The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 37.31 – January 11, 2023

The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #31 • January 11, 2023 • www.echo.net.au

Poor mental health still an

As the one-year anniversary of the 2022 floods approaches, many locals are still experiencing the legacy of the disaster on a practical, emotional and mental level, according to a local mental health support service.

Mullumbimby Safe Haven, located in the park behind the Mullumbimby Neighbourhood Centre, was set up in the aftermath of the floods, and provides free mental health support seven days a week from midday to 6pm.

Nearly 12 months on from the first round of flooding, the Haven says there is still a significant group of people in the Shire and beyond who are struggling to find safe, stable housing.

‘There’s a lot of people still living out of their cars,’ Peer Worker Melissa Madden says.

that was flooded and they can’t afford the rents in the area. They’re staying in cars, maybe have a room with friends a couple of nights a week. A lot of people were emptied out because of the school holidays.’

Those lucky enough to own a home are still struggling to get repairs completed, or even started in some cases.

‘Everyone’s struggling to find builders, struggling to get building materials,’ Ms Madden says.

‘It’s particularly difficult for older people who aren’t necessarily able to get in and do it themselves.

‘They’re given a scope of works but they don’t understand or they’re not clear what they’re signing up for.’

Bangalow’s red carpet will be rolled out this Friday for the town’s film festival, to be held January 12 until 21. The Bangalow Film Festival includes over 20 films, an Indigenous art exhibition, as well as visual performances and industry talks. There is also a kids’ program with the ever popular Bunny Racket. Locally made documentary, The Last Violin, will have its world premiere on Friday from 5pm at the A&I Hall. Organisers say a performance on the violin featured in the film, with Romano Crivici on piano, will follow after the screening. Pictured is The Last Violin film Director, Carla Thackrah, with Romano Crivici and festival Co-director, Christian Pazzaglia. For more info, visit www.bangalowfilmfestival.com.au. Photo Jeff ‘Strings And Things’ Dawson

The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has announced the public hearings into the Byron Shire Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) Planning Proposal will be February 21 to 23, at a venue that is yet to be confirmed.

Registrations open on Monday January 16 and close February 10.

The NSW Minister for Planning, Anthony Roberts (Liberal), has asked

the IPC to hold the hearings and prepare advice for the government to make a decision.

It comes after Roberts intervened recently with Byron Council’s STRA policy, which was unanimousy supported by councillors, and broke his promise to allow Council to prepare its own response to the dramatic increase of unhosted holiday letting, and the housing crisis in Byron Shire.

Despite Council already collating hundreds of submissions with its STRA policy, the IPC is again asking the community to contribute its views about the industry’s impact on the Byron Shire via submissions and public hearings.

According to Council’s ShortTerm Rental Accommodation Planning Proposal Engagement

▶ Continued on page 2

‘We hear a lot that an individual had a room in a share house, and

The mental health impacts of these challenges, and the disaster more generally are only now beginning to become clear.

Paul Bibby

Safe Haven staff member Andrew Cronin, with fellow staffers Mayowa Makinde, and Simone Fraser, at Mullumbimby Safe Haven’s barbecue, held every Monday from 1 pm. Photo Jeff ‘I’ll Have Two, Thanks’ Dawson

STRA public hearings held Feb 21 to 23

▶ Continued from page 1

Report from November 2022, there were 766 survey responses and 784 written submissions provided to Council from September 1 through to October 31, 2022.

The Report reads, ‘Overall, the feedback showed general support for some form of regulation of the STRA industry, and that better management of STRA is required, particularly to address amenity impacts’.

The Report also noted ‘Overall, there was limited support for the proposed precinct model’. For more information about making a submission or registering to speak at the public hearing, visit bit.ly/3Xgnpyj.

Soaking up the Starlight sounds

SECURE YOUR SPOT TODAY

▶ Continued from page 1

‘There’s so much grief and loss – losing your home, your valuable possessions, it’s hard for anyone, young or old, to make their way back from that,’ Ms Madden says.

‘We’re still seeing people in a trauma fog. They don’t know where to go or what to do. It’s hard in that state to know what to do, or to process information when someone gives you advice about what to do.’

Mullum Safe Haven

The Mullumbimby Safe Haven is a valuable resource for those struggling mentally and emotionally, or those with a loved one having this experience.

It is one of four Safe Haven North Coast hubs that are funded by Healthy North Coast through the NSW government’s Northern NSW Flood Recovery Program. Safe Haven North Coast services are delivered by The Buttery.

The four hubs are located in Mullumbimby, Murwillumbah, Lismore and Woodburn.

Staff are trained in crisis response, acute interventions, counselling, case management and peer support from those with lived experience.

They refer clients to other mental health support services for anything impacting their wellbeing, including mental illness, drug and alcohol concerns, unemployment, finances,

housing and relationship issues.

The Mullum service is offering two new groups in February: an Art Connection for Women group, beginning February 6 from 10.30am till midday (limited to ten); and a group supporting the families, friends and loved ones of those struggling with addiction.

This group is ongoing and will commence on February 7, running from 6.30pm till 8pm.

‘We also run a free community barbeque on Mondays from 1pm to 3pm,’ Ms Madden says.

‘It’s just a casual, friendly lunch where people can have a sausage sandwich and, if they feel like it, a bit of a chat.’

Verandah collapses in Palmwoods, Main Arm

Paul Bibby

Attendees at a family gathering in Main Arm on the weekend were lucky to escape serious injury after the verandah they were standing on collapsed beneath them.

At around 12.15pm on Saturday, emergency services were called to an address on Palmwoods Road, where around a dozen people had been at a gathering. They arrived to find that

one corner of the wooden verandah had collapsed, sending members of the group sliding and tumbling to the ground three metres below. At least five people were injured in the incident, including a pregnant woman, who was treated at the scene and then taken to Tweed Hospital with abdominal, head and ankle pain.

The Westpac helicopter was called to assist the woman at the scene, but was

at brunswick valley funerals

unable to land in the hilly terrain, and so it landed at the bottom of the hill and dispatched a crew to help her.

The Echo understands that the baby and the woman are okay, and that neither suffered serious injury.

At least five other members of the gathering suffered cuts and abrasions in the incident. A number were driven to hospital by family members. They also managed to avoid serious injury.

Ballina Croquet is sincerely grateful for the support given to us by the almost one thousand people who signed our recent petition to Ballina Council. Our aim was to have the Council’s support to allow us to move to a suitable location, where we can further develop the wonderful game of Croquet in Ballina and the Northern Rivers.

Signatories to our petition saw the value of improving access to a popular game that is especially enjoyed by older women. We can assure our supporters that we will continue to seek this worthwhile goal.

Julie O’ Brien President

Last weekend’s Starlight Festival in Bangalow saw visitors and locals gather for sound journeys, breathwork, yoga, meditation, healing, and workshops encompassing a wealth of wellness modalities and disciplines. Pictured is Seriya Cutbush and Matty Rainbow, who held resoundingly popular sound healing meditations. Photo Jeff ‘The Red Healer’ Dawson

Cheshire eyes Golden Guitar Award

Eve Jeffery

Local singer-songwriter, Kim Cheshire, will be in Tamworth on January 21, sitting nervously alongside four other nominees waiting to hear who will win this year’s Golden Guitar for the Best Alternative Country Album.

But this is not a first for Kim. He already has two Golden Guitars and a Mo Award from when he was in the band The Wheel, back in the late nineties.

Covid inspired him

The nominated album, Looks Like Heaven, was more or less an accident born of the covid lockdowns.

Cheshire, who in true country music tradition lives in ‘thum thar hills’ of Eureka with his wife Anna, just had too much time on his hands.

Cheshire says the nomination is very flattering and gratifying after being involved as a singersongwriter in the Australian Country Music community since 1986, and particularly as a solo artist since 2000.

‘I’ve never chased awards or infamy, and have always

been much more interested in my own personal desire for artistic expression.’

After so many years in the industry, Cheshire doesn’t necessarily feel he is doing ‘the right thing, the right way’ to get nominated for an award like this.

’It makes me feel like it’s a rare, and probably serendipitous occasion when my artistic aspirations luckily and thankfully coincided with the taste of whoever judges the awards.’

Mostly written at home in lockdown, Cheshire also has a ‘home made’ video clip for one of the tracks from the record – ‘Have Mercy’ is on YouTube, which will give

many a good giggle and an ‘aha’ moment.

Though in Australia the Golden Guitars are considered by many to be the highest honour in country music, Cheshire is very philosophical on the subject of success.

‘Success is a difficult thing to define, and after pursuing music since I started my first band in England in 1964, I’ve come to understand that my version of success is having had the good fortune to be able to make music for the best part of my life, with the support of my family, and a wealth of phenomenal musicians, co-writers, arrangers and producers. It’s been a great gift and a huge privilege.’

Hans Lovejoy

A couple who took their railbike tours to the US have returned for the summer holidays and say that since launching Rail Explorers in 2015, they now operate rail bike tours in five locations –Newport, Rhode Island; The Catskills, New York; Cooperstown, New York; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Boone, Iowa.

The Echo reported in 2014 that Alex Catchpoole and Mary-Joy Lu proposed to use the 13km of abandoned railway line that runs between Bangalow and Byron Bay as a ‘tourism experience’.

After their pedal-powered rail carts failed to get traction here, they have found success overseas and say their business is booming.

Alex says, ‘Next year we plan to open two more divisions in the US. In the process, we launched an industry – there are now more than 20 copycat operators spread around America, bringing new life to old railroads and new revenue streams to scenic rail operations’.

‘Rail Explorers now have

a fleet of 150 railbikes – both Tandems (two seaters similar to the one we had in Byron Bay in 2014) and Quads (four seaters). During the peak summer seasons, we employ up to 160 people (approximately 30 per division plus bookings and support staff).

‘Since 2015, we have seen over 500,000 riders, and average about 30,000 riders per year, at each division.

‘Bookings are often sold out weeks in advance’.

‘The technology of the railbikes has also come a long way – each is now fitted

with an electric-assist motor to help pedalling uphill’.

Alex told The Echo that coming back to the Shire and seeing the railway all overgrown and unused, ‘has brought back many memories and many moments of ‘What if…?’

‘We still dream about bringing this amazing experience to the rails in Byron Bay, and it is heartbreaking to see the track so overgrown and neglected when Rail Explorers could have brought it to life. For the past seven years, it could have been attracting visitors to the area, creating jobs and generating revenue for the community’.

Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) has announced there are grants available to help people aged 60 and over in the Northern Rivers region, to help them stay fit, with applications now open for the ‘Active Ageing’ grants program.

Active Ageing grants are now available to support exercise providers and fitness leaders to provide low-cost exercise programs for people over the age of 60 in the region.

NNSWLHD is providing

eight grants of $500 to existing group exercise programs and five grants of $800 to help start new group exercise programs.

NNSWLHD Acting Manager Health Promotion, Graeme Williams, said preventive healthcare plays a vital role in the health system. ‘Having access to affordable exercise programs is one of the key things we can do to support people in the Northern Rivers region to stay active and well as they age,’ said Williams.

‘Through the grants

program, we are particularly interested in supporting new exercise programs for older people in locations where there may not already be many existing opportunities.’

The exercise programs must be delivered in the NNSWLHD footprint; within the Ballina, Byron, Clarence, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed council LGAs. Applications close January 27. To apply, or for more information, visit: healthupnorth.info/ activeageinggrant.

Eureka-based musician, Kim Cheshire. Photo Lyn McCarthy

‘We launched an industry – there

Bruns rescue crew equipped with new Zodiac

Paul Bibby

Marine Rescue Brunswick has become the first service in NSW to receive a new type of inflatable boat designed to undertake flood rescues in difficult conditions.

The French-made Zodiac inflatable was specifically chosen to cope with the kind of rapidly changing conditions experienced during last year’s floods.

It was received by Unit Commander, Jonathan Wilcock, and the rest of the team last week.

‘Until the floods last year, Marine Rescue didn’t play a big role in that type of rescue work, so since then we’ve been looking at what we need to do to help in that area and to step up our game,’ Mr Wilcock said.

Floods recede quickly

‘One thing we learned about the Byron Shire and even Lismore during the floods was that the waters come up very quickly and go down quite quickly, compared with the type of flooding they’re experiencing in inland NSW at the

moment,’ Mr Wilcock said.

‘That was one of the factors we looked at in choosing this type of boat. We also looked at being able to respond to areas where it can take a little bit of time to get to and potentially be hard to access, so mobility was important.’

The new Zodiac is fully mobile, with the capacity to be packed down into a team cricket bag and then inflated quickly for rapid deployment.

‘You can put it in the back of a car, or on a plane, and then get it in the water pretty quickly when you get to the destination.’

The speed of inflation is increased by a built-in scuba tank which can fill the vessel’s six separate inflatable compartments within minutes.

The separate compartments mean that the boat can continue to function even with multiple punctures suffered during swift water

river rescues where tree branches and other types of debris are a hazard.

The significant cost of the new boat was completely covered by the James Frizelle Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by the former car dealership owner of the same name.

It is now hoped that a new round of Emergency Services funding announced by the state government will be used to roll the vessels out across the rest of the state.

Brunswick Marine Rescue Unit Commander, Jonathan Wilcock, with Wayne Lewis at the tiller. Photo Jeff ‘Needing Rescue Since 1986’ Dawson

Man arrested and charged over alleged Ballina murder

A man has been charged with murder after the body of a woman was located in Ballina on 4 January.

Ballina remembers Seaworld pilot Ash Jenkinson

Since the tragic dual helicopter accident near Seaworld recently, there has been an outpouring of grief on social media.

Clarence Valley Council Deputy Mayor runs for

Ballina tourism bouncing back, big time

Photo & story David Lowe

At the height of Ballina’s busiest time of the year for tourism The Echo caught up with Team Leader, Alanah Ward, at the Ballina Visitor Information Centre to find out what’s been happening.

She said that numbers were surging after a ‘pretty terrible couple of years’, which included bushfire, covid and flood crises buffeting the region.

for walks, or just be out in nature, and get away.’

Ms Ward said there were many families visiting, and a lot of caravanners.

‘We have great walkways everywhere, beautiful beaches, really amazing cafes, a great foodie scene and a really nice hinterland area to explore.’

also great new restaurants and cafes opening locally, along with new tourism operators entering the market, including walking tours. She gave the example of Out of the Blue Adventures, who sail from Ballina Wharf.

New operators

still challenges,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t say it’s completely recovered. But visitors are returning.’

NSW

State election

Clarence Valley Council Deputy Mayor, Dr Greg Clancy, has announced that he will be running for The Greens in the upcoming NSW March elections this year for the seat of Clarence.

Veteran Forest campaigner says she was ‘targeted’ by police

Long-time forest campaigner and North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson, Susie Russell, was arrested yesterday at Bulga State Forest and given bail conditions prohibiting her from entering into any part of the Bulga Forest.

Overnight traffic change at Tweed Heads from 9 January

The Pacific Highway between Tweed Heads and Clothiers Creek will have lane closures overnight from Monday, 9 January between 7pm to 3am each night.

