Memoir: Making a Place for Myself’ with Hyeonseo Lee, Manal al-Sharif and Anne Aly, ‘Making the Beast Beautiful’ with Jessie Cole, Dervla McTiernan, Sarah Wilson and Sarah Krasnostein discussing the relation-
ship between anxiety and their creative muse, Oliver Phommavanh’s raucous and hilarious performance at the Kids Big Day Out tent and Kitty Flanagan, Andrew Hansen and Mandy Nolan sharing laughs and insights into why ‘Comedy is the most addictive thing you’ll ever do’.
Thanks to the generous donations of festival patrons, organisers say more than $9,600 was raised for the festival’s partner organisation the Indigenous Literary Foundation.
As the region marks Homelessness Week, a new statistical snapshot produced by local service provider Social Futures reveals that the issue has become more pressing than ever. The figures show that while the northern rivers only represents four per cent of the NSW population, it has 18.7 per cent of state’s rough sleepers. This number has been increasing over the past four years, the figures show, and if improvised dwellings and tents are added to the mix, the rate of increase is significantly higher. continued on page 2
What your elected councillors are up to – p7
Who gives a fig about a tree? – p10
Gen Zed sues US govt over climate – p15
Life in a Machiavellian world – p20
Big win for young Byron footballers – p47
Nearly $10k raised
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