THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 27 #16 Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week
Inside this week
AUDIT
Singer-songwriter Krystle Warren interview – p23
Consciousness tour brings the big names International psychonauts Graham Hancock, Dennis McKenna and Mitch Shultz will be landing in Byron Bay for the Origins of Consciousness event to be held at the Byron Community Centre on October 19 Graham Hancock is author of the bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods. Dennis McKenna is a world-renowned ethnobotanist and author of a forthcoming biography on equally famous brother Terence McKenna, and Mitch Shultz is director of the documentary DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Origins of Consciousness: An Exploration of Spirituality, Psychedelics and Ancient Civilisations is part of an Australian tour by the three men. ‘The tour will be a lively combination of keynote talks, panel discussions and Q&As,’ says spokesperson Doron Francis. It will run from 2pm to 10pm. In the afternoon Dennis McKenna and Mitch Schultz will talk on DMT Exposed: Nature and Consciousness to Arts and Media. In the evening session McKenna will speak on his new memoir The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna. For more visit www.losttribes.net.au.
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CAB
Mungo’s multicultural POV – p10
Home & Garden feature – p18
Real estate auctioneer Dave Eller profile – p48
Byron Shire Council Notices Pages 47
Fire destroys OS house
Standing tall to protect WA’s pre-ice age Indigenous art from mining
Eve Jeffery
More than a million rock engravings (petroglyphs) are reported to be in the Murujuga/Dampier archipelago rockart precinct, 1550 km north of Perth on Western Australia’s Pilbara coast. It’s the Ngarda Ngarli people’s sacred site, and includes pre-ice age sacred art and engravings of the fat-tailed kangaroo (extinct for 40–45,000 years), and the Thylacine, or Tasmania Tiger (extinct on Australian mainland for 3–3,500 years). Residents gathered Sunday at Cape Byron as part of a global day of action for ‘Stand up for the Burrup’, which highlights the mining activities that threaten these ancient artefacts. Emma Tunbridge, organiser of the Byron Bay event, says, ‘The problem is that the Murujuga is in remote NW Western Australia. It is out of sight, out of mind in a state where transnational mining interests dominate government regardless of political party.’ Pictured is Kevin, the Rainbow Lorikeet and his handler Rob Eves. For more see www.standupfortheburrup.com. Photo Jeff Dawson
Six Ocean Shores teenagers escaped with their lives but not much else after the house they were living in burned to the ground in the early hours of Saturday. Brunswick Heads firefighters received a call at 2.47am alerting them to the blaze in Tathra Glen. By the time they reached the property, the fire was too advanced to save anything. It took 12 firefighters and three trucks, two from Brunswick Heads and one from Mullumbimby, and other emergency services about an hour and a half to bring the fire under control. ‘Fortunately the house was on a large block’, Brunswick Fire captain Graeme Wakely told The Echo. ‘The fire was well advanced when we arrived but the size of the block meant that surrounding properties were not threatened’. Mr Wakely said that the site was now a crime scene until the investigation was concluded. Several rumours as to how the blaze continued on page 3
MPs scrap Byron’s environmental zone plans Hans Lovejoy
Rural landowners are claiming victory over Byron Council’s contentious plans to apply complex zonings on agriculture land after three state ministers intervened late last week. NSW minister for planning and infrastructure Brad Hazzard announced, along with Ballina MP Don Page and Lismore MP Thomas George, that the government ‘would not endorse the use of E2 and E3 environmental zones’ on rural land that is earmarked for far north councils’ local environmental plans (LEPs).
Instead, the ministers say areas proposed to be covered by these zones ‘would be excised from the plans while the department of planning and infrastructure reviews the use of these controls in consultation with other government agencies and stakeholders.’ The move applies to Ballina, Byron, Lismore, Kyogle and Tweed councils. The Byron Shire Rural Landholders Action Group, who initiated a recent public meeting on the issue, welcomed the announcement. ‘Since our last public meeting, hundreds of complaints have been received by local and state politicians on this
issue. It just goes to show what people can achieve if they come together and support their community,’ said the action group’s Rex Harris, Alli Page and Louise Savrda. ‘The fight is not over yet. We still have a lot of work to do and all landholders need to remain active and review and respond to the draft LEP. But this is one big step in the right direction for all of us.’
Limits land uses: MP Page In the announcement, Mr Page said, ‘These proposed zones and overlays have the potential to limit existing agricultural and other rural uses with-
out a valid evidence base. There are also very strong concerns that these restrictive controls could reduce the value of existing properties. ‘The NSW government will act to ensure the rights of existing landowners are protected. ‘The government will now review the suitability of these controls, whilst still providing appropriate protection for the environment. ‘A number of LEPs in the region have been exhibited for public comment and are expected to come to the state government shortly for approval.’ Minister Hazzard said that any E2
or E3 zoned land in these draft plans would be excised when the LEPs are finalised. Similarly, any proposed environmental overlays on land that is clearly rural would be removed. ‘Local environmental plans establish good land use planning principles for the entire council area and it’s important that planning for other uses such new housing and employment generation can go ahead while this issue is being resolved,’ Mr Hazzard said. ‘However, this government is not going to stop farmers and other existing landowners from carrying on their continued on page 2
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