Greens still smiling after a year on Ballina Council

Some people would need counselling after a year in minority on Ballina Shire Council, but Greens councillors Kiri Dicker and Simon Chate are still optimistic and looking forward to the next chapter.

‘They’re definitely bouncing back,’ said Ms Ward. ‘It’s been good to see the resilience of a lot of the businesses and visitors still wanting to come back to the area. Speaking to the caravan parks, they said they’ve had people return this year that haven’t been here for three years. People are excited to finally be able to come back to the region’.

‘There are definitely

With Ballina still housing many flood refugees in emergency accommodation, the town can sometimes feel like it’s bursting at the seams at the moment, especially on sunny days, but this is a welcome transformation for those businesses that have

managed to survive the ups and downs of recent years.

Alanah says she believes the local tourism sector will continue to recover.

Is there a common thread in what visitors to the region are looking for?

‘I think Ballina and the Northern Rivers in general is really known for its natural assets. So people want to go to our beaches or go

Tuntable Creek Road works update

Eve Jeffery

Residents of The Channon and Nimbin will have to wait until February to travel along Tuntable Creek Road, despite Lismore City Council aiming for the road to be open again by Christmas.

It’s been almost ten months since floods and landslips closed the area to traffic. Eleven significant landslips have been logged with a major landslip closing the road north of the intersection with Rose Road.

At the November Lismore City Council meeting, Council voted unanimously to allow immediate repairs, so the road could be opened before Christmas – to allow a single lane of traffic to get through.

‘It is a very important piece of infrastructure,’ said

Mayor Krieg at the time.

‘This is urgent that we settle this tonight, so that that road can at least be partially opened before Christmas.’

The Interim General Manager, John Walker, said that owing to the volatile nature of the slip, care is

being taken during these works to ensure safety for the construction team.

He added that works crews will remobilise to the site on January 9 to excavate the slope above the road, install soil nails and shotcrete and reconstruct the pavement through the slip zone.

Alanah says Ballina Shire Council’s investment in new walking and cycling pathways is bearing fruit, with more and more visitors using them, and making special trips to Ballina to see what the fuss is all about.

‘You can basically walk or cycle from here at the Visitor Centre, all the way up to Lennox Head.’

She said the cycleways map is particularly popular, with people wanting to get out and enjoy the new routes.

Ms Ward said there were

‘During summer they offer the river cruises and they have the coastal explorer tours. They’ve just started snorkelling as well, so that’s a really great experience for people who want to get out and experience the ocean, which is obviously one of our biggest drawcards.’

For rainy days in Ballina, Ms Ward said the Maritime Museum remained a popular local attraction, ‘along with great new indoor activities like the climbing jungle and virtual golf. That’s one for the big kids as well!’.

What’s happening at local libraries these holidays?

Ballina, Lennox Head and Alstonville public libraries are rolling out a big program of free, school holiday activities this month.

Ballina Area Librarian, Taryn Kelly, told The Echo there would be scheduled activities, at each library during the summer school holidays, as well as ongoing activities. ‘So you can just drop into the library at any time during the holidays, and there will be something happening!’

Bollywood Sisters

The Bollywood Sisters will be shimmying in with their fun, interactive dance workshops for children five years and older at Ballina Library on January 17, then

at Lennox and Alstonville libraries on the following days (10am each day, bookings open now).

Lennox and Ballina libraries are also running Summer Bingo Cards all this month, with challenges ranging from Lego to scavenger hunts, from stick insect naming to Summer Reading Club.

‘Each card has got six different activities for kids,’ said Ms Kelly. ‘They do each of the activities while they’re here and mark them off. And once they finish, they can go into the draw to win a prize.’

New cards are available each Monday from the libraries.

The website for the Richmond Tweed Regional Library is www.rtrl.nsw.gov.au.

Alanah Ward from Ballina Visitor Information Centre.

Tuntable Creek Road, north of Rose Road was damaged by a landslip in the early 2022 floods. Photo David Lowe

Police re-appeal for info on 2022

Craig Ruddy remembered

Police are again appealing for information around a suspicious teleco tower fire at Mullum’s River Terrace at around 3am on Friday, March 18, 2022.

Local detectives have released CCTV footage of the person they believe can assist with their inquiries. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Planning reform further erodes local decision-making, says LGNSW

With proposed amendments to NSW laws around affordable housing, group homes, supportive accommodation and social housing on public exhibition, the peak body for local government, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) is pushing for more investment in social and affordable housing and have warned of a ‘concerning trend of erosion of decision-making by

local government’.

The proposed amendments by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) are called Explanation of Intended Effect (EIE), and come under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, (or Housing SEPP).

LGNSW say in their submission to the DPE that ‘As the level of government

closest to the community, local government plays an important role in engaging with and planning for the needs of local communities’.

Blanket provisions

This is done through, ‘councils’ Local Housing Strategies, Local Strategic Planning Statements and Local Environmental Plans (LEPs)’, but they say, ‘State

Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) containing blanket provisions that override local controls undermine this framework for local strategic planning, by disrupting outcomes endorsed through councils’ local strategic planning processes’.

The DPE’s reforms are on public exhibition until January 13. For more info, visit https://bit.ly/3Gtlm38.

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entries now open

Byron All Shorts, presented by IQ Inc, celebrates the filmmaking talent of the Northern Rivers region and encourages audiences to experience the many amazing short films that are produced here each year.

Organisers say ‘Filmmakers from across the region are invited to submit their short films of up to 30min in length, from all genres’.

Byron All Shorts screens on Saturday, February 18, from 4pm, and is in conjunction with Flickerfest’s threeday annual film festival,

which is held at Bangalow A&I Hall from Thursday February 16 to Saturday February 18.

Prizes and cash to the value of $3,000 will be presented for the iQ-Flickerfest Best Short Film Award, the Emerging Talent Award and the Best Short Film Audience Award, recognising the incredibly talented filmmakers in our region.

Byron All Shorts is a dedicated Northern Rivers short film competition, judged by

a team of Northern Rivers film industry professionals, and provides a platform to celebrate, encourage and support local filmmakers to produce and share their short films.

Jan 16 deadline

Flickerfest International Short Film Festival celebrates its 32nd year in 2023, and is Australia’s only Oscar® and BAFTA Qualifying short film festival. Entry deadline is Monday, January 16. For entry forms, visit iQ.org.au, or call 0414 779 881.

Last Wednesday, one year after artist Craig Ruddy’s un-timely death, about 100 well wishers gathered on New Brighton Beach to help his partner, Roberto Meza Mont and family, celebrate the short life of one of the country’s great artists. Craig’s portrait of actor David Gulpilil won the Archibald Prize in 2004, and also won the People’s Choice award. Craig again won the People’s Choice in 2010, for his portrait of the acclaimed Aboriginal director, Warwick Thornton. Photo Joseph Mayers

Byron All Shorts entrants, Dylan Lalor, Miro Salom, River Walker and Jahvis Loveday on the job by the Brunswick River. Photo Jeff ‘Up The Lazy River’ Dawson

Democratic circus coming

With the NSW election looming on March 25, there will no doubt soon be a government bononza of promises to impress, you, the good looking and articulate voter, into thinking that this or that party will govern with your interests at heart.

Politicians want to be taken seriously now? How cute!

State governments use your taxes to pay for health, education, police and roads, among many other services.

Other things they use your taxes for include throwing huge wads of cash at electorates they think they can win (called pork barrelling), or generously repaying their campaign donors.

That aside, another crucial role state governments have is with planning.

As we saw recently with the NSW planning minister’s intervention on Council’s holiday letting policy (see page 1), local governments are merely a corporate arm of the state government, and will be reined in if they do not reflect the government’s views.

The views of the current NSW Liberal-Nationals government appears to deny local decision making, renege on that promise, and undermine any chance to address the housing crisis.

And also, presumably, repay their campaign donor mates in the holiday letting industry.

The current government aren’t doing that well across the state, and with any luck there will be a much needed change of direction after election day.

Or will NSW Labor act in the same way?

Moving on, a planning policy that is currently on the table from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) is reforming the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, (or Housing SEPP). See page 7.

The current Housing SEPP, as the peak body for local government, Local Government NSW (LGNSW), says, contains ‘blanket provisions that override local controls [and] undermine this framework for local strategic planning, by disrupting outcomes endorsed through councils’ local strategic planning processes’.

It’s widely known that affordable housing SEPPs don’t work as intended. Or as a cynic may say, they are working perfectly for the one per cent. Just not those who need affordable housing.

For example, LGNSW support affordable housing, developed under the Housing SEPP, to be in perpetuity, ‘not 15 years, as current provisions allow’.

Also, unlike the current government, LGNSW supports ‘locally-developed responses to short-term rental accommodation (STRA)’.

To have your say on the housing reforms, which are on on exhibition until January 13, visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au/ Policy-and-Legislation/Housing/Housing-SEPP.

Hans Lovejoy, editor

News tips are welcome: editor@echo.net.au

The presumption of innocence dilemma

So, there’ll be no birthday party for me this year.

That’s because half of my friends are defence lawyers, and the other half seek to heal trauma in one way or another.

And after my comments on the Lehrmann trial fiasco, the former will just not let go – they decry the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) saying he believed there were reasonable prospects of conviction, they are aghast at people who publicly say they think the complainant was brave, or honest or apologise to her.

‘What about the presumption of innocence!?’ they proclaim.

When someone is charged with an offence, and for whatever reason the trial does not proceed, the shout from every defence lawyer in the country is that they are ‘innocent’ as they have not been found guilty.

This is the logical corollary of the socalled ‘golden rule’ – the prosecution bears the burden of satisfying the court that the case has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

If they don’t, then the defendant is acquitted. And thus, as far as the law is concerned, the charged person is innocent.

On a technical legal basis, that is correct, but it is in essence a meaningless statement in every other way. The dilemma arises because there are two meanings of the word ‘innocent’.

The most common everyday meaning of the word is free from moral wrong or sin. The second, legal-specific use means unconvicted of a criminal offence by a court of law.

The issue between my two groups of friends lies in trying to apply the technical meaning to the everyday. Let’s test the theory with some well-known historical cases.

Was Hitler innocent? Well, on the golden rule legal-meaning basis the answer is ‘yes’. He was not convicted of any crime. But such a statement is both ludicrous and offensive.

Of course he is not innocent to anyone except dwellers in some academic lawyer’s ivory tower or defence lawyer gowning room. And what about our friend Vladimir Putin – well he is officially legally innocent too, despite the bombs raining down under his order on those poor frozen people in Ukraine.

And what about those who are successfully sued civilly for sexual assaults by the children or adult victims?

In civil courts, the standard of proof is ‘on the balance of probabilities’, but to be found guilty in a criminal court, a higher standard applies – it’s called ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

A civil court may find on the balance of probabilities that they did the actions, and did so intentionally, however they are ‘innocent’ on at least the fine points of the criminal law. But seriously, who cares for such pedantry?

And what of those found whose wrongdoing is established in merely civil, not criminal, proceedings such as those to have been found corrupt by the ICAC, or determined in defamation proceedings to be a paedophile or a war criminal? This does not mean they are free from any moral wrong or untainted by sin as far as the real world is concerned.

The same applies to the term ‘victim’. This does not only mean a person who has suffered at the hands of a person convicted of a criminal offence crime in a court of law.

What if the perpetrator is dead, or has left the country, or is mentally ill?

I was the victim of a person who threatened me and my family with bombs and death threats, but they were found to be mentally unfit to stand trial. Fair enough, he suffered from a mental illness. However, I refuse to put the word victim in inverted commas or add ‘alleged’ – why should I?

So, let’s not get too sucked in by literalism in the wash-up of aborted or abandoned trials.

Let’s speak English, not legalese, and call it as we see fit.

Let’s tell victims we believe them when we do, and not be shackled in our apologies by finer points of law. The legal principle that someone is innocent until proven guilty must never be used to silence victims or threaten them with contempt proceedings. This is their story, their life, and just like

Grace Tame, they should be able to tell it as they wish. That’s the least we can offer them.

The legal presumption of innocence is of course an important principle worthy of protection.

A society that jails people without proof beyond reasonable doubt in a fair trial is not a society any of us want to live in. And pre-trial publicity should be minimised so as not to taint juries (if we have to have them).

But the golden rule is not, and should never be, a method of muzzling debate, stifling expressions of comfort, confronting trauma with open-hearted compassion or telling victims they cannot publicly describe their own pain.

Remember when actor Craig McLachlan was charged with a series of crimes wherin he assaulted and indecently assaulted his Rocky Horror Show co-stars?

All thirteen charges were dismissed by Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington, because she could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt about his intentions.

But when acquitting McLachlan, the magistrate said that the four complainants were brave and honest witnesses, and rejected the defence barrister’s suggestions that the women had colluded or fabricated their evidence.

Those comments served justice.

One of the hardest aspects of being a magistrate was dismissing charges when I believed the victims, but did not disbelieve the defendants. There was a reasonable doubt. They haunt me, some of those cases, and I wish I could have eased the pain of all concerned.

So, I think I’ll have a quiet birthday this year. And mull over the murky waters of justice, guilt, innocence and rights. And as Mandy Nolan suggests – ditch the word ‘alleged’ from my vocabulary for good.

David Heilpern is a former magistrate and is now Dean of Law at SCCU.

‘A society that jails people without proof beyond reasonable doubt in

David Heilpern

Fireworks

I watched the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks display last night. I couldn’t help but think how obscene it is that councils across Australia should spend billions of dollars on fireworks. This money should be spent on homeless families and those struggling to make ends meet in these difficult times.

L Clarke Ballina

RIP koalas

I read that in southwest Sydney there are 140 housing projects up for consideration that are located in known koala habitats.

As we know koalas are on the critically endangered list and heading for extinction, and more will be killed if these projects get approval.

Tanya Plibersek and Labor need to stand up and protect not only koalas, but all native wildlife from greedy developers’ bulldozers.

I don’t want to hear the bullshit that it’s up to NSW government planners to give approval or not.

I hope Labor’s not the government that sees the last koala go extinct. Do you? Come on, Labor.

Paul Brecht Evans Head

Climate resolution

It’s hard to deny that 2022 was one of the world’s worst for extreme weather events. The European Commission’s Global Drought Observatory declared the 2022 drought the worst in 500 years. China experienced its worst-ever heatwave – lasting more than 70 days. And in the US, an ongoing ‘megadrought’ in the west and southwest is the most extreme in the last 1,200 years, according to a new study.

In this country, the February–March floods in southeast Qld and northern NSW last year have been described as ‘Australia’s worst floods in modern history’.

The Byron Shire was hard hit by the two floods in late February and March 2022, with estimates of more than 1,000 homes damaged by floodwater, and some 57 businesses impacted.

Inadequate local landfill made the disposal of hazardous waste in the Shire, in

particular asbestos, a further health hazard.

