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From devastation comes determination

The Byron Shire Echo Volume 38 #19 • October 18, 2023

Submission on Council’s Housing Option Paper

yron Shire Council is asking residents to comment on its Housing Options Paper, which is currently on exhibition at www. byron.nsw.gov.au until November 6. It proposes ‘a new target to deliver 4,522 homes’ by 2041. The majority of land put forward by Council staff for rezoning in the options paper are in Mullum and Bruns, some of which is considered high value agricultural land. I respectfully submit that this options paper is not a fit for purpose document for public exhibition, and should not proceed in its present form, owing to the following:

mş ǟǝǟǟ ǖşşĎ ĎëƐë Most importantly, Byron Shire Council have not asked the NSW government to inform its community with the 2022 flood data – which is yet to be released – within this options paper. While staff say, ‘future rezoning of land will be subject to detailed site analysis that will include consideration of flooding’, it is a waste of time of time and money to pursue land rezonings that are later found to be flood-prone.

Reconstruction Authority NSW government corporation, Reconstruction Authority, is the latest in a long list of bloated, unaccountable corporations. Like the previous actors they have replaced, they ignore media questions around transparency and process, and have failed to supply the public with clear and equitable plans for the future of the region. Given they are co-ordinating much of the rezoning/development, residents should be very wary as to whether the Reconstruction Authority will act in good faith in the future.

Infrastructure capacity On page 14 of the options paper, the assumed increased dwelling yield of 979 homes on new release land and 227 homes from infill in Mullum was, ‘subject to a satisfactory resolution being achieved in regards to the overall Mullumbimby water supply capacity constraints and permanent Rous Water supply connection’. Up to 800 dwellings are slated for Saddle Road, and 500 for Bangalow. The Byron CBD would also be subject to increased density and height limits, but there are no details. Much more information needs to be supplied to provide confidence that this level of development is sustainable.

ț ǔşſĎëćōĕ ĲşƖƆĶŕīȜ It’s unclear how Council’s Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme will genuinely address those who cannot afford to live here. It is well documented that the metrics around ‘affordable housing’ are broken, and the solution is social housing investment. Affordable housing is a myth.

Biodiversity hotspot As we have seen with the Wallum development in Brunswick Heads, councillors dropped the ball on being informed around its environmental significance and the outcome. They did the same in 2022 with Linnaeus Estate in Broken Head. According to www.epa.nsw.gov. au, ‘Biodiversity on the north coast of NSW is among the highest of any areas in Australia’. If we want to maintain this level of biodiversity, councillors need to adequately instruct Council staff about community expectations, and also adequately inform the community. Hans Lovejoy, Echo editor

et’s get the disclosure out of the way early. I was one of the 60,000 ‘Yes’ volunteers who set up stalls, handed out leaflets, and helped the campaign create a local presence and profile. Mostly, the volunteering was joyful, and it deepened connections with local Indigenous and nonIndigenous people alike. I respectfully engaged with those uncertain how to vote, all in the generous spirit of the Uluru statement, which offered the chance to walk together on the road to reconciliation. There were even grim attempts at humour on the campaign trail. As I was handing out ‘Yes’ material at the polling booth last Saturday, a middle-aged man politely declined a leaflet, looked me in the eye, and said earnestly: ‘I’m with Telstra’. It took me a moment to realise the ‘No’ voter had his tongue in his cheek, and wasn’t actually employed by a telecoms company. The resounding success of the ‘No’ vote is of course no joke. As Echo readers would be acutely aware, for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the referendum result has brought disappointment and devastation. ‘It’s a sad loss for all involved’, says Charline Emzin-Boyd, Bundjalung woman and the state field officer who helped lead the ‘Yes’ campaign in this region. ‘The enormity of the heartbreak and loss is overwhelming’. Analysing the strategic errors of the ‘Yes’ campaign, or problems with the original referendum question, is valuable, but beyond the aim of this column. There are plenty of people raking over the mistakes and missteps of the campaign, including those who didn’t lift a finger to help it succeed. Similarly, there are others more qualified than I who can identify and expose some of the dirty political tricks employed by elements within the ‘No’ campaign, including the fateful decision to kill off bipartisanship.

