THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN THE PEOPLE IN POWER – WAEL GHONIM The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 34 #53 • Wednesday, June 10, 2020 • www.echo.net.au
Job stats show decline of 10%
Local police said more than 5,000 attended Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest. After speeches at Byron Bay’s Recreation Grounds, the boisterous crowd then marched through the town for further speeches and performances in Apex Park on Main Beach. A Tweed Byron Police District statement said, ‘Police were generally happy with both events, and the good nature of participants, but continue to remind people of COVID-19 risks and the importance of general hygiene, physical distancing and the importance of staying home if you are sick’. Photo Jeff Dawson Eve Jeffery Thousands of protesters gathered in Byron Bay and Lismore on Saturday to demand justice for Indigenous Australians, an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody, and to support the global Black Lives Matter movement. In an extraordinary show of solidarity amidst the COVID-19 crisis, at least 5,000 locals carrying placards and Aboriginal flags rallied at the Byron Recreation Grounds from around 3.30pm. Among them were
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local Indigenous elders and leaders, and representatives from Indigenous nations across the country. There were also representatives from local police, including Byron’s most senior police officer, Detective Inspector Matt Kehoe. ‘Keep this story going, keep it alive, keep our people alive,’ a representative of the Bunyarra Culture Collective told the crowd. The Collective performed a number of traditional dances, including a dance to call in the spirits of the ancestors.
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The rally also cheered on local rappers, singers and speakers. Dozens of other rallies were held across the country, including a large rally in the centre of Lismore. Protester Maddy-Rose Braddon said that Widjabul woman, Cindy Roberts, spoke about the Aboriginal deaths in custody and the ongoing systemic racism in Australia. ‘There were powerful stories told by other black people too. It felt safe. There was hand sanitiser and masks available’.
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Ms Braddon said Uncle Gilbert spoke and shared a smoking ceremony with John Paden. ‘There was a beautiful and important moment when Cindy encouraged all mob to get in a circle together and supporters were invited to stand around them in a circle in unity and solidarity. ‘The police were invited to join too, and they did. We all got on one knee with our fists in the air to demonstrate our solidarity with the Back Lives Matter movement to end racist violence and deaths’.
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Local jobs have plummeted by ten per cent in the June quarter 2020, compared to 2018/19 four-quarter average, according to new figures released by www.economy.id.com. au/byron/covid19. .id community say they are employed by over 300 local councils and regional authorities across Australia and NZ, ‘to provide detailed local area profiles’ as a shared resource for the community. And owing to COVID-19 impacts, stats are also drawn from the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR). Employment sectors that have been affected the most, according to the data, include accommodation and food services (-671 local jobs), education and training (-191 local jobs) and retail trade (-185 local jobs). Those figures exclude the government’s JobKeeper program. Without JobKeeper, .id says job losses would be 19.9 per cent, or 3,248 jobs. The fall in Byron Shire Gross Regional Product (16.6 per cent) was higher than the NSW average of 13.6 per cent. An analysis of local employed residents who may work elsewhere was also presented. Called ‘employed resident impacts’, it suggests that those job losses are also mostly in the accommodation and food service sector. On all three statistical data presented – GRP, local jobs (including JobKeeper) and employed residents (including JobKeeper)– Byron Shire was recorded as being affected more than other regional NSW areas, NSW and Australia.
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