Those who can least afford it were hardest hit. One submission to the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry estimated that ‘in North Byron, 90 per cent of homes in caravan parks were lost’.

These extreme weather events are ‘climate-fuelled’ – driven by a warmer atmosphere and oceans, thanks to the burning of fossil fuels producing greenhouse gases. So, it was worrying to see that the top-performing stock on the ASX at the end of 2022 was Whitehaven Coal.

A new year’s resolution for those with shares would be to divest from fossil fuels. The Australia Institute’s Divest Invest resources can help with this. The rest of us can switch our super and mortgages. The Market Forces websites comparing super funds and banks are good places to start.

Ray Peck Hawthorn, Vic

provide for themselves and their families, and a bit extra, the evolved mature person will seek to share his or her excess with those in need.

It’s been proven that communism doesn’t work. People should be rewarded materially for hard work and enterprise, but having acquired a certain level of prosperity can then find joy and a sense of responsibility in helping others. Show me the money!

Bronwyn Sindel Mullumbimby

Move the crossing

A major flaw in the recent road markings along Tincogan Street, Mullumbimby, is that the gargantuan pedestrian crossing which has gobbled up about twenty car-parking spaces is in the wrong place.

preserved for centuries in ash and debris when the volcano erupted in 79CE. The remains are prime evidence for the lifestyles of the Roman rich and famous. Like Byron, the population was around 11,000 and the streets are full of Hellenised villas, spas, theatres, and bars (with the inhabitants still inside frozen in time).

However, when you search a little farther from the main tourist attractions you will easily discover the rooms of Pompeii’s slaves and lower classes – cramped rooms containing the common items of their precarious existence.

We know from the remaining graffiti and slave revolts (don’t forget Spartacus), that not everyone was happy with the situation.

Drivers

I felt moved to write a response to Mandy’s assertion in the Christmas Echo that says, ‘Capitalism isn’t getting anywhere. Try as we might, we can’t seem to break it. It’s the foundation stone of poverty and exploitation.’

I beg to differ. In my opinion, greed and lack of empathy and compassion are the foundation stones of poverty and exploitation. Capitalism is a wonderful incentive for people to work hard and build something for themselves. Having found themselves with enough to

Even the most casual observation of pedestrian traffic reveals that most pedestrians cross Tincogan Street at the Stuart Street intersection. Witness the many people walking along Stuart Street as opposed to the very few walking along Dalley Street.

As loss of these car spaces is negatively impacting Mullumbimby Automotive and the fuel servo, it is clear that the pedestrian crossing should be moved to the Stuart Street intersection. Hoping the council plenipotentiaries can see the sense of this proposal and move on it forthwith.

James Morau Brunswick Heads

The new Pompeii

In response to Brian Mollet’s article : Byron Bay – the new Shire Rome? (4 January), I would argue that the ancient Roman resort city of Pompeii is a much more suitable comparison to our Byron Bay.

Nestled in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in the Bay of Naples, the city was

In the end, the only solution to the housing crisis in Byron will be innovative, creative, collaborative action… or if Mt Warning erupts and levels the playing field.

Angus Ferguson

Suffolk Park

Cartoon by Ewan Willis RS

Using it or hiding it? The plan to pave the Earth in post-consumer plastic

Aletha Zylstra

When news broke in early November that REDcycle were warehousing post-consumer soft plastics intended for recycling, the caring folks who had participated in the scheme were very disappointed. Even if, as REDcycle claimed, they were keeping it out of landfill and simply saving it till Close the Loop – their major offtake partner, and the only factory in Australia able to process commercial volumes of soft plastic – was able to come back on-line (scheduled for mid-2023), after a fire last June had closed them down.

Worse news broke later in November (The SMH) when an ex-REDcycle contractor alleged it wasn’t just one warehouse full of plastic meant for recycling, it was many. All around the country in fact –and REDcycle had been stockpiling it since 2018.

Pretty quickly after REDcycle’s little hoarding problem was exposed, Coles and Woolies closed down their collection-point service, forcing patrons to send their soft plastics straight to landfill. Presumably they were concerned there might be a public relations backlask for ‘environmental window dressing’, or worse, accusations of being complicit in the deceit.

According to the latest available ABS data, Australia used 3.4 million tonnes of plastic in 2018–19. 2.5 million tonnes of that plastic became waste, with only nine per cent of it (227,000 tonnes) being recycled and 130,000 tonnes of it ending up in marine environments. Those figures are now four years old, and things haven’t improved.

Collective plastic problem

REDcycle have been painted as the bad guys for hiding just a little of our collective plastic problem. Remember folks, REDcycle do not create all that plastic. By warehousing it they were keeping it out of landfill, and out of waterways – and all at their own expense. They are a not-for-profit (NFP) whose program has been too successful

All that free, pre-sorted, relatively clean soft plastic is about to become even more valuable.

for the available infrastructure in Australia. It is not their fault that we lack sufficient processing facilities. It is not their fault that the market for postconsumer recycled plastic products does not yet match the sheer volume of available raw-material. Or, that the volume of raw material just keeps growing, year-on-year.

This industry-leading NFP are overseen by a for-profit company called RED Group, who are among a ‘coalition of the willing’, including Planet Ark, The Australian Food and Grocery Council, and the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) who have given ‘their full support’ to the research efforts of another NFP; the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB). With industry backing, the ARRB then gained dollar for dollar funding (raising $1M) from the federal government to write and release a framework and specifications for using recycled plastic in roads; thereby bridging the gap that was preventing the creation of policy and guidelines that would facilitate the growth of an important new industry able to absorb some of our excessive plastic waste.

Their final report was released in 2022, coincidentally in the same month as the fire at the Close the Loop factory. The report supports the creation of a whole new industry that will use 20,000 tonnes of recycled mixed soft plastics in 20 per cent of asphalt laid in Australia per annum, as well as being used in other road and rail infrastructure.

Money to be made?

Just a thought, but could REDcycle have been preparing for the arrival of this new industry? All that free, presorted, relatively clean soft plastic is about to become even more valuable. With the gap in collection services left by the collapse of the relationship between REDcycle and the big supermarket

duopoly, it does appear there’s some real money to be made.

Investment services publication The Motley Fool reported (23 November) that Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd has been ‘working for months’, on a co-investment plan with plastics maker Qenos, worth around $500 million to get involved in soft plastic recycling. They aim to collect ten times the amount that REDcycle were, via existing household garbage collections.

So will this new industry be using our plastic waste, or just hiding it? Or both?

The research so far, where plastic has been used in roads in India since 2004, and in the Netherlands since 2018, suggests that it makes them more durable. Also, for every tonne of bitumen left out of asphalt, as much as a tonne in CO2 emissions is saved, since less fossil fuel gets used in its heating and extraction.

Recycled plastic (RP) railway sleepers are rust and rot proof. RP noise walls are lightweight whilst meeting noise-reduction targets, they are also non-porous so resist graffiti, and can be recycled after 40 years’ use. Unfortunately, according to the ARRB, consistent and scientific evidence on any longer-term performance and sustainability benefits of these kinds of uses has largely been missing. ARRB hope that their report will prompt increased funding for research and development in that area.

Such reuse initiatives will keep some of our plastic waste out of landfill and waterways, and potentially have other environmental benefits. Being the endlessly creative creatures that we are, and plastic being the amazing stuff that it is, we will undoubtably keep finding new ways to reuse it. However, it’s imperative that we close the loop and stop generating more of the petrochemical versions of it. Paving the world in plastic is not a solution, it’s a reaction.

The reality is that worldwide consumption of plastic shows no signs of slowing. To the oil companies and their refineries we, the captive consumers of their plastic products, are like those geese who get force fed, then have their livers harvested.

Architecture

The current popular style of house building and renovation in Byron Bay I refer to as the ‘butter box bunker’ (BBB) style. This type of house is composed of a facade comprising a series of right-angled shapes often of contrasting textures. They are angular and ugly (I think) and clash aesthetically with the older houses around them.

They are also totally unsuited to the local climate. The best way to regulate the internal temperature of a house is: (a) raise it off the ground; and (b) have a substantial pad of air under a pitched roof above it.

This BBB type of house is usually built on a concrete slab with a skillion roof. The windows seem never to have awnings presumably as they would interfere with the geometric ‘look’ of the design. But an unshaded piece of glass becomes a hotplate radiating heat into the room behind it, and if it is raining and hot at the same time you have the choice of shutting out the rain but cutting off the airflow, or leaving it open and letting in the rain.

These houses often feature a ‘picture window’ which doesn’t overlook beach or bush but merely the

street outside. Most of these windows are sealed, which suggests this type of house is dependent on airconditioning. Not a good choice during a climate crisis even if the owners don’t care ‘because we can afford it’.

David Gilet Byron Bay

Only one Councillor Dey seems to be the only elected councillor with the intestinal fortitude to ask Byron Shire Council (BSC) directors or middle management for an explanation.

Councillor Dey’s request for an urgency motion in relation to the fill placed at The Pocket seems to make complete sense seeing as the EPA is investigating and this could result in BSC being fined. Why would Lyon, Swivel, Hunter, and Westheimer vote against Councillor Dey’s request? Do they not want to know the facts or are they concerned about upsetting staff?

It is fairly commonly known that anything stockpiled near a waterway, or in this case on the Marshalls Creek Floodplain, should

be bunded. The staff involved are paid quite well and should have been aware of this.

Do the directors employed by BSC actually know what is happening on the ground? I think not!

What happened with this incident, which has left BSC open to being fined by the EPA, reminds me of a situation when I was a member of the Water, Waste and Sewer Advisory Committee in 2018. I found myself in possession of some date and time-stamped photos of Brunswick Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant in a state of overflow – sewage overflowing the structural confines of the plant.

I asked to talk to the director who sat on the committee, and I produced the pictures and asked if he was aware of this. The director said ‘No’ and asked me where this was.

The final outcome was the director said he would not expect to know about this because he was ‘here; he signified by placing his hand above his head. I was perplexed by this and asked ‘so you would not expect anyone in Water and Recycling to make you aware of this?’ I received no response.

The fact the four

councillors voted to squash Councillor Dey’s request for an urgency motion just supports senior management being dissociated with what is actually going on at ground level. Not very clear and transparent of the four councillors concerned.

A Dickens Ballina

Airbnb: Irish decision

Advocates of more affordable housing in Byron Shire should take a leaf from Ireland’s decision to set stronger controls (Airbnb caught off guard by introduction of short-term letting restrictions, correspondence shows – Irish Times (2 January).

Ireland’s minister for housing plans to strengthen regulatory controls on the short-term letting of nonprincipal private residences in rent-pressure zones amid concerns, similar to here, that short-term lets have reduced the availability of long-term rentals.

According to the rental website daft.ie there are 342 properties for rent in Dublin while Airbnb had 376 ‘whole houses’ properties available for a month in the same area.

Patrick Morrisey Goonengerry

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50 days in Ireland

Patrick Morrisey

Each visit to Ireland delves deeper than the last. Back in the 1980s, I met distant relatives before hitching around The Republic. When I felt the Atlantic’s chill, I retreated south towards the equator and finally home to The Great South Land. I returned in 2018 to explore my family history, emerging from lockdown with a book I launched at Graiguenamanagh Town of Books Festival in August 2022.

From August to early October 2022, I criss-crossed Ireland, listening to RTÉ and talkback radio gauging the nation’s pulse. Like a sponge I absorbed monuments, antiquities and tales of medieval castles, abbeys, passage tombs and countless battles. Locals captivated, hurling entranced,whilst the Atlantic invigorated.

Landscape old and new

Depending whom you talk to, Ireland’s built form is either being protected from, protected by, or abandoned to the constant march of time. Some relics prevail, whilst others peer out beneath the incessant creep of Irish Ivy, rapaciously smothering antiquity. In formal gardens and the demesnes of the gentry, elongated trunks all look the same, like mundane monocultures, shrouded in Hedera hibernica

It’s hard to miss the massive wind turbines whirling like dervishes, generating up to 40 per cent of Ireland’s energy needs. Though they don’t please everyone. A local paper cited American tourists complaining their romantic vistas of rolling green hills, field walls, castles and thatched cottages were being spoiled, vowing never to return with their US dollars.

Into dusk on fertile fields, farmers made hay while the sun shined, preparing for the long winter ahead. Gargantuan 4WD tractors, stacked high with bales and fresh silage, navigated narrow lanes and through villages.

As winter loomed, peatlands and bogs, anaerobic time capsules interring sacrificial bodies and artefacts, Ireland’s most effective carbon sinks, are being burnt on an industrial scale to generate electricity. One in seven households continues the centuries-old tradition to heat their homes. Special Areas of Conservation are not immune, despite steep financial penalties from the EU.

progressive lives and better pay. What we say is not always what we do.

Commentators speak of a country on the edge of Western Europe trying to extricate itself from centuries when church and state sang from the same script, to a fully functioning secular and responsible member of the EU. As Ireland’s Finance minister recently proclaimed, we’re ‘talking European, walking American, sounding Irish’.

An example is the Republic’s generosity to around 50,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian kids join Irish schools mid semester. Hotels and hostels are booked out in a country already lacking affordable housing with skyrocketing energy prices. The Irish know how it feels to be invaded by a bigger neighbour. By comparison, British Northern Ireland (NI) has welcomed a mere 1,200.

The North shifting identities

Above:

While this was great news for Norway, there were plenty of behindthe-scenes worries for the organising

First among them was the dramatic drop in online spectator numbers for the event. While a peak audience of 134,000 viewers might seem reasonable, that was a 40 per cent drop on the 2021 figures for the same event. (The 2021 World Championship match, despite being a one-sided affair with games running up to nine hours, managed a peak of more than 600,000.)

Secondly, the event was filled with inconsistent and sometimes unfair organisational and refereeing decisions.

Despite FIDE announcing in 2020 that refusing to play an opponent for political reasons ‘will compel FIDE to impose targeted punishments’, no action was taken against the three Iranian players who declined to turn up to play Israel’s Boris Gelfand.

In contrast, when Carlsen turned up in his duffel coat, two and a half minutes late for a three-minute game due to traffic problems, he was given a strong warning for breaching the tournament dress code, as

Arbiters, who were thin on the ground for an event with 275 players, mishandled many disputes, restarting one game three times before they got it right.

In another, Egyptian Grandmaster, Ahmed Adly, was distracted by 12-year-old opponent Nikolay Averkin’s three small friends, who were standing next to the Russian and chatting loudly during the final moments when both players had seconds on the clock. Adly’s beef was correct, but he only made it after he had lost on time, so the protest should have been thrown out immediately.

Instead, Adly was granted extra time and the game was eventually drawn.

The tournament also received extensive publicity – unwanted by FIDE’s Putin-connected leaders who are hoping to keep Russian-Iranian relations sweet – thanks to an Iranian woman playing without a hijab.

Turns out that Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, 25, was about to defect, seeking asylum for herself, husband and child in Spain after the event.

Iran’s former World Junior Champion Parham Magsoodloo is reportedly also considering his options.