‘What’s most pressing now ĶƆ ǔŕĎĶŕī ƱëƷƆ ƖƆƐſëōĶë Ĉëŕ Ĳĕōż ĶŕşĈƖōëƐĕ ĶƐƆĕōĪ ëīëĶŕƆƐ ƐĲĕ ƐëĈƐĶĈëō ƖƆĕ şĪ ĎĶƆĶŕĪşſŔëƐĶşŕȁț Dr Ray Moynihan What’s most pressing now is finding ways Australia can help inoculate itself against the tactical use of disinformation in the future. ‘Disinformation’ is something deliberately designed to deceive, and it clearly stoked fears that help deliver the huge ‘No’ vote.

Two-thirds wrote ‘Yes’ Before the prescription though, let’s take a moment to note that around two-thirds of voters across this Byron Shire wrote ‘Yes’ on their ballot papers – according to results from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). In Brunswick Heads ‘Yes’ won 62 per cent. Ocean Shores and Lennox were 63 per cent. Byron and Mullumbimby, 65 per cent, and Bangalow, 68 per cent. Small booths in Coorabell, Durrumbul, Ewingsdale, Suffolk Park and Federal hit around 70 per cent for ‘Yes’. ‘I reflect on the thousands of people who have worked so tirelessly through this campaign’, Charline Emzin-Boyd told The Echo, offering congratulations to the ‘Yes’ volunteers, locally and across the nation. ‘I am absolutely blessed to have met them and will continue to have connections to them. They should be proud we fought so hard.’ While the ‘Yes’ vote was only 40 per cent nationally, a few electorates pushed to 60 per cent or more. One was Kooyong in Melbourne, the seat held by conservatives since federation, and won by a Teal independent in the 2022 federal election. As others are observing, the success of Peter Dutton’s ‘No’ advocacy may not help him to win back those critical seats the Liberal party lost to the Teals last year.

Modest proposals For me, there are three key reforms that could help improve the quality of Australia’s political discourse and make it easier to have more rational debate about much-needed change. First, the Commonwealth could introduce ‘truth in political advertising’ laws, creating big fines for deliberately making misleading claims, like the ‘land grab’ lies. South Australia already has a workable model, and the Australian Capital Territory recently adopted it. Second, our school system could develop strong curricula to help students navigate the new world of digital disinformation, bringing multiple benefits for our democracy. For almost a decade, Finland has had specific curricula to help primary school students identify fake news. What’s more, in Finland’s education system, promoting critical skills to deal with digital disinformation is a core part of the entire national curriculum. Third, and much harder to achieve, is tougher regulation of media new and old, to reduce the concentration of media ownership and the anti-democratic tendencies of monopolies. Think Murdoch, and some of those hip tech billionaires. For Bundjalung woman, Charline Emzin-Boyd, it’s too early to plan the next steps on the walk to reconciliation, but her resilience is rock-hard. ‘We will take time to process this’ says Charline, ‘but we will get back up and continue to fight for our rights and justice, for the next generations.’ Q Dr Ray Moynihan was one of the 60,000 strong ‘Yes’ volunteers.

The Byron Shire Echo Volume 38 #19 October 18, 2023 Established 1986 • 24,500 copies every week The Echo acknowledges the people of the Bundjalung nation as the traditional custodians of this land and extends respect to elders past, present and future. Disclaimer: The Echo is committed to providing a voice for our whole community. The views of advertisers, letter writers, and opinion writers are not necessarily those of the owners or staff of this publication.

www.echo.net.au Phone: 02 6684 1777 Editorial/news: editor@echo.net.au Advertising: adcopy@echo.net.au Office: 64 McGoughans Lane, Mullumbimby NSW 2482 General Manager Simon Haslam Editor Hans Lovejoy Deputy Editor Aslan Shand Photographer Jeff Dawson Advertising Manager Anna Coelho Production Manager Ziggi Browning

Nicholas Shand 1948–1996 Founding Editor

‘The job of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ – Finley Peter Dunne 1867–1936

10 The Byron Shire Echo wĈƐşćĕſ Ǩǯǽ ǩǧǩǪ

Do you know this person? Somerville Laundry Lomax are looking for potential witnesses to an alleged assault that took place at the front of the premises at Woody’s Surf Shack, Byron Bay on the morning of 19 January 2023 between approximately 12.30am – 1.00am. If you were a witness to the event or recognise the person in this image who did witness this event, please contact Nathan Job on 02 6686 2522. www.echo.net.au