SWEAR NO OATHS AND TAKE NO TITLES – IT’S COVID-1984! The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 34 #49 • Wednesday, May 13, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
How is the realty sector coping in lockdown?
Newborn hijacks van
Mandy Nolan
On April 30, at around 7pm, Kayla Tutchen made a surprise entrance in the back of her parent’s car. When Chrys Tutchen’s waters broke, dad Duane and two-and-a-half-year-old big sister, Luna, got into their van to head to Byron Hospital for a water birth. Duane said, ‘I started the van, only to hear Chrys say the baby was coming out. Now! I raced around the van so I could help Chrys in the back with Luna.’ Fearing a stillbirth, Duane was guided by their midwife on the phone, and gave the baby a gentle pull around the head to wiggle out a shoulder on the next contraction. He said, ‘Chrys was standing, and baby came out quite easily. I just kind of caught this tiny slimy little bub and was holding everything in my hands’. Photo Duane Tutchen ▶ Read full story in Echonetdaily: www.echo.net.au/no-may-day-for-baby-kayla
Arts sector needs JobKeeper too: Labor The federal government’s JobKeeper program needs to include arts sector workers and freelancers, says local federal Labor MP, Justine Elliot. While sole traders can apply for the Liberal-Nationals government’s job package, many artists and musicians cannot, and have had to apply instead for JobSeeker unemployment benefits. Mrs Elliot told The Echo, ‘Our arts and entertainment industries were the first industries to be shut
Uncle Pete on the mend after leg amputated ▶ p3
down – and are likely to be the last to emerge from this crisis. ‘This is a $111 billion industry facing decimation, and the Morrison government must urgently act to support the incomes of these workers. ‘Locally our artists, musicians and creative industry workers have been severely impacted. It’s important to remember that this isn’t about celebrities. This is about the workers who put on shows, who
Byron Shire Council Notices ▶ p8
live gig-to-gig, who have been left behind by the Morrison government. ‘Despite Labor’s warnings, and the industry’s cries for help, the government knowingly left many of these workers out of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme – forcing them onto the Centrelink queue. ‘Many of them have lost 100 per cent of their income, but are ineligible for the JobKeeper wage subsidy, simply because of the gigto-gig nature of their industry’.
Bruns still the home of simple pleasures ▶ p16
With state and federal COVID-19 restrictions hitting the business sector hard, what issues are local realtors facing? One of the largest agents in the area is Byron Bay First National Real Estate. Its principal, Chris Hanley, believes that Byron is in a key position to make an excellent recovery. ‘People have realised they aren’t going anywhere in the next 12 months’, says Mr Hanley, ‘and what that means is they are either going to come here, or go to New Zealand, when they open it up. ‘To me, that means we are going to recover in the spring much better than any other part of the country – we have the best physical assets, and I think our community will bounce back.’ Yet the commercial market has been hardest hit, he says, ‘because businesses have been closed down by government edict’. While sales are down, Mr Hanley says properties are still selling in what he calls a ‘realistic’ market brought about by the pandemic. ‘Anyone buying or selling in the middle of a pandemic is a realist. ‘And that’s not a bad thing – when you are dealing in a transaction, if the buyer is a realist, and the seller is a realist, you will find common ground.’ Meanwhile, Peter Browning from LJ Hooker in Brunswick Heads shares a similar story. ‘While the volume is definitely down, all buyer enquires have been solid’. He says, ‘I am no longer dealing with 27 enquiries, with only two in the position to proceed. We are now
only dealing with genuine buyers. The glitz and the glamour has gone.’ Mr Browning maintains that the changes in some of the strategies are going to stay. ‘There are ten-fold ways to market now. We have virtual marketing available. We already had 360 degree virtual tours available through a camera we started using 18 months ago’. While the first three weeks ‘snookered’ the industry and business, Mr Browning says, ‘people still want to list and sell properties, and people still want to buy them.’
Adaptation Another way that Mr Browning adapted his agency was by introducing virtual auctions. ‘The majority of generation X and Y have been geared that way, so they are comfortable with it’. Fellow realty operator, Fiona Johnson, says she was COVID-19 ready before the virus hit. Selling across the north of the Shire, Fiona says after leaving a busy office to work as a sole trader, she had ‘jumped the gun’ on social distancing in the workplace, and reduced the volume of work she needed to undertake. ‘Working in an office, I had to sell 12 to 20 properties a year to make an income. Now I can sell four properties to achieve that, and have more fun with my little girl. I don’t need the volume of sales. Those going with volume would be affected. I read a report on realestate.com where the vacancies and properties to lease were up 121 per cent from last year’, says Ms Johnson.
We’ve got ‘the scoop’ Ecologist’s take on on some excellent local Council’s bypass snail propaganda ▶ p25 businesses ▶ p20
High performance solar More than ever your roof space is valuable, choosing the right equipment can make a difference on how much solar will save you while it is working. Whether you are in a cabin in the hills, or something bigger, Juno Energy can help you find a solution working with great panel and battery brands including LG, SolarEdge, and Tesla.
Looking to do more with your roof? Give us a call!
If you would like more information on how you can get higher performance solar working for you, give us a call today on 0425 256 802
Habitat, Office 8, 20-1 Porter St, Byron Bay w. junoenergy.com.au e. sales@junoenergy.com.au m. 0425 256 802 electrical licence no. 255292C CEC member since 2010