Bay Services Club, Sat 2.30pm and Mon 5pm

Parallel universe

Just like I read Freedom at Midnight, about India’s struggle for independence, while crisscrossing the subcontinent, I read We Don’t Know Ourselves – A Personal History of Ireland to better understand the country since it became a republic.

Journalist Fintan O’Toole speaks of how his country functioned within a parallel universe – of both the said and the unsaid. Of politicians professing morality while acting corruptly, of the dark patriarchy denouncing condoms while conceiving children. Of beseeching little children to come unto thee, unless you’re born out of wedlock and we decide to quietly sell you to Americans or bury you in an unmarked grave. Of a people critical of England, while willing to move there for more

Now 25 years since the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, it’s quieter in the North. Less Rat Tat Rat. Perhaps too quiet given the NI Assembly isn’t sitting to debate contentious policies like officially recognising Irish and Ulster Scots’ languages and the devil in the detail of the poisonous Brexit protocol. Brexit not only undermined the Agreement, but threatens a fragile peace. Locals in Derry and Belfast spoke of tensions simmering below the surface, wishing their elected representatives would turn incompatible ‘aspirations’ into pragmatic outcomes.

All sides revert to the ballot box to try and work within a multiparty Assembly to deliver for the North, and will do so again soon. Sinn Féin (We Ourselves) is now the largest political party represented in the NI Assembly and the jointlargest party and the main opposition since 2020, in the Republic.

The release of the NI Census made for informative talkback radio. For the first time more people identified as Catholic than Protestant. Significantly, over 20 per cent now identify neutrally as ‘Northern Irish’ and a record high number identify as having no religion. That all sides are now minorities may

Left: Patrick Morrisey – turf cutting in Special Area of Conservation, Inishbofin, County Galway.

be a good thing. No more crude sectarian headcounts based on tribalism to predict hegemony.

The Census also revealed a surge in people in the binational North applying for Irish passports, to accompany their British one – a pragmatic move to remain in the EU post Brexit’s finger to NI. Those born in the North are citizens of two nations connected by the most neutral participant in ‘The Troubles’ –the Irish Sea.

Australia a longed-for

Returning to Australia, it seems the tribal nature of politics in both countries is fracturing as more independents / non-partisans are voted in. Meanwhile both countries remain plagued by the legacies of Rule Britannia. Colonial Ireland begat colonial Australia.

England’s collective indifference to the plight of NI (read Brexit) is similar in a way to some Australians’ indifference towards recognising our First Nations people through a Treaty and a formal Voice to Parliament. It’s a truism –minorities in both countries need to feel protected and respected in order to co-exist.

Australia’s newish federal government could benefit from looking closely at what Ireland achieved for 26 of its 32 counties – a functioning parliamentary democracy within a republic, with a symbolic figurehead ‘kind of president’ woven in. Irish on both sides of the border voted overwhelmingly to change their constitutions to cool simmering ancient wounds. So could we.

Seamus Heaney’s much-quoted words still ring true for both nations: ‘History says, don’t hope / On this side of the grave. / But then, once in a lifetime / The longed-for tidal wave / Of justice can rise up, / And hope and history rhyme.’ Let’s hope.

Patrick Morrisey has a PhD in Environmental Politics and is a former Byron Shire councillor. He is the author of Australians of the Great Irish Famine – One Clan’s Story. An edited version of this article first appeared in www.tintean.org.au in December 2022.

The final tournaments of 2022, the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Almaty, saw Magnus Carlsen capture his fourteenth and fifteenth World Championship trophies.

body FIDE in Kazakhstan.

was former world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, who wore a t-shirt. The argument that short sleeves are infinitely better for playing blitz chess as they do not lead to pieces being accidentally knocked over, cut no ice with the (slovenly dressed) FIDE lawyer.

CHESS by Ian Rogers

Players meet at Byron

Dr Claire Parsons

BYRON BAY

Ray Towers

Patrick Morrisey, Patricia Bergin (Kilkenny Archaeological Society Hon. Librarian), and David Fitzgerald Mayor of Kilkenny at Graiguenamanagh Town of Books Festival.

Your vote and your preferences count

In response to Alan Veacock’s Letter (23 December, 2022):

There are points Alan makes with which I agree. Chief amongst them is that the incumbent Greens member for Ballina underrepresents and divides us.

Can one major piece of local infrastructure the Greens have delivered for the

Ballina electorate be named? Any new schools? Any hospital upgrades? Funding for more police? It’s time for action and outcomes.

I offer a young, energetic, socially progressive and fiscally responsible candidacy to the Ballina electorate. I represent common-sense policy for our community that balances the environment, people, and economy.

I bring innovative policy ideas guided by what I have seen work in real life. One (simplified) example is a three-year lease on newly built properties that provides an option to purchase the property at the end of that agreement. The rent paid over the lease is deducted from the market value purchase price. The program would be targeted at the most vulnerable in our community.

Finally, I’d like to respectfully correct what Alan said with some facts: with a swing of just 4.9 per cent, a vote for me as your Nationals candidate will result in a Nationals win. Winning is within reach. So, with your vote and putting the Greens last, let’s get the job done!

Joshua Booyens Nationals candidate

Fence hoppers

Victims of Holiday Letting (VOHL) have read all the documents provided on the Independent Planning Commission website, for the inquiry into Byron Council’s planning proposal for a 90-day cap in certain residential areas for STRA.

Four documents are of particular interest. On 25 October, 2022, Colin Hussey sent a letter to Anthony

Roberts, the planning minister. Mr Hussey signed his letter as ‘Chair of the Australian Short Term Rental Association Byron and CEO of A Perfect Stay’.

There were two attachments to Mr Hussey’s letter. They were letters of support, for Mr Hussey’s lobbying to the minister, from councillors Mark Swivel and Alan Hunter. These two councillors owe an explanation to the community about why they provided these letters to Mr Hussey, rather than sending them directly to the minister. As one VOHL member said, ‘it seems like a favour for a mate’.

Mr Hussey stated to the minister that any caps are ‘unenforceable’. This statement appears to be an invitation for holiday-let owners and managers to break the law. Mr Hussey, is there any STRA in Byron Shire that is breaching the current shirewide 180-day cap that you wish to retain?

The fourth letter of interest is from an employee of A Perfect Stay to the minister, dated 7 December 2022. Ms Workman states in her letter ‘Tourism Research Australia and ABS data that was commissioned ($267m removed each year from the local economy and 1,448 jobs at

stake)’. Tourism Research Australia denied undertaking any such research Echo October 12, 2022). Why is Ms Workman persisting with this fabrication?

Doug Luke Coordinator VOHL

Apparent Westheimer inconsistency explained

Byron Bay resident, John Lazarus, pointed out in last week’s Echo letters that Councillor Peter Westheimer had declared a conflict of interest and left the meeting for item Report 13.9 – Planning Proposal 26.2020.1.1

Amendment to State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 Short-term Rental Accommodation in Byron Shire – Submissions Report.

However, he also noted that the draft Council minutes recorded Cr Westheimer as present and voting on the motion.

A Byron Shire Council spokesperson has since stated that ‘Councillor Westheimer’s name was inadvertently not removed from the prefilled list of councillor names in the voting section. This was an error.’

‘As the minutes are still in draft form and will not be

adopted until the meeting on 9 February 2023, the error has been corrected and the draft minutes republished on Council’s website.’

See the proof

There is a world wide web of information, and now is the time to motivate our government to show us the proof debunking some of the untruths that are available on the internet.

The fact checkers are only explaining and debunking the untruths that are out there with words; facts are elusive.

A fleet of buses could be used that go around the country, like the mobile libraries. The factual evidence could be made available for people to see. Government can do it; that’s how they function, using facts. People would then be assured and understand that the government is working for us, the people of Australia.

Robert Podhajsky Ocean Shores

Send your letters to Letters Editor Aslan Shand. Fax: 6684 1719 Email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut.

Byron Community College

Byron Community College’s NEW ‘English Skills for Work & Study’ course is aimed at people who

Device Trader

Device Trader has been serving the Byron Shire for over seven years.

The company continues to evolve from a man in his van doing door-to-door phone repairs to a full bricks-and-mortar and e-commerce business. They specialise in Samsung, iPhone & iPad repairs, new and refurbished phones and they also have a wide range of phone and computer accessories

Founder Duane Tutchen said, ‘Our customers have asked, and we’ve listened; we now stock ever y Apple phone available, new or refurbished, from the 6S, starting at $149, to the new iPhone 14 Pro Max at over $2000, and virtually everything in between. We also stock cables, cases, screen protectors and accessories

We are 100 per cent committed to reducing e-waste. We refurbish, repair and recycle everything we can!’

1/130 Jonson St, Byron Bay 02 6685 5585

devicetrader.com.au

Ninbella

The Oracle

ninbella.com grant@ninbella.com 19a Byron Street, Bangalow 6687 1936

The Cork Shop

Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree. It is 100 per cent natural, sustainable, recyclable, durable and waterproof. Cork is also hypoallergenic, microbial and is not prone to stretches or tears. It is an amazing, organic raw material.

and incredibly lightweight, which makes it comfortable to wear. Cork is a great vegan alternative to leather. The cork oak tree is unique in that its thick bark can be harvested every nine years or so, and cork oak trees can live up to 250 years.

Cork is used to make many beautiful items such as handbags, shoes, wallets, jewellery, sunglasses, homewares, toys and more. Choosing cork is great for our environment.

thecorkshop.com.au

Byron Arcade 13 Lawson Street, Byron Bay 0422 262 675

Byron Bay Chocolate Co.

The Byron Bay Chocolate Co. was founded in 1985 by husband and wife team David and Carole O’Connor and for more than 30 years their family has poured their hearts and souls into every single chocolate made, using only the highest quality, freshest ingredients. The quality of their product has ensured their long-term success. From humble beginnings, the Chocolate Co. has grown rapidly over the years, enjoying sweet success and a loyal customer base locally and globally. From the very beginning, all chocolates have been, and continue to be, handmade with love at their small family factory in Byron Bay.

‘Chocoholics’ throughout Australia and all around the world look forward to delicious sweet treats!

6685 8062 byronbaychocolateco.com.au @byronbaychocolateco

Shack Palace

8/1 Porter Street, Byron Bay www.shackpalace.com IG: @shackpalace

Proudly celebrating 40 years in 2023. Watch for special events/exhibitions throughout the year. friendly and im air-conditioned for comfort.

For more information visit the museum or email admin@mullumbimbymuseum.org.au ‘A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can’. – Maria Kalman

Study Individual Support Fee-Free* at Byron Community College!

both community and residential settings.

Make a meaningful difference to those living with a disability by helping them reclaim their independence and pursue their goals, whilst providing opportunities for social inclusion and a better quality of life.

Come and learn in a dedicated environment that’s committed to helping you succeed in this highly coveted service sector.

Fee free and subsidised* places are available for most NSW residents.

*This training is subsidised by the NSW Government.

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Dispensing musical medicine

Son of Drum is a candy store for adults – alive with the sounds of musical instruments you can try out and taste with your ears! They have musical instruments and accessories for all ages and skill levels and to suit any budget. Their range is constantly evolving and improving, so it’s worth swinging by regularly to keep up to date with what’s new. They also carry out instrument repairs and arrange tuition. They pride themselves on their helpful and intimate local knowledge. Oh yeah, and their prices are pretty competitive too! Drop in and see what they can do for you before you buy anywhere else, including online. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Shop 1/31 Burringbar St, Mullumbimby • 6684 1742 • www.sonofdrum.com.au

Point Break Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Point Break is a lively and growing community with a great team of instructors, supporting adults and kids with a range of aspirations. Some wish to develop their physical and mental strength, some are searching for more balance in life, while others are training hard to compete. Regardless of the motivation, members are guaranteed

At Point Break they offer training programs that cater to people of all ages and abilities. They pride themselves on creating a space where everyone feels welcome and capable of reaching their goals, whatever they may be.

with a one week free trial. They accept NSW Active Kids Vouchers. Check out their timetable! 2/62 Stuart St, Mullumbimby • 0417 351 231 • @pointbreakbjj

Looking to try something new and different in Ballina?

Come along and visit this state of the art indoor, air-conditioned virtual golf facility, with an amazing atmosphere. Fully licensed and ready to cater for your next work or family function.

Family friendly (kids under 12 free with paying adult).

Great for the seasoned golfer, the beginner, or those just wanting to have some fun with mates.

Come play some of the best golf courses in the world like St Andrews and Augusta.

Also plenty of virtual golf games for the non-golfers, like putt putt and target golf games.

They welcome you to bring your own clubs, if not, they have clubs for you.

Gift vouchers and lessons available.

Open 10am–10pm, seven days a week. 14 Ascot Rd, Ballina www.virtualgolfcentre.com.au

No Bones Little in Ocean Shores is the sister business to No Bones in Byron, which opened its doors in April 2018 with a mission to change the way people think about vegan food. Now, after the past few years, they want to do better for our community and planet. Their goals are to become carbon neutral across their businesses and to make sure they’re using as much Australian made/grown produce and products as they can, to reduce their environmental impact.

As you may know, a plant-based diet

change, and every meal counts. Ocean Shores is open Tuesday–Sunday. Lunch 12–4pm. Dinner from 5pm. Join them on their expedition to save the Earth one Brussels sprout at time. 82 Rajah Road, Ocean Shores 0422 355 928 noboneslittle.com #brusselsnotbeef

BALLINA

Zentveld’s

Byron Community Market

collection of market stalls that showcase Byron’s local creative talent and lively culture.

What are you waiting for? Come and visit Byron's iconic Sunday market and experience the local community at its most colourful.

Sunday 15 January 8am–3pm, Main Beach Foreshore www.byronmarkets.com.au

The Magic and Circus Show

Circus Show these school holidays. Tickets: Children $10 (2 years +), adults $5. Purchase online or at the club. https://www.mullumexservices.com.au/what-s-on 58 Dalley Street, Mullumbimby

CapeByronLighthouse

Byron Bay Camping and Disposals

Byron Bay Camping and Disposals is your local stockist for premium quality Beachkit beach umbrellas and Hollie & Harrie beach shades.

Beachkit umbrellas have extra wide canopies and are rated at UPF 50+ UV protection – the highest possible rating, providing fantastic cover from the harsh Australian sun. They also have a vented top along with a unique Quik Twist base that locks down in the sand to help prevent blow aways.

Hollie & Harrie beach shades are stylish cotton-canvas shades with rust proof poles, that block 95 per cent of the sun's rays. A natural alternative to nylon beach shades, they are easy to set up and look great on the beach. Let the team assist you in choosing the right beach umbrella or shade cover for you.

1/1 Tasman Way, Byron Bay 0439 212 153 www.byron-camping.com.au theteam@byron-camping.com.au

Bodhi Living

Bodhi Living showcases a carefully curated collection of furniture, homewares, rugs and lighting, sourced both locally and globally. They look for distinct character, outstanding quality and natural beauty in the pieces they offer. Bodhi Living has recently introduced a range of collections designed in-house, including sofas, dining tables and seating using natural and sustainable materials such as rattan and wood. The brand encapsulates the freedom of spirit and the soul of the individual as represented through their home. Bodhi Living also stocks globally renowned brands such as Danish design house GUBI and Dinosaur Designs, as well as ceramics and furniture from local artisans. Check out their range in store or online.

