THE BYRON SHIRE
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Volume 33 #10 Wednesday, August 15, 2018
www.echo.net.au
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Phone 02 6684 1777 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Anti-vax film screening stirs passions
SDJHV
THE AGE OF TREASON
Nipples set free on a brisk morning
Paul Bibby
The screening of a controversial anti-vaccination documentary at Mullumbimby’s Civic Hall brought a string of angry complaints from vaccination advocates who said it should not have been shown at a Council-owned venue. And one Byron councillor is set to formally move that the rules be changed so that such films cannot be shown at Council-managed halls in future. But the group that organised the screening, the Australian Vaccination-risks Network Inc (AVN), defended its right to air its views, describing those who sought to cancel the event as ‘bigots’. Around 100 people attended the Civic Hall on August 9 for the screening of Sacrificial Virgins, followed by a Q&A session with opponents of Australia’s vaccination regime. The film questions the effectiveness the Human Papilloma Vaccine as a preventive treatment for cervical cancer, and asserts that it causes adverse reactions that are ‘blighting and even ending the lives of girls and young women across the world’. When news of the film’s screening at the Civic Hall spread, Byron Council was slammed on social media and received a string of complaints. One vaccination advocate stated on a public Facebook page that the council’s role in the screening had been ‘unconscionable’. ‘This film has been condemned by the federal health minister and all continued on page 3
Surprise! Large medical centre approved – p5
Eva Judell and about 50 bare-breasted followers took to the beach at Belongil on Saturday morning as a reminder that there’s still a long way to go before men and women are treated equally when it comes to baring their breasts. Photo Jeff ‘Bear Chested Since 1986’ Dawson
Digital disruption trumps approved holiday letting: MP Hans Lovejoy
A NSW government minister has embraced digital disruption at the expense of those who have sought council approval for holiday letting. The Fair Trading Amendment (Short-term rental accommodation) Bill 2018 is expected to pass NSW
parliament this week, yet critics such as Byron Shire Council say it is unworkable and vague. And those operators who have DA approvals for operating say it will decimate their industry and leave Council with less revenue. In an August 2 letter to a Byron Shire resident and obtained by The
OS school celebrates 25 with time capsule opening – p9
Echo, NSW Nationals MP Niall Blair admitted that his government were not in control of the holiday-letting sector, saying, ‘The internet knows no boundaries, and if locals… decide they want to place their homes for rent on platforms like Airbnb, rather than put it out for long-term rental, that’s entirely their business.’
Yet Blair says regional councils like Byron Shire will have the power to limit the number of days for which properties can be let out. ‘And importantly these changes are not set in stone. The government has committed to reviewing the new valuations after 12 months,’ he said. continued on page 3
BBQ & Bluegrass in Bangalow this weekend – p17–19
A quarter of a century of Skunkhour – p32
OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND SALE!
HELP SAVE RAINFOREST
Sat Sun 18 & 19 August 10am-4pm Visit Richard Jones at Rainforest Ceramics this weekend - over 1,000 plates, cups, bowls, platters and animals at wholesale prices. Each one is unique and saves rainforest. Free organic herb tea. Richard will demonstrate throwing off the hump on Sunday. Bring a camera to photograph koalas! North Coast Mud Trail maps available. Free jar of home made organic Davidson’s plum jam for buyers over $100. Don’t miss this! Credit cards OK.
20% of all takings go to Rainforest Trust to save orangutan, otter and monkey habitat in Kalimantan, Borneo. Our donation is matched by four anonymous donors.
Rainforest Ceramics 56 Gittoes Lane Possum Creek (02) 6687 1900 richard@rainforestceramics.com www.rainforestceramics.com Insta: @rainforestceramics How to get there: from Bangalow, take Lismore Rd, first cross roads turn right into Friday Hut Road, after 3 mins turn first left. First house on right. From Coorabell: down Friday Hut Rd across Possum Creek, 2nd right.
Mud Trail Studio 8
We hope to save at least 2,000 acres this weekend with your help.