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 Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 22 #31 TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2008 22,500 copies every week Printed on 100% recycled paper
v F I L E
U N D E R
Robin imagines a better world
E P H E M E R A
Mates recall Matthew Kidson, loyal friend Eve Jeffery
The ever positive Robin Harrison beams with the prospect of an alternative future for all.
Story & photo Lou Beaumont
‘Imagine all the people, sharing all the world’... Lennon believed it to be possible. Robin Harrison definitely shares the vision and he believes it is time to make it a reality. He imagines current and future generations living together in energy efficient villages of empowered, prosperous, creative people. He believes such sustainable communities, that combine current sustainability knowledge with corporate economic knowledge, could be the major growth industry for the 21st century. Globally we are facing unprecedented rates of population expansion. Until now, the only answer to such developmental pressures was suburbia. And, as Harrison points out, just as in any marketplace with only one product, that product will always be overpriced and substandard. Robin begs the question, ‘What if there was an alternative to suburbia? Fully funded, integrated, intentional communities have the potential to be considerably more attractive,
affordable and prosperous than suburbia. Village communities housed in high quality, sustainable dwellings – attractive to both investors and developers alike – would integrate sustainable methods such as permaculture, biodynamics, alternative energy, and most impor tantly, mutually empowering communication skills to live in harmony with the earth and each other. ‘The community group would be able to draw upon a multitude of individual skills to create a successful whole. Perhaps it is not the only option for our future, as humans are undeniably adaptable, but, perhaps it is the only option for a prosperous future. ‘In the global money market there is an enormous amount of money looking for a secure, sustainably growing investment home, preferably at better than market returns. There is the potential to offer superior products in both the investment and development markets, creating a corporate organism which,
in turn, produces superior products for a sustainable future. Such a corporate organism would be economically very powerful and certainly more rational than its alternative.’ Robin and friends have constructed a website www. livingsystems.com.au with the specific aim of making the connection between sustainability and corporate economic knowledge. Robin hopes it will explain this alternative opportunity and stimulate engagement from all walks of life. Robin feels strongly that this particular dream and vision is an amalgamation of many years and many visionaries. He believes it to be everyone’s vision, just as it’s everyone’s future. Any input on improving and enhancing the communication of this idea is welcome. Harrison hopes this concept will land under many corporate entrepreneurial noses. You may say he’s a dreamer, but he’s not the only one. Many have imagined for a long time that the world can live as one.
My name is Matthew. I like football, the beach and all sports. I just finished year 12. I miss school already. I hate people that are angry. Add (me) if you want but I am boring to talk to. These are the words written by Mathew Kidson on the first page of his My Space. Waiting On The World To Change by John Mayer is the song Matty chose for his web page guests to listen to. The rest of the page is full of tributes and the outpouring of love and sadness for a young man so deeply missed that most can’t believe he is gone. Matthew Ray Kidson was tragically taken from the world on the afternoon of Sunday January 6. He was thrown from the car he was driving when it collided with another on the Brunswick Valley Way and he died at the scene soon after. Speaking to those who knew and loved Matthew is to get a real sense of who he was: a fine sportsman, a loyal
friend and a cheeky clown who could win anyone over simply because he was such a great person with a smile for anyone. Matthew was born in Shoalhaven Heads Hospital and lived at Nowra until he moved to Ocean Shores when he was eight, and many of the friends he has today were people who met him in those first few months after his arrival, as Matthew, or ‘Kidson’ as his mates best knew him, was into everything. He gathered hundreds of friends as he travelled his path firstly at Ocean Shores Primary School then Mt Patrick’s College at Murwillumbah and through his association with several clubs. Joel Christie was Matthew’s rugby league under 18s coach for 2007. During the season Joel saw him four days a week. He said that Matthew was an excellent player who was in the rep team and in the academy squad. ‘He was a
brilliant kid,’ says Joel, ‘most people have something they are good at. Matty was excellent at sport, any sport. He was just good at it and he took his fitness seriously.’ Joel felt, as did many others who knew him, that Matthew was a great team player. ‘His influence during a game was amazing. On the football field he was fearless. He lifted the other players and was a real protector to his team mates. I looked to him as a guardian for the team, because when Matty was out there we all felt safer. Others just didn’t have the same presence.’ Joel remembers Matthew as a happy person. ‘He was a massive lad but a big softie and I have never heard a bad word said about him. Even if he was mucking about at training I just couldn’t get angry at him, he had an infectious grin, you just had to laugh. Matthew’s club mates are broken hearted. ‘His team have all been hanging around continued on page 2
Rowing team mates, from left, Sam Martin, Matthew Kidson, Trent Richardson and Sam Condie.