1/18 Centennial Circuit www.bodhiliving.com.au IG: Bodhi.living

Kids workshops at Harvest Newrybar

Come along to Harvest Newrybar these school holidays for an amazing selection of kids workshops!

Learn about pasta history while you create your own delicious homemade pasta at their pasta-making workshop. Two pasta workshops are available, on Thursday 12th and Thursday 19th January.

Learn about seeds and seedling planting, scarecrow making, treasure hunting and more in their gardening workshop. Four garden workshops are available, on Monday 16th and Monday 23rd January.

Or join one of their clay workshops, where you’ll create magical moments, enchanting experiences, and lasting memories with Kidz Klub Australia! Two clay workshops are available on Friday 27th January.

For more information and to book tickets visit their website. www.harvest.com.au/whats-on.

Artmaking for everyone

Be inspired this summer with a selection of free drop-in activities that celebrate the exhibition Margaret Olley: The Art of Flowers, currently on display at Tweed Regional

calendulas and add them to the larger-than-life basket on the gallery wall, or colour-

Everyone: Flowers will continue all summer until Sunday 29 January. Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre.

Massage therapy at Bomi

Whether your knots count in the many, or your shoulders are feeling tight from stress, Remedial Massage Therapy at BOMI in Byron’s Arts & Industry promises to work out any potential kinks. Their experienced team of practitioners treat the whole body,

other conditions. Therapeutic techniques for general relaxation massage are also special treat to clients. Purchase two gift cards and get 20 per cent off a remedial massage with one of BOMI’s Massage Therapists: Annabel Gebbie, Chiara (Kiki) Berneschi, or Mercedes Herranz. Book an appointment today. www.bomi.com.au 0468 442 932 info@bomi.com.au

Candlelight summer Byron Bay

Fever, the leading entertainment discovery platform, is bringing its world-renowned Candlelight Concerts series to Byron Theatre this Saturday 14 January 2023.

Illuminated by thousands of candles, the Byron Bay edition will offer two sessions at 6.30pm and 8.30pm with performances by a local string quartet ensemble. The quartet

After delighting more than 100 cities worldwide in various spectacular locations, the Candlelight Concerts series is now touring a selection of Australian summer holiday destinations in a bid to make culture and classical music more widely accessible, boost visibility for local musicians, and celebrate our unique Australian venues. Tickets are available via the Fever app or Fever website.

Pop Masters at H.O.T.A

of iconic artists Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, with a collection of works never before seen in Australia. In a world exclusive exhibition, Pop Masters: Art from the Mugrabi Collection, New York, pairs these three superstars with artists inspired by their legacy. Together they paint a unique picture of Pop Art across the past 60 years to present day Australia. Pop Art is larger-than-life. Often witty and always insightful, it comments on commercial and popular culture by reimagining the world around us – transforming the everyday into the extraordinary. www.hota.com.au 135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise, Qld 4217

Wahlburgers

Byron Bay

American style burger restaurant & sports bar Upstairs at Mercato on Byron, Jonson Street. www.Wahlburgers.com.au

North Byron Liquor Merchants 61

American & local sports played live

Family Offer

Buy 1 kids meal, get 1 free.

$8 after 8 $8 drinks from 8pm Thur–Sun. Live music Fri–Sun. Open 11am to 9pm daily – dine-in or takeaway.

Supernatural

9 Bay Lane, Byron Bay 0477 629 271 @supernaturalbyronbay

No

Loft Byron Bay

4 Jonson Street, Byron Bay 6680 9183

Book online: www.loftbyronbay.com.au

The Italian Byron Bay

21, 108 Jonson St, Byron Bay

Open Monday to Saturday 5.30pm to late 5633 1216 www.theitalianbyronbay.com

Legend Pizza

Serving Byron Bay for 30 years.

Open 7 days and nights. Delivery from Suffolk to Ewingsdale. 90–96 Jonson Street 6685 5700 www.legendpizza.com.au

Main Street

Open for takeaway daily, 12 midday until dinner. Menu, more details –@mainstreet_burgerbar 18 Jonson Street 6680 8832

Success Thai

Open Lunch Wed–Fri 12–2.30pm.

Dinner Mon–Sat 5–8pm. Closed Sunday 3/31 Lawson St, Byron Bay www.facebook.com/ pages/Success-ThaiFood/237359826303469

The Rocks

Brunch

Menus at therocksbyronbay.com.au @therocksbyronbay

Signature cocktails, and casual dining with ocean views.

Happy Hour | Daily from 4–6pm $6 Loft beer or wine, $10 Aperol Spritz, $14 Margarita & $2.50 fresh oysters Espresso Martini Nights | Every day 9pm – close 2 for $25 Classic Espresso Martini.

Open weekdays from 4pm and weekends from noon

The Italian Byron Bay provides a bustling, atmospheric restaurant, dishing up contemporary inspired Italian cuisine and some of Byron’s finest cocktails and wines.

OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY. BOOKINGS CAN BE MADE BY PHONE OR THROUGH OUR WEBSITE. WALK-INS VERY WELCOME.

Byron’s Freshest Pizza

Order online and join our loyalty program.

Catering for up to 100 people lunch and dinner.

BYO Locally owned and operated. Scan code for menu.

Open for takeaway daily, 12 midday until dinner.

Menu and more details

@mainstreet_burgerbar ‘Make a meal of it’

Add chips and a drink, just $5.

All your favourites, every lunch and dinner. Experienced Thai chefs cooking fresh, delicious Thai food for you.

BYO only.

Welcome for lunch, dinner and takeaway. Menus available on Facebook.

all-day brunch and happy hour from 11am. Check out our new dishes on Instagram!

Barrio brings together the local community in a relaxed environment for all-day dining. The wood-fired oven and open-flame grill is the heart of the restaurant. Keep an eye on socials for daily specials. Now open for Sunday lunch from 11.30am–3pm

A

Good Life

Mullumbimby’s Milk & Honey Wine Bar and Pizzeria

Simon Haslam

For over 20 years, diners have gathered to the warm atmosphere of this lovely little wine bar and pizzeria to enjoy the pizzas, beverages, good company, and great vibes.

Located in the heart of Mullumbimby, al fresco tables make a relaxed connection with the current of the town, while inside there is a cosy, casual elegance. The well-stocked bar is attractive in gleaming brass and tiles; there are bentwood stools, tables, and a glowing wood-fired oven in one corner.

Milk & Honey is run by the owners, Angela Honeywell and husband Tom Scholley, who have been running restaurants in the area for almost 15 years now, with Head Chef Craig McFarland (who was also their head chef in the initial days when they had St Elmo in Byron). Honeywell says that as accommodation prices rose in Byron, the customer mix changed to be more visitors, but many of their previous Byron regulars are now Mullum regulars. ‘When we took it over we added the cocktail menu, the new bar and renovations around two years ago – we were trying to create a neighbourhood restaurant, where you can take your family or meet up with friends in a relaxed atmosphere with some nice extras,’ she says.

The bar serves aperitifs, cocktails, beer, non-alcoholic brews and beverages, and a favourable wine list. Their wine and drinks list is ever changing, featuring the best of Australia’s smallest, sustainable, and minimal-intervention wines.

‘We tend to just stock Australian wines and find some biodynamic and natural producers that have minimal intervention, to showcase the best of what Australia has to offer – more modern styles that complement the food. We try to offer the people the chance to try something new, and to have a conversation about the wines,’ says Angela.

The wood-fired element adds loads of flavour, which many say is the main thing that makes woodfired pizza better than any other kind. There’s a range of delectable pizza toppings, including a variety of cheeses such as the classics of mozzarella and parmesan plus taleggio, gorgonzola, fontina,

Bangalow Brewery’s

Having swung the doors open in January 2022, Common People Brewing Co in Bangalow has quickly become a home away from home for many.

There are a lot of friendly local faces behind the brewery – and the friendly, local faces behind it offer a range of seriously tasty beers. There are four that are always on offer: Protesters IPA, Villager’s Pale Ale, Back Beach White Ale and Helles Hole Lager, plus there’s always something new from their constantly changing selection of seasonal special batch brews. There’s a new wine list for summer too!

If you’re peckish, The Brewer’s Kitchen is there to satisfy your tastebuds with wood-fired pizzas, salads, sharing plates and kids’ meals.

Common People Brewing Co are celebrating their first birthday this weekend and you might find a special birthday flyer offer in this week’s Echo Walk-ins are encouraged and bookings are welcome via www.commonpeoplebrewing.com.au

Open Thurs–Sat, 12pm–9pm and Sunday, 12pm–8pm.

9 Dudgeons Lane, Bangalow.

ricotta, and even vegan cheese. Other toppings include fresh herbs, confit garlic, chilli, loads of local vegetable produce, and a range of cured meats such as salami, pork belly, prosciutto, pepperoni, pancetta, pork and fennel sausage, as well as nduja – a spicy Calabrian sausage.

Personally, my favourite pizza is the Mushroom, with the chef’s suggestion of additional gorgonzola. It’s not difficult to find a bottle of wine to go with that (they range in price from $48 to $78), and if we feel like making a night of it we’d start with a cocktail – for me something simple like the Barrel Aged Negroni. There’s something very satisfying about being able to sip a proper cocktail on a warm evening out in your home town, looking at the ‘Steineresque’ tree at the entrance to Mullum.

If you’re adventurous, the chef can add truffle honey or habanero honey drizzled on your pizza. There

are vegan, gluten-free options as well as kid-sized pizzas. They do take the pizza-making seriously: as the website says, ‘We believe in simplicity and transparency in flavours. In other words, letting each ingredient speak for itself. We use the highest quality, the freshest produce we can find, and embrace the artisan nature of wood-fired baking. As the fire is a dynamic entity, no two pizzas will taste exactly the same.’

Pizzeria is a place that has it all: a great atmosphere with a cosy interior restaurant as well as breezy, outdoor, covered dining. The service is friendly, the cocktails and wines are lovely, the fire is stoked, the food is admirable – do we already live in the Land of Milk and Honey?

milkandhoneymullumbimby.com.au

Milk & Honey: 59 Station St, Mullumbimby.

Dine In or Take Away. y

Alongside the pizzas are somme really great sides and other options: the Chilli Garlic Mussels are really good; the Lamb Ragu is another great dish; and the Truffle Parmesan Fries are lip-smacking

A recent addition to the pizzeria is their full catering setup with a porttable wood-fired pizza oven, so you can have much of the Milk & Honey menu, and a catering crew, at your location

Milk & Honey Wine Bar and

Dine In or Take Away.

Ph 6684 1422

Spice Palace: made from scratch, hand-ground spices

Victoria Cosford

‘Basil pesto is our most popular product,’ Duska tells me, ‘but so is the Pumpkin and Macadamia Dip. Oh, and our harissas have a very loyal following!’

I’m at the stall chatting about Spice Palace’s cornucopia of delicious, exotic foods. It strikes me, as I observe the comings and goings of customers, many clearly regulars, that pretty much all the stock-vibrantly and vividly displayed-is popular.

Spice Palace has been around for a long time, but properly came into its own as a purveyor of local, seasonal and made-fromscratch products after Duska and husband Rob took the business over in 2009. They’d moved down from Brisbane, where they met, intent on ‘getting into food and markets.’ ‘It’s our life,’ Duska goes on to say. ‘We both have strong values about sharing good food –and one of the best things

in life is food and sharing it.’ Rob had been editor for Delia Smith’s Sainsbury’s Magazine in London; Duska’s mother was a caterer and ‘great cook’. They had both travelled extensively, Duska nannying and cooking on yoga retreats. ‘I learned to make hummus in Israel,’ she says.

At their property in The Pocket – their large garden yields much of the produce for their dips and sauces, spice mixes and pastes – the couple

toil away, often doing ‘big ten-hour days’. Everything is gluten- and dairy-free,

devoid of preservatives; they roast and hand-grind the spices themselves. The dukkahs (macadamia and chilli, classic hazelnut) also include a chocolate one, which Duska says is ‘popular this year. It’s great on pancakes, ice-cream, sprinkled on top of yoghurt and fruit.’ I’m tempted but come away with a heavenly harissa –Smokey Rose Chilli – with at least five ideas in my head for it!

Spice Palace is at New Brighton every Tuesday at 8–11am and Mullumbimby every Friday at 7–11am.

Mullum Asian Groceries

Duska from Spice Palace puts in ten-hour days to produce their popular local spices.

IT’S TIME TO GRAB THE POPCORN!

Get ready for the Bangalow Film Festival – it’s starting next week, when guest of honour Simon Baker will introduce Blaze, the film in which he stars.

The festival will host special events, industry talks, films of course, music, art, family fun and more, in Bangalow, from 12–21 January where many of the filmmakers will be in attendance.

Director of six festivals, Macario de Souza, best known for Fighting Fear, and Jennifer Ross, director of Age of Rage: The Australian Punk Revolution, screening at the festival, will conduct Q&A sessions.

After the world premiere of local documentary The Last Violin, ticket holders will be treated to a special performance on the same violin featured in the film. Attendees are encouraged to embrace their inner Ziggy

Stardust for the unique dress-up screening of David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream, with prizes to be won for best dressed.

Tickets to the 21 incredible films featured in the festival program are selling fast, with some sessions approaching capacity. The program is diverse with award winning feature films, critically acclaimed documentaries, cult classics and family friendly films. The program is peppered with world, Australian and regional premieres and women have been at the directorial helm of 11 of the 21 films. There are English subtitled foreign films, animations, and they’re also seizing the opportunity to showcase short films by local filmmakers prior to multiple screenings.

With more than just movies on offer, festivalgoers can immerse themselves in a rich cultural experience with a range of exhibitions and talks complementing the film program. With the support of Create NSW, BFF has commissioned an art exhibition ‘GUNU – here’ by two local contemporary Indigenous artists, Melissa Ladkin and Nickolla Clark.

Join in at Common People Brewing Co at 3pm on Friday 20 January for a laidback and informal industry panel where five established film directors and producers will reveal some of the hard lessons they learnt on their way to success.

The Festival Hub is a place to meet up with friends and enjoy the best local food and beverages. There is plenty for the little ones too, with a dedicated Kids Program featuring a special 30th anniversary screening of the enchanting animation, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest, and a brand new exclusive audiovisual concert created for BFF by everyone’s favourite band Bunny Racket.

Tickets on sale now from www.

bangalowfilmfestival. com.au

Main image: The documentary, Moonage Daydream, brings Bowie to life. Above: a still from new film, Blaze.

A MAGICAL SUPERGROUP

The biggest names in Australian magic have assembled their next sell-out smash hit, Showmen – The Ultimate Magic Spectacular featuring a supergroup of conjurers, tricksters, comedians, illusionists, and daredevils. Showmen is a jaw-dropping spectacle of live magic, illusions and stunts.

