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THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 21 #42 TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2007 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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Byron blues festival a template for new events Mandy Nolan This year sees the Bluesfest reach voting age. After 18 years this festival has grown from an embryonic event at the Piggery where it was first conceived and nurtured into being. It’s changed parents, moved house, and is to become a parent itself. In a quick chat with Peter Noble, Festival and Artistic Director for this Pollster nominated ‘World’s Best Festival’ held in the humble surrounds of a seaside footy ground, he credited the Bluesfest as the mothership for a host of new events. ‘There’s the Nippean Music Festival, down near Torquay, featuring Ben Harper, John Mayer... there’s 46 road dates, we have programmed The Great Escape and the Great Southern Roots Festival and we are about to put on the West Coast Blues Festival [now in its fourth year]. May 1 we are putting on an International Blues Festival in Johannesburg with versions of the Bluesfest lineup. ‘Byron is the mothership to all the other events – they are nowhere near the level of Bluesfest. It’s like the mothership in Star Wars, with everything else growing around it. We have 121 different performances, and a large degree of that is the highest degree of talent. You can’t just take them to Byron. You have to establish circuits for them. It’s all part of our plan.’ So why has Bluesfest become the programming template for events all over the country? Peter is keen to endorse the Festival as an event of
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Simeon Michaels is home but the fight for the forests is far from over
Tessa Hoffman Imagine if someone came to Byron Bay and wanted to build a pulp mill. Imagine if they had oodles of money and immense lobbying power. And imagine if the state government was willing to do anything, even change laws, in order to back them. Wouldn’t you want other Australians to stick up for you? This is the question Simeon Michaels is posing to our community, now that Gunns’ proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill looks one step closer to being built. Blues festival director Peter Noble. Photo Jeff Dawson ‘Tasmania’s premier Paul Joss Stone and returned Lennon pushed through legthe highest quality. ‘What people don’t realise home. Problem solved. A few islation to circumvent the is the blues and roots for- days later, Peter got a call independent environmental mula is one that has excited from Jack Johnson offering assessment of the mill via a fast track process which conpeople all over the world, no to cover home base. ‘That was the most amaz- tains no public hearings, no one else is doing it – there’s nothing like a business that ing thing, I got a phone call right of review and watered last week from Jack Johnson down environmental guideputs a smile on your face!’ This year’s event sold out who said I’ll come and cover lines,’ he said. ‘The legislation includes a in record time. But at the last it for you, I said what a fine moment, one of the featured man you are, what a gentle- loophole which allows the headliners, Dave Matthews, man, what a pleasure it is to mill to be passed even if it band had to cancel their work with someone like that. doesn’t meet Tasmania’s appearance. Coming so close But I’d already booked Joss environmental guidelines. When questioned on this, to show time, this left a sub- Stone.’ While giving the interview the government was forced stantial high profile hole in Peter was on his way to the to admit prior knowledge the impressive bill. ‘I was given a couple of Adelaide Fuse Festival to that the mill couldn’t meet days’ notice that a member speak on the benefits of run- air pollution regulations and that the loophole was necesof the Dave Matthews Band ning a ‘green’ festival. ‘We have been recycling sary if the mill was to be had a problem and it was and using corn starch plates approved.’ likely they couldn’t come.’ The news is a blow for TasIn the meantime, Noble for a decade. When we do jumped a plane signed up continued on page 2 manians, the majority of whom are against the mill, and for all Australians concerned with the environment. If it proceeds, the mill will The Echo offices will be closed on Good Friday, and pollute the Bass Strait with open Easter Monday (for classifieds only). The Echo’s dioxins and consume five Byron Bay office will close at 2pm Easter Monday. million tonnes of Tasmanian Classifieds will still be taken on Easter Monday for forest each year. the following day’s paper. The Echo will be coming With the Tamar Valley curout as usual on Tuesday April 10. Display ad copy rently generating ten times deadline for that week is Thursday 4pm. Our email more revenue through toursystem will be working non-stop, barring glitches. ism than the mill could pro-
vide, Simeon believes that the mill would be an economic as well as environmental disaster. Simeon set off from Sydney on January 2 kayaking 2,000km to Hobart to raise awareness and funds for a campaign, run in conjunction with Launceston Environment Centre, to present more sustainable alternatives to Gunns’ proposed pulp mill. The trip captured national media interest and was covered widely in Tasmania. He believes this has helped break the stranglehold that propulp mill advocates had on the Tasmania media. Simeon returned to Byron Bay last Monday after his
trip. While happy with his contribution, he says there is still much to do. Now that the Tasmanian Parliament has given the process the green light, Simeon said the next stop is the federal government. The mill requires Malcolm Turnbull’s signature to proceed. ‘History has proved that issues such as this can be stopped at a Federal level, just take the Franklin,’ he said. ‘If you want to help the campaign, get onto my website and find out what you can do.’ You can find Simeon’s website at www.paddlewithsim.com and contact him on simeon.michaels@bigpond. com.
The Echo at Easter
Kayaker Simeon Michaels throws his helmet in the air after a successful arrival in Hobart. Photo Thomas Moore