SUFFERING FROM OPPOSITION DEFIANCE DISORDER SINCE 1986 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 35 #30 • Wednesday, January 6, 2021 • www.echo.net.au
Phew, 2020 is behind us… now for 2021
What next for people on COVID-19 supplement payments? Paul Bibby
‘What the world needs now is LOVE’, said Gabrielle, Noah, Alex and Blake, who were in Byron for New Year’s Eve. Photo Jeff Dawson Moderately large crowds celebrated the end of 2020 and the start of 2021 throughout north coast towns. Overall, police say they were generally pleased with crowd behaviour locally and throughout the state. Yet in Byron Bay, social distancing on the streets and parks was rarely adhered to, while venues had mandatory COVID-19 protocols in place. Meanwhile, physical distancing in public and mask wearing ‘when unable to keep 1.5 metres away
Zombie coastal plan is back! ▶ p5
from others’ is being advised by local authorities. The reminder comes as parts of Sydney enter mandatory mask restrictions owing to COVID-19 clusters. Victoria is also affected.
Mask wearing advised Director North Coast Public Health, Paul Corben says, ‘To reduce risk of transmission, residents and visitors to the region should continue to present for testing if they have
Border crossing protocols needed ▶ p7
even the mildest of symptoms’. Free testing, without appointment, is available at Byron Central Hospital. The hospital is located on Ewingsdale Road. Mr Corben says, ‘People are asked to practice physical distancing when out and about, wear a mask when unable to keep 1.5 metres away from others, wash their hands regularly, comply with public health advice about mass gatherings and special events and
follow COVID Safe directions when visiting local venues’. According to Lynne Weir, Acting Chief Executive, Northern NSW Local Health District, there have been ‘No new confirmed cases of locally acquired COVID-19 reported in Northern NSW Local Health District residents, since July 25’. ‘Two new cases have been recorded in Lismore City Council area on January 3, [and they] acquired their infection overseas’.
Don your finest flamingo print swim cossie, grab yourself a pineapple frappé and show summer who’s boss ▶ p18
Thousands of locals have been forced to tighten their belts this week, after the federal government made a further cut to the COVID-19 welfare supplement. The reduction in the supplement, from $250 to $150 a fortnight, as of January 1, will have a disproportionately large impact on the Byron Shire community, because a higher percentage of us receive welfare payments than in the rest of the country. Mullumbimby has the second highest percentage of welfare recipients in NSW, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with 14.2 per cent receiving payments. The rate in the Shire as a whole is more than ten per cent – one of the highest in the state. The Coronavirus Supplement was initially $550 a fortnight, effectively doubling the unemployment benefit at a time when hundreds of thousands more people found themselves on the dole queue. It was reduced to $250 a fortnight from September 25. The next step down, to $150 on January 1, will last until the end of March, when the supplement is set to be terminated completely. Byron Community Centre (BCC) manager Louise O’Connell said the cut was badly timed, given the increase in restrictions and recent border closures, which would further impact the local economy. ▶ Continued on page 2
If you dare, take a look back on 2020, as seen through our photographers’ lenses ▶ p39
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