The Echo caught up with magic Mike Tyler (one half of The Naked Magicians, Australia’s biggest ever magic export) to talk about this new venture, a wonderful family-friendly show.

Tyler says straight up that this show has no nudity, no swearing, and no social/ political topics. It’s pure entertainment for all ages – if it was a movie it would be rated G!

Tyler says what he loves the most about

performing are the reactions from the audience. ‘It’s the look of wonder, the applause, the laughter and cheering. I love that Showmen is enjoyed by adults, kids, and grandparents. Families comes to this show and enjoy it just as much as couples or groups of adults’.

Tyler says his favourite trick in the show is an ‘impossible prediction’ that the entire cast perform together.

Did he think he’d grow up to be a magician? ‘When I was young I don’t think I had any career plans beyond wanting to be a fireman or the host of Playschool. After high school, I studied at university and had a ‘normal’ job for a while before realising I could chase my dream to become a full-time magician. Thousands of shows and over 300 international cities later, it seems to be working out’.

Showmen – The Ultimate Magic Spectacular also stars Mike’s ‘partners in crime’, Christopher Wayne, Apollo Jackson (Australia’s Got Talent), Josh Norbido (Australia’s Got Talent semi-finalist), and Joel ‘The Cirque Stuntman’ Fenton.

The magic of live entertainment is back – see this great show on 21 January at the Ballina RSL. For more information visit: ballinarsl.com.au.

GIG GUIDE

WEDNESDAY 11

RAILWAY HOTEL, BYRON BAY, DAN HANNAFORD

BEACH HOTEL, BYRON BAY, 1PM ALEX TILLEY

4PM PHIL HOWELL, 6.30PM ALYSHA BRILLA 8.45PM DJ DANNY B

BRUNSWICK HEADS PICTURE HOUSE 6PM

TOMMY LITTLE: WORK IN PROGRESS, 8PM

BRUNS DOES BURLESQUE

BANGALOW BOWLO 8PM AUSTEN TAYSUS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MANDY NOLAN

SHEOAK SHACK, FINGAL HEAD, 7PM FLOORBURNERS

THURSDAY 12

RAILWAY HOTEL, BYRON BAY, THE GIN BUGGS

BEACH HOTEL, BYRON BAY, 1PM KANE MUIR, 4PM PABLO LAVERDE, 6.30PM DJ KIRA

SUNDAY, 9PM BILLY OTTO

HOTEL BRUNSWICK 7.30PM BEN WHITING

BRUNSWICK HEADS PICTURE HOUSE 6PM

TOMMY LITTLE: WORK IN PROGRESS, 8PM

BRUNS DOES BURLESQUE

BANGALOW VENUES BANGALOW FILM

FESTIVAL

MULLUMBIMBY EX-SERVICES CLUB 8PM

AUSTEN TAYSUS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MANDY NOLAN

KINGSCLIFF BEACH HOTEL 7PM EYESITE, LEAVING JORDAN AND PRCHR

FRIDAY 13

RAILWAY HOTEL, BYRON BAY, STEPHEN LOVELIGHT

BEACH HOTEL, BYRON BAY, 9PM OLY SHERMAN, 10PM DJ MY HAPPY PLACE

HOTEL BRUNSWICK 7.30PM SOUTHWALL

BRUNSWICK HEADS PICTURE HOUSE 6PM

TOMMY LITTLE: WORK IN PROGRESS, 8PM

BRUNS DOES BURLESQUE

BANGALOW VENUES BANGALOW FILM FESTIVAL

FEDERAL HALL 8PM AUSTEN TAYSUS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MANDY NOLAN

WANDANA BREWING CO., MULLUMBIMBY,

KINGSCLIFF

TWIN

SUNDAY 15

RAILWAY

BEACH HOTEL, BYRON BAY, 1PM TYLER HAMILL, 4.30PM SOUL MOVERS, 7PM

ALEX TAYLOR B2B MADAN, 9PM DJ NOAH

DEVEGA, 10.30PM ELDERBROOK

HOTEL BRUNSWICK 4PM THE FERAMONES

BRUNSWICK HEADS PICTURE HOUSE 6PM TOM

BALLARD: WORK IN PROGRESS

BYRON COMMUNITY MARKET DR BAZ & GOOD MEDICINE, MEL SCARLETT AND DODGERS, 9.30PM DR BAZ & GOOD MEDICINE,

MIDDLE

LENNOX

KINGSCLIFF

Cryptic Clues

ACROSS 1. Choose girl at random – we need a student of the past (12)

Former trace, around a hundred –now all gone (7)

Schedule in favour of small weight (7)

Singers offer a body of knowledge – with a garland! (7)

Hoard for confused teens and a viceroy (4,3)

Acknowledge directions and intersections (5)

Magnificent night bird – the biggest game in America! (9)

Potential customers for the views (9)

Betting facility – a thousand’s tribal emblem (5)

Deduce a negative? Hell! (7)

Into ale? Unconstrained delight! (7)

Stephen, French, cast nine in French summer (7)

Do a long search for a boat (7)

Our nurse gone wild – medical specialist needed (12)

1. Related, analysed, amended (7)

They say they preserved Murray –and they bring light to the subject (7)

Cretin six found on the outside (9)

Circuit popular for a rabbit (7)

Coarser shopkeeper, we’re told (7)

Tennis shot to perform adequately (5,2)

21 – hope line destroyed for a lover of Greece (12)

Calm egomaniac beats power mad zealot (12)

Col Green found to be a man on a bus (9)

Not on – illegal! (7)

Tear, knockback for close companion (7)

Learner offers support over downpour (7)

Broadcast an attempt at bad humour – it’s the hat! (7)

Warnings of overweight about blokes (5)

STARS

BY LILITH

Lindy Lucena matters

Lindy Lucena was the first woman this year to be murdered in an act of domestic violence. She was beaten to death in a street in Ballina. Her partner, Robert Karl Huber, is charged with her murder, and breaching a DVO. I heard this on the news. It chilled me to the bone.

On 22 November last year I joined a march with members of Rotary, Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and Ballina Coast High School students in solidarity to say ‘No to Domestic Violence’. We shared stories of lived experience. We talked of the need for change, to stop DV. Rotary Club of Ballina on the Richmond have made this one of their core missions.

Then we find the first woman murdered in a DV incident in 2023 was on our watch: Lindy Lucena.

I look at her lovely face. She’s got one of those smiles that put you at ease. Her friends say ‘she had a heart of gold.’

Clearly she did. Like many women, this tenderhearted woman loved a damaged man. Loved the unloveable. Her compassion came with a price: her life.

Who would have thought that her life would end here? When the DVO order was taken out I am sure she felt protected – like it would make a difference.

But here she is, under a tarp in a Ballina laneway. 64-year-old Lindy was living in a motorhome because she was floodaffected. Lindy is now

ARIES: With the can-do momentum of Jupiter in Aries spotlighting your dynamic role in 2023, it’s important to maintain your mental and emotional stamina by setting a positive energetic tone to your day in the first few minutes of waking. See www. heartmath.com/blog/health-andwellness/the-right-start-for-your-day for further information.

TAURUS: With your prima planet Venus spending most of this month in quirky mode, you might be inclined to find habitual routines dull and boring. You may be more interested than usual in experimenting with the smorgasbord of choice and opportunity life is offering – you might be more willing to say yes…

GEMINI: At last! Mars bounds forward in your sign to lessen the recent rash of computer hacking, phone fraud and online scams – the first of three planets, two directly affecting Gemini, reversing their backward dance this month. Next week your mentor planet Mercury exits its retrograde in the sign of getting stuff done…

dead, her partner charged with her murder. Our system does not provide adequate support to stop women being killed by their partners.

What is the point of charging someone with ‘breaching a DVO’? That, next to a murder charge, made me feel sick. The murder was the breach. The DVO did not protect Lindy from the trauma to the head that killed her. She was beaten and left to die. The man charged with her murder was on charges at the time for assault. He had been charged with several violent offences, including ‘common assault’ and ‘assault occasioning actual bodily harm.’ He was on bail – granted just days before being charged with murder. Who decided he was safe to be in the community? How can the

CANCER: Despite irritant blips on this week’s astral radar, Jupiter moving through its most independent and pioneering transit energises Cancerians to stretch past limitations and focus on the good fortune in your life; the wealth of opportunities on offer in your professional and worldly work. Choose the best, forget the rest.

LEO: Genial Jupiter in a fellow fire sign presses the start button on 2023 in Leos’ sector of growth spurts and learning curves. And with Venus backing up Saturn in upgrading your relationships, this week suggests that small things done daily have more sustainability potential than grander New Year resolutions.

VIRGO: You mightn’t think having your mentor planet retrograde is an ideal way to start the year, and you’re right: this week might not be easy-breezy with Mercury playing communication games. But isn’t getting it right one of your favourite pursuits, Virgo, not to mention your forte? Next week Mercury moves on and so do you.

MANDY NOLAN’S

home, not in the courts, not anywhere.

police protect women if the courts won’t take violence against women seriously? Why do women (like Lindy) keep ending up dead?

I didn’t know Lindy. I looked at her Facebook page. There’s a picture of her, and the man accused of her murder, in happier times. He isn’t a monster; he is the man she loves. Her status says ‘in a relationship.’ There is something so poignant about this being the point of risk. We are told not to walk dark streets, not to stay out late, not to get in the car with strangers. But statistics tell us that these aren’t the most dangerous places for us. More realistic safety advice for women is ‘don’t go home’ and ‘don’t fall in love’. How can we live like this? How can we live knowing there is no safety; not at

LIBRA: With Mars mixing life up in the sign of multiple choice, options multiply and decision-making may have seemed mind-boggling in recent weeks. On the other hand (Libra’s favourite phrase), three planets moving this month out of neutral into forward drive is excellent news. This week it’s Mars – and there’s more to come…

SCORPIO: Retrogrades give us all the opportunity to practise the art of being beautiful humans, so try accepting confronting insights and strange behaviour as contrasting threads in life’s rich tapestry. You might consider writing down what you definitely want to leave behind in 2022, then ritually burn the list.

SAGITTARIUS: Your patron planet Jupiter gracing Sagittarians’ astrozone of creative enjoyment begins 2023 on a high note of innovative ideas and energetic stimulus to move through constrictions and conventions to the brave new solutions this year calls for. Meanwhile, ethical Saturn is saying ‘don’t let that impulsive tongue run away with you. Listen carefully. Keep an open mind’.

We need to stop the murders of women like Lindy Lucena. We can start by demanding our courts give women safety by taking violence against them seriously. If bail hadn’t been granted, women like Lindy would still be here. We need to start working with offenders. We need to do work in schools, with our kids, men, and those who perpetrate violence against intimate partners. They need early intervention. When they are supported by the system, their partner’s safety will be supported too. We need to have these conversations in the open. We need to work together – because this affects all of us.

Lindy Lucena died on our watch, in our community. It is up to us to push for change. To honour the life of a woman who should not have died this way. This Sunday there will be a candlelight vigil for Lindy at Fawcett Park in Ballina at 7pm; because Lindy Lucena matters. BYO candle and blanket. This will be a quiet and reverent gathering. Everyone welcome.

We’re sorry Lindy. We should have had your back.

CAPRICORN: Belated happy birthday, Goatfolk, as the Sun in your capable, confident sign welcomes in 2023. Though it’s an old astrological joke that Capricorns have a pact with Saturn to never show their age, you’re looking good this week, because if you used Mercury’s retrograde cycle of restraint to reconsider this year’s moves, it will be paying off.

AQUARIUS: Mars traversing your creativity and pleasure zone kickstarts this year with an invite to pursue some perky new personal interests, while Jupiter suggests you might find these surprisingly close to home by exploring your local neighbourhood with fresh eyes. And with planetary style queen Venus in Aquarius, your eclectic aesthetic is definitely in vogue.

PISCES: Saturn is currently activating your potential to press ‘delete’ on what no longer supports your evolution: people and habits that drain you. As natural cycles draw to their close, don’t be slow to let go in order to build the sturdy, reliable networks and connections necessary for this year

The year gets into gear as Mars in forward motion restarts stalled missions, ambitious projects and passionate attractions…

CAPRICORN THE MOUNTAIN GOAT

Lindy Lucena died on our watch, in our community. It is up to us to push for change. To honour the life of a woman who should not have fallen.

Ballina Rotary’s President, Dave Harmon, with Jodie Shelley and Mayor David Wright. Photo David Lowe.

VACANT BUSH LOTS IN TINTENBAR

45 minutes to the Gold Coast International/Domestic Airport, 10 minutes to the Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport and only 20 minutes to Byron and its beautiful beaches.

To be auctioned on site Saturday 28th January 2023 at 11am.

Price Guide from $160,000 per lot. There will be an agent on site for viewing on Sat 14th Jan & 21st Jan at 11am.

Here is an opportunity to purchase vacant land in the popular hinterland village of Tintenbar. Now released for sale by Auction are lot 2 (2023 sq mts) & lot 3 (1821 sq mts) in Section 9 and lots 2 (1252 sq.mts) & lot 3 (1518 sq. mts.) in Section 10 of this subdivision off George Street Tintenbar. The lots zoned RU1 Primary Production are elevated and there is town water and electricity in George Street. They do not have a dwelling entitlement. Well located, with quick access to the Hinterland Way and Motorway, only a short walk to the Tintenbar Medical Centre and General Store with its Post Office, Fuel and Coffee Cart, Tennis Courts and

Price Guide from $160,000 per lot

Contact Scott on 0412 296 872

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• Positioned only a short walk from the beach to enjoy famous surf breaks

• Featured is a north facing covered veranda with views of the pool

• On the upper level, the spacious main bedroom features an en-suite, large walkin-robe, private balcony, and access to the rooftop

• Only a 5-minute walk to the turquoise waters of Clarkes Beach

• This property would make a great home, holiday home, or savvy investment

• The home features an open floorplan that maximises indoor/outdoor living

• The kitchen offers stone benchtops, stainless steel stove and breakfast bar

• Opening through large doors is the sun-drenched entertaining deck

• Outdoors is a firepit and a shower which is splendid after your morning surf

• There is an additional living room on the first floor adjoining the bedrooms

8 Sallywattle Drive, Suffolk Park Price Guide: Contact Agent Open: Saturday, 14th January 11–11.30am

It would not be an exaggeration to describe "Skyfall" as one of the most spectacular properties in one of the most enviable regions in the world. "Skyfall" is located in the famously beautiful hinterlands of the Byron Shire, an easy 4 minutes' drive to the pretty village of Bangalow and 15 minutes to the iconic coastal township of Byron Bay. With 15 acres (approx. 6 Hectares) of lush, gently rolling countryside, infinity pool, multiple indoor outdoor living zone and natural spring set in the gully, this really is god's own country. Perfectly poised on top of a ridge to fully capture the stunning views, open plan with high end finishes, chef’ss kitchens with butler pantry, "Skyfall" is a modern contemporary residence is an architectural tour de force providing perfect privacy from the world, while also providing vast vistas, that stretch from country to coast- An absolute must see!

"Skyfall"

Isaac & Maria Genc

Amir Mian A

Rural Lifestyle Opportunity on Byron Bay Outskirts

This expansive 111.64-acre* landholding known as ‘Kincora Farm’ is anchored by a large family house and offers an idyllic country lifestyle, with income potential. There are endless vantage points from which to take in inspiring views that extend to the ocean and showcase Lennox Headland in the distance. It is a scenic five-minute* drive into the quaint village of Bangalow, while the tourism hub of Byron Bay and its golden beaches are also close by. The property has the potential for agricultural or tourism ventures and currently runs 35 head of agisted cattle. The main house is built for entertaining and features multiple living spaces as well as a self-contained pool house. Surrounded by tropical gardens extending to grassy paddocks and natural bushland, the acreage has a freshwater spring-fed dam and comes with two all-terrain vehicles.

POCKET OF PARADISE

503

• Picturesque peaceful valley location, within 10 minutes of the beach

• 2 acres approx (7,265m2), fully fenced, inspiring views to the north face of Mt Chincogan

• Impressive craftsman built home, 7 years young, of creative and contemporary style

• High raked ceilings, polished timber flooring, quality architectural fittings throughout

• Beautiful gardens, seasonal creek attracting abundant birdlife

• Premier lifestyle retreat

Agent: Mark Lycos Phone: 0438 680 250 Email: mark@nclp.com.au

North Coast Lifestyle Properties Brunswick Heads

Iconic, multi-use investment on Gallery Walk

Knight Frank Gold Coast is privileged to offer to the market this prominent, multi-use property on the historic Fig Tree Roundabout at the entrance to popular strip known as Gallery Walk. The property also includes a 2-bedroom residence. The property can be purchased as an investment as a going concern and capitalise on the existing business or create your own business.

approximately 2.2 million tourists visiting the Mountain annually, but have decided to sell this iconic property to a new generation.

Please contact George Parzis to arrange an inspection: 0412 107 917

For sale for the first time in almost 60 years, this ‘Retro 70s’ home has been much-loved since the day it was built and has been in the same family since 1974.

Located in a quiet cul de sac, ten minutes’ walk to town and two minutes’ walk to the Farmers’ Markets at the showgrounds. Original features include polished timber floors, louvered doors, breeze blocks, groovy tiles and display cabinetry in the kitchen. Entry to the house is through the covered parking and brings you into the wide hall. The centrally located main living area leads into the open plan kitchen/dining area, with original cabinetry and retro display cupboards. Past the kitchen is the laundry and access to the fully fenced backyard, a perfect place for the kids to play, along with a covered barbeque area and shed.

Due to circumstance the price has been reduced on this charming 1950s-character timber home, which must be sold. Situated on one of the largest blocks in central Mullumbimby, the 2A zoning offers a variety of development options or create your own private family oasis right in the centre of town.

Just a five-minute stroll to the vibrant town centre, the perfect private property is set back from the road on a corner block and has neighbours on just two boundaries.

There are three good-sized bedrooms, a study, a big open-plan lounge and kitchen plus a spacious family room that flows onto a covered deck overlooking a huge sunny, private swimming pool area. Stunning established gardens feature an array of native and tropical plants and citrus trees. Plenty of options for subdivision (STCA)29m street frontage, 54m lane access.

Inspect: Saturday Jan 14, 11am

Auction: Date Pending - Price Guide $1,375,000–$1,495,000

Contact: Todd Buckland - 0408 966 421

Gary Brazenor - 0423 777 237

Byron Shire Real Estate

Open For Inspection

Byron Shire Real Estate

•  56 Tweed Street, Brunswick Heads. Sat 10–10.30am

• 14 Warina Place, Mullumbimby. Sat 10–10.30am

• 3-7 Myokum Street, Mullumbimby. Sat 11–11.30am

• 10/20 Booyun St., Brunswick Heads. Sat 11–11.30am

• 22 Kiah Close, Ocean Shores. 12–12.30pm

• 4 Yemlot Court, Brunswick Heads. 12–12.30pm

• 4B Goondooloo Drive, Ocean Shores. Sat 1–1.30pm

CENTURY 21 Plateau Lifestyle Real Estate

• 1/19 Arrowsmith Avenue Alstonville. Sat 10–10.30am

• 22 Campbell Crescent Goonellabah. Sat 10–10.30am

First National Byron

• 5 Browning Street, Byron Bay. Fri 10–10.30am

• 129 Stuart Street, Mullumbimby. Sat 9–9.30am

• 9 Newberry Parade, Brunswick Heads. Sat 9–9.30am

• 1 Napelle Court, Ocean Shores. Sat 10–10.30am

• 159 Shara Boulevard, Ocean Shores. Sat 10–10.30am

• 2/10 Corkwood Crescent, Suffolk Park. Sat 10–10.30am

• 19 Stuart Street, Mullumbimby. Sat 10–10.30am

• 42 Brandon Street, Suffolk Park. Sat 10–10.30am

• 7/51 Rajah Road, Ocean Shores. Sat 11–11.30am

• 8 Sallywattle Drive, Suffolk Park. Sat 11–11.30am

• 279 Huonbrook Road, Huonbrook. Sat 11–11.30am

• 11/3 Sallywattle Drive, Suffolk Park. Sat 12–12.30pm

• 16 Omega Circuit, Brunswick Heads. Sat 12.30–1pm

Harcourts Northern Rivers

• 6 Karalauren Court, Lennox Head. Sat 9–9.30am

• 59 Richmond Hill Road, Richmond Hill. Sat 9–9.30am

• 129 Ballina Road, East Lismore. Sat 10–10.30am

• 1 Bath Street, Wardell. Sat 10–10.30am

• 19 Henderson Drive, Lennox Head. Sat 10–10.30am

• 3 Jabiru Place, East Ballina. Sat 11–11.30am

• 4 Eden Place, Girrards Hill. Sat 11–11.30am

• 950 Pimlico Road, Pimlico. Sat 11–11.30am

• 20 Earls Court, Goonellabah. Sat 12–12.30pm

• 16 Hartigan Street, Cumbalum. Sat 12–12.30pm

• 7 Sweetlip Place, Ballina. Sat 12–12.30pm

• 3/5 Henry Philp Avenue, Ballina. Sat 1–1.30pm

• 2/79 Silver Gull Drive, East Ballina. Sat 1.15–1.45pm

• 59 Dolphin Drive, West Ballina. Sat 2–2.30pm

• 2/14 Patricia Parade, Lennox Head. Sat 2.15–2.45pm

• 439 Teven Road, Teven. Sat 3–3.30pm

Mana RE

• 4/2 Nunyar Court, Ocean Shores. Wed 4–4.30pm

• 4/2 Nunyar Court, Ocean Shores. Sat 9–9.30am

• 51 Garden Avenue, Nunderi. Sat 9–9.30am

• 59 Riverview Street, Murwillumbah. Sat 9.45–10.15am

• 34 Chevell Place, Smiths Creek. Sat 10.30–11am

• 4 Eloura Court, Ocean Shores. Sat 10.30–11am

• 1/3 Halyard Court, Ocean Shores. Sat 12–12.30pm

McGrath Byron Bay

• 56 Parrot Tree Place, Bangalow. Sat 10–10.30am

• 20 New City Road, Mullumbimby. Sat 10–10.30am

• 12 Brunswick Terrace, Mullumbimby. Sat 10.45–11.15am

• 58 Main Arm Road, Mullumbimby. Sat 11.30am–12pm

North Coast Lifestyle Properties Mullumbimby

• 1/99 Moon Street, Ballina. Saturday 9.30–10.15am

North Coast Lifestyle Properties Brunswick

• 19 Grevillea Avenue, Mullumbimby. Sat 10–10.30am

• 503 The Pocket Road, The Pocket. Sat 11–11.45am

• 70 Helen Street, South Golden Beach. Sat 11–11.30am

www.echo.net.au/ad/ofi

• 3 Paldi Court, Ocean Shores. Sat, 12–12.30pm

Ray White Byron Bay

• 5/18 Mahogany Drive, Byron Bay Sat 9–9.30am

• 3/14 Sunrise Boulevard, Byron Bay. Sat 10–10.30am

• 20 Cavvanbah Street, Byron Bay. Sat 10–10.30am

• 126a Stuart Street, Mullumbimby. Sat 11–11.30am

• 65 Currawong Way, Ewingsdale. Sat 11–11.30am

• 18 Kiyung Court, Ocean Shores. Sat 12–12.30pm

• 13/46 Old Bangalow Road, Byron Bay. Sat 12.30–1pm

• 2/4 Hazelwood Close, Suffolk Park. Sat 1.15–1.45pm

Real Estate of Distinction

• 454 Crabbes Creek Rd, Crabbes Creek. Sat 10.30am–1.15am

• 35-37 Edwards Lane, Kynnumboon. Sat 2.30pm –3pm

Ruth Russell Realty

• 11 Quail Way Mullumbimby. Sat 11–11.45 am

• 76 Orana Road Ocean Shores. Sat 12.30–1pm

Tim Miller Real Estate

• 17 Ivory Curl Place, Bangalow. Wed 11–11.30am

• 17 Ivory Curl Place, Bangalow. Sat 9.15–9.45am

• 15B Rifle Range Road, Bangalow. Wed 12–12.30pm

• 8 George Street, Bangalow. Sat 10–10.30am

• 4/19 Teak Road, Federal. Sat 11–11.30am

• 1098 Bangalow Road, Bexhill. Wed 1.15–1.45pm

• 1098 Bangalow Road, Bexhill. Sat 11.45am– 12.15pm

• 230 North Creek Road, Lennox Head. Sat 1–1.30pm

New Listings

North Coast Lifestyle Properties

• 6/2 Condon Drive, East Ballina.

• 10 Park Street, Brunswick Heads.

• 3/32 Mullumbimbi Street, Brunswick Heads.

• “Hoopers” 55 Station Street. Mullumbimby.

• Share 6/356 Upper Burringbar Road, Upper Burringbar.

• 21 Geles Road, Upper Burringbar

• Site 82/2 Tweed Street, Brunswick Heads.

AUCTIONS

Ray White Byron Bay

• 126A Stuart Street, Mullumbimby. Friday, 3 Feb 3pm

• 20 Cavvanbah Street, Byron Bay. Friday, 10 Feb 2pm

www.echo.net.au/ad/ofi

DISCLAIMER

Advertisements placed in The Byron Shire Echo do not reflect the views or opinions of the editorial staff.

The Byron Shire Echo does not make any representations as to the accuracy or suitability of any content or information contained in advertising material nor does publication constitute in any way an endorsement by The Byron Shire Echo of the content or representations contained therein.

The Byron Shire Echo does not accept any liability for the representations or promises made in paid advertisements or for any loss or damage arising from reliance on such content, representations or promises.

PART TIME/CASUAL BUS DRIVERS NEEDED

Are you looking for part time or casual work in 2023? Ballina Buslines has multiple positions available.

We are looking for drivers with good customer service skills to work as Bus Drivers out of our Ballina & Alstonville Depots.

All you need is an MR licence or above. You will also require a Drivers Authority from Transport for NSW and a current Working With Children Check. If you don’t have a Drivers Authority we can assist suitable applicants to obtain one.

Successful casual applicants will be paid $36 per hour + $16.88 per day allowance.

For further information please contact Ben at our Ballina depot on 6686 3666 or email your information tocareers@buslinesgroup.com.au

Ankya Klay

Adobe Tutoring

Experienced

NAL A NALA

Strong, loving, playful, bigbeautiful-eyed Nala needs patience & stability due to past trauma and resulting mistrust. She’s good with children, cats and cows. She gets very excited around other big dogs and suffers fear aggression. Nala needs a loving but firm handler who can provide her with further training and socialisation.

Please contact Shell on 0458 461 935.

MC: 991001000924234

Professional Trainer • Photoshop • Indesign • Illustrator

A funeral-memorial service will be held to celebrate the remarkable life of Ankya Klay this Friday 13th January commencing at 11am, at Ewingsdale Hall, William Flick Lane, Ewingsdale NSW 2481 –with refreshments to follow. Personal flowers only.

SOCIAL ESCORTS

LOTS OF GORGEOUS LADIES available for your pleasure nearby. Spoil yourself. In & out. 7 days. Ladies always wanted. 0266816038. COVID SAFE

ONLY ADULTS

MALE 2 MALE MASSAGE

Devoted to Pleasure

Couples, Men & Women touchofjustine.com 0407 013 347

SUN, MOON & TIDES

11W 5:58 19:48 22:43 9:21 1202 1.63 0507 0.37 1830 0.41

12TH 5:59 19:48 23:12 10:15 0013 1.13 1237 1.57 0547 0.43 1907 0.42 13F 6:00 19:48 23:40 11:08 0059 1.14 1313 1.49 0633 0.51 1945 0.42

14SA 6:01 19:4812:03 0152 1.15 1354 1.40 0727 0.59 2029 0.42

15SU 6:01 19:48 0:08 12:59 0256 1.20 1442 1.31 0833 0.65 2116 0.41

16M 6:02 19:48 0:39 13:58 0406 1.28 1543 1.22 0954 0.68 2209 0.39

17TU 6:03 19:47 1:13 15:02 0514 1.39 1653 1.16 1119 0.65 2305 0.35

FUNERAL NOTICES

Andre Francois Barchard “Fonzie” 1/3/1945 – 29/12/2022

See ad in the early general news Phone 0476069889

BALLINA EXCLUSIVE 34 Piper Dr. Open 7 days 10am till late. In & Out Calls. 66816038. Ladies wanted Find us on Facebook and Twitter! COVID SAFE

FULL BODY RESTORATION Healing Through Pleasure massagebyronbay.com or 0425347477

LICENSED TO THRILL Premium Massage & Play touchofjustine.com/byron-bay-outcalls

18W 6:04 19:47 1:53 16:09 0616 1.53 1804 1.14 1240 0.56 19TH 6:05 19:47 2:41 17:19 0715 1.68 1913 1.15 0547 0.43 1907 0.42

20F 6:06 19:47 3:39 18:27 0809 1.81 2014 1.18 0633 0.51 1945 0.42

21SA 6:07 19:46 4:46 19:30 0901 1.92 2109 1.22 0727 0.59 2029 0.42 22 SU 6:07 19:46 5:59 20:25 0951 1.99 2200 1.26 0833 0.65 2116 0.41 23M 6:08 19:46 7:13 21:12 1040 2.01 2250 1.30 0954 0.68 2209 0.39 24TU 6:09 19:46 8:25 21:52 1126 1.96 2339 1.32 1119 0.65 2305 0.35 25W 6:10 19:45 9:34 22:27 1209 1.85 1240 0.56

AMBULANCE, FIRE, POLICE 000

AMBULANCE Mullumbimby & Byron Bay 131 233

POLICEBrunswick Heads 6629 7510

Mullumbimby 6629 7570 Byron Bay 6685 9499

Bangalow 6629 7500

STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE Storm & tempest damage, flooding 132 500

BRUNSWICK VALLEY RESCUE Primary rescue 6685 1999

BRUNSWICK MARINE RADIO TOWER 6685 0148

BYRON CENTRAL HOSPITAL 6639 9400

BYRON COUNCIL: EMERGENCY AFTER HOURS 6622 7022

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE (Mullumbimby) 6684 1286

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 24 hour crisis line 1800 656 463

LIFELINE 131 114

MENSLINE 1300 789 978

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 24 hours 1800 423 431

AL-ANON Help for family and friends of alcoholics 1300 252 666

NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS Meets daily 6680 7280

NORTHERN RIVERS GAMBLING SERVICE 6687 2520

HIV/AIDS – ACON Confidential testing & information 6622 1555

ANIMAL RESCUE (DOGS & CATS) 6622 1881

NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS 6628 1866

KOALA HOTLINE 6622 1233

WIRES – NSW Wildlife Information & Rescue Service 6628 1898

1st SAT Brunswick Heads 0406 724 323

1st SUN Byron Bay 6685 6807

1st SUN Lismore Car Boot 6628 7333

2nd SAT Flea Market, Bangalow 0490 335 498

2nd SAT Woodburn 0439 489 631

2nd SAT Tabulam Hall 0490 329 159

2nd SUN The Channon 6688 6433

2nd SUN Lennox Head 6685 6807

Chillingham 0428 793 141

Murwillumbah 0413 804 024

Scarab Byron Bay Casual Manager

Retailing jewellery, clothing, gifts. 30 hours pw. Wed–Sat.

Mature, vibrant, responsible, people lover with skills.

Looking for a sea change in a six-month time capsule? Scarab wants you! Soon!

Email resume to scarab.byronbay@bigpond.com or drop into the store. Ph: 0411 750 128

Much loved father of Anthony, Justin and Gabriel.

Avid fisherman, surfer and long-time Byron local, Andre was loved by all those who knew him. He passed away peacefully in his sleep. Join us in celebrating Andre’s life at a Memorial Service on January 24 at 2pm at the Byron Bay Services Club.

KRYSTAL ADULT SHOP Large variety of toys and lingerie 6/6 Tasman Way, A&I Est, Byron Bay Ph 66856330

BLISSFUL MASSAGE FOR WOMEN BY A WOMAN Gift your wife a sensual treat! Ph 0407013347

Respite Service

Each SAT 8.30-12am Blue Knob

Each SUN 7-11am Ballina 0493 102 137

Mullumbimby District Neighbourhood Centre

Mullumbimby & District

Neighbourhood Centre is open Monday–Thursday 9am–4pm and offers a range of services and activities. Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy art, music, games, great food and more. Call reception on 6684 1286 and discover what is on offer.

MDNC services that are running include:

Community support/emergency relief: Food parcels, meals, assistance with electricity and Telstra bills.

Listening Space: free counselling. Staying Home, Leaving Violence program

Integrated Domestic & Family Violence program

Financial Counselling: outreach available Thursdays & Fridays

Financial Counselling: free service funded by the government, offering advocacy & assistance to find options to address debts.

Information, referral and advocacy. To enquire about accessing any of these services call 6684 1286 or fill out an online enquiry form.

Byron Community Centre

Byron Community Centre

The Byron Community Centre provides community services and programs including meals, advocacy and counselling for locals in need. Fletcher

Street Cottage: A welcoming, safe and respectful space where people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness can come to get practical relief opportunities, find connections and access broader support. Fletcher Street Cottage services are open Monday–Friday.

Breakfast: Monday–Friday, 7am–9am. Showers and Laundry: Monday–Friday, 7am–12pm. Office Support: Monday–Friday, 9am - 12pm. Support

Appointments: Individual support appointments with community workers or specialist services. For bookings please call 6685 6807. Fletcher Street Cottage, 18 Fletcher St, Byron Bay. More info: www. fletcherstreetcottage.com.au.

Byron Community Cabin: Seniors Computer Club (school term only), 9–11am, Friday, Carlyle Steet. More info: www.byroncentre.com.au Phone: 6685 6807

Low-cost or free food Food Box Thursdays 9.30–11.30am at Uniting Church, Mullumbimby. You may purchase cheap food, obtain free veges, and enjoy a cuppa. Free Food Relief Bags for anyone doing it tough, every Wednesday 10–12noon at The Hub Ocean Shores, cnr Rajah Rd and Bindaree Way. No ID or Concession Card required. NILs referral service also available. Check Facebook page The Hub Baptist Ocean Shores for details. Liberation Larder Takeaway lunches and groceries Monday and Thursday 12 till 1pm. Fletcher Street end of the Byron Community Centre.

Byron Shire Respite Service Inc delivers high-quality respite care to a broad range of clients throughout the Byron, Ballina and Lismore shires. Donations welcome: Ph 6685 1921, email fundraiser@ byronrespite.com.au, website: www.byronrespite.com.au.

Alateen meeting

Alateen meeting every Thursday at 5–6pm. Do you have a parent, close friend or relative with a drinking problem? Alateen can help. For 8–16-year-olds meet St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church Hall, 13 Powell Street, corner of Florence Street Tweed Heads. Al-Anon family groups for older members at the same time and place. 1300 ALANON 1300 252 666 www. al-anon.org.au

ACA

Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents and/or Dysfunctional Families (ACA) help & recovery group meets in Lismore every Friday 10–11.30am, Red Dove Centre, 80 Keen Street. Byron meetings are on Tuesdays at 7pm via Zoom – meeting ID 554 974 582 password byronbay.

Drug support groups

Call Alcoholics Anonymous 1800 423 431 or 0401 945 671 – 30 meetings a week in the Shire – www.aa.org.au. Are you experiencing difficulties and challenges because of the alcohol or drug use of someone close to you? Learn coping skills and gain support from others. Narcotics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. For information and meetings call 1300 652 820 or text

your postcode to 0488 811 247. www. na.org.au. Are you concerned about somebody else’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups meetings held Fridays at 2pm by Zoom. 1300 252666 www. al-anon.org.au.

Support after suicide

StandBy provides support to people who have lost someone to suicide. They provide free face-to-face and telephone support and are accessible 24/7. Follow-up contact is available for up to one year. Find out more at: www.standbysupport.com.au or call 13 11 14. If you, or someone you are with, are in need of immediate support please call an ambulance or police on 000.

Carers’ support

Mullumbimby Mental Health Carers’ Support Group for family members and friends who have a loved one with a mental health issue. Meeting on 4th Thursday of each month 9.30am at the Mullumbimby Neighbourhood Centre. Info: Susanne 0428 716 431.

Rainbow Dragons

Rainbow Dragons Abreast (RDA) welcomes breast cancer survivors for a paddle at Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Head (and sometimes at Ballina) on Sundays 7.30am for 8am start. Contact Marian 6688 4058, mazzerati2010@gmail.com.

Language exchange

Byron language exchange club runs every 2nd last Friday of the month from 6pm (alternating Ballina/ Byron). Practise other languages or help someone with your English! Find us on Facebook. Contact byronbaylanguages@gmail.com.

5-year-old desexed

Byron Dog Rescue (CAWI)

Bowls winners take home over $25,000 in prizes from the Cherry Street Summerland Series

The Ballina Summerland Series bowls singles tournament attracted 64 entrants, including seven of Australia’s top ten bowlers.

Preliminary rounds took place on January 4 and 5 before the final’s day on January 6.

‘Despite some bad weather on the second day everything went to plan,’ organiser Warren Binney said.

‘The only top-ten bowlers that didn’t make it were from Victoria, SA or WA,’ he said.

All up there were $12,000 worth of prizes in the singles with the winner, Gary Kelly, collecting $4000 and the runner up, Kane Nelson, taking home $2000.

There were a few upsets in the preliminary rounds, but on finals day the ranked players held four of the final eight positions.

A good crowd was in attendance to watch at the Cherry Street Bowling Club, but the finals day was also broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. At one stage there were 7,000 online views, Warren said.

The event was preceded by the Summerland Pairs, played late last year, over December 29–31.

Across the two events there was a prize pool of $25,600, and 414 Australian ranking points on offer.

Byron Bay FC reaches out for donors to help build a new Community Clubhouse

Former Byron Bay FC goalkeeper and real estate agent, Damien Smith, along with wife Jodi, have donated $20,000 to help Byron Bay FC move one step closer to the dream of building a new Community Clubhouse.

With over 600 registered players, Byron Bay FC has outgrown its current changerooms and canteen at the Byron Bay Memorial Rec Grounds on Carlyle Street, and has DA-approved plans to build a new Community Clubhouse, which will better service the continued growth of football in Byron.

The club has been able to attract over $636,000 in government grants over the past two years, but is still short of the $1.5 million required to complete the build. The club raised a further $49,000

through a raffle, drawn in October 2022, supported by dozens of local businesses.

The Smiths are joined by six other local families and businesses who have also donated $20,000 each to the BBFC First 11 Foundation Members program, raising a further $140,000 towards the build.

‘Byron Bay FC has served

this community for 60 years and is such an important part of the fabric of Byron Bay, said Smith. ‘I’m so happy to be able to give back to a club that has given me and my family so many great memories and continues to be a meeting place for so many locals.’

Other donors to the BBFC First 11 Foundation Members program include: Grant and Natalie Moffit, Byron Bay Services Club, Mark Sims and Hollie Croke, Norm and Fiona Black from TripADeal, Craig Thomas and Local Pegs, and Stone & Wood Brewery.

The club is still looking for four more generous locals to join this list of legends – to help realise their dream. If you can help, please contact Clint at partnerships@byronbayfc.com.au.

Alstonville Water polo Club’s U/14s win gold at the Queensland Country Championship

The Alstonville Water polo Club juniors had a big finish to 2022 with the U/14 girls winning the Queensland Country Championships and the U/14s boys coming away with third place.

The U/14 girls have been playing together for a few years and have become ‘quite a successful team,’ according to coach Liz Vanem.

After a strong competition across the early rounds of the Country Championships they met a very competitive Gold Coast side in the final.

At the start of the final

quarter, they were down a point but scored halfway through to go even, and then sealed it with 40 seconds to play, to take the win 6–5.

Harmonie Banza was awarded the MVP award.

‘They are a great bunch of girls,’ said Liz.

The Alstonville Club is having a good season and has seen a big jump in membership.

‘A couple of years ago the committee decide to take teams into regional competitions and the approach is now paying dividends,’ she said.

All up, five teams went to the Gold Coast with the U/14 boys collecting a bronze medal, the U/12 girls coming fifth, the U/12 boys coming sixth, both U/18 boys and girls coming fourth.

The team was coached by John Hair.

Last year’s success set a great platform for the NSW Junior Country Titles that the Alstonville Club will be hosting across February 10–12.

‘We are expecting to see around 40 teams from all over the State come to the event,’ she said.

Byron Bay beats Tweed-Banora in Coastal League cricket

A 126-run fifth-wicket partnership helped Byron Bay to a total of 7/252 that proved too much for Tweed-Banora in the second-grade fixture at Dave Burns Field last Saturday.

Byron Bay won the toss and elected to bat. Stephen Daniels opened and went on to score 90 off 99 deliveries. He had support from Scott Kilpatrick (29 from 27 balls) but the visitors were on 4/98 by the time he was joined by Lenny Bridle.

The pair put on 126 with Lenny hitting 70 from 61 –including six sixes.

Brady Fuhrmann chimed in at the end with 17 off seven balls to bring the total to 252 after 40 overs.

Best of the Tweed-Banora bowlers was Troy Thoms with 2/29 off eight overs and Daniel Thoms 2/49 off eight.

In reply Tweed-Banora’s openers got to 20 before James Lewis was run out for 10. His opening partner, Darren Laycock, went on to top score with 35.

Sebastian Koppel (16), Aaron Hasaart (29), and Michael Kolovos (20) all got starts, but with six scores under ten the side couldn’t

get into a position to challenge the target and were all out for 162 in the 35th over.

Levi Shouldice 4/16 off 6.3 overs and Jason Trisley 3/28 off four overs did the damage for Byron Bay.

The win, Byron’s third for the season, leaves them in eigth spots on the Coastal League ladder two places behind Tweed-Banora.

Terranora Lakes is top of the table followed by Tintenbar-East Ballina, and the Cudgen Hornets – all with eight wins from nine, while Bangalow is in fourth place with six wins.

Supported by Somerville Laundry Lomax Solicitors

Summerland Series, Taylor Bowls Singles 2022–23 winner Garry Kelly (L) from the Warilla Gorillas with runner up Kane Nelson from Belmont, Qld. Photo Supplied

U/14 water polo champions: Savanah Collins, Charlotte Strahan, Claudia Barnes, Mackenzie Skinner, Harmonie Banza, Mirabelle McGillick, Primrose Scott, Kaydee Horne, Tallulah Cook (absent), Sarah Vanem, Ruth Byrnes, Amellia Atkinson, Ziggy Zubani. Photo supplied

Damien is still working hard for the BBFC. Photo supplied

From mid December until mid January, the McGregor Family Amusements carnival operates in Banner Park, right in the centre of Brunswick Heads. Unfortunately, their will be no Twilight Market this year. But on the bright side, The Woodchop Festival will be held from January 12 till 14.

A pop-up bar that caters to visitors and locals is being held every Tuesday at Clarkes Beach Reflections Park, in Byron. Chris Braat operates the Kombi Keg Byron Bay, and says the pop-up bar will run throughout summer from 4–8pm.

loss of infrastructure across the region. Sounds very familar. The Bureau of Meteorology says 2022 was wetter and warmer than average for Australia overall.

Like the US Capitol Hill riots in 2021, supporters of ousted Brazilian ex-president Bolsonaro stormed the country’s National Congress after he lost the recent election. Thankfully, there wasn’t a peep from former PM Morrison’s supporters when he lost the election last May.

‘If God exists, he needs to review his plan’ – actress/singer Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992)

calls it a “culture of secrecy around data that is damaging to our public discourse”.’

FYI, The NSW election campaign has begun!

The Nationals have just announced $100m to ‘turbocharge job creation’. and stimulate regional economies across NSW.

As far western NSW is hammered by ongoing floodwaters, the flood emergency in the Kimberley in WA has been described as the worst ever seen in the state, reports TheWestern Australian (NewsCorp), with communities cut off, homes inundated, and a significant

The ABC’s Casey Briggs raises the reasonable question of why there is so much government secrecy around the covid data they have collected. He reports, ‘Professor Rob Hyndman from Monash University is part of the team producing weekly forecasts of covid case numbers for all states and territories. He

The Spaghetti Junction eatery was sadly missed at Woodford Folk Festival this year, but Spaghetti Circus was enthusiastically received by audiences, who packed out the Big Top daily. Photo Jeff ‘Spagg Bowled’ Dawson