THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 23 #40 Tuesday, March 17, 2009 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 21,000 copies every week
THE SEA LEVEL EDITION
Harmony Day celebrates diversity
Watch for oilaffected birds and marine life Jann Gilbert
While the wild weather produced by Cyclone Hamish seems to have passed, the new threat facing seabirds, shorebirds and marine life is the huge oil spill off Moreton Island. At present Australian Seabird Rescue (ASR) carers are on standby and the centre is helping rescuers at Moreton Bay with extra nets to catch oilaffected birds. ASR Treasurer and centre carer, Keith Williams, said, ‘I have the urge to want to rush up to Moreton and do something but from the sounds of things, with some of the tar globules spreading south and sick wildlife being carried south on the east Australian current, we could be dealing with our own load of oil-affected wildlife within the next week or so. This is going to be a long term problem, not one that will be solved in the next week.’ ASR President Marny Bonner said that anyone finding an oil affected bird should use a towel or cloth to handle them. ‘It’s also a good idea for people to program ASR’s number into their mobile phones,’ said Marny.
More damage to come Artists and organisers get ready for Harmony Day this coming Saturday at the Byron Bay community centre. Photo Eve Jeffery.
From Chinese Dragons to Spanish Sen soritas, Byron Harmony Day Saturday March 21 will bring together a fascinating array of cultures. A dedicated community group called the Byron Harmony Team have been working for the last six months to bring the festival together with support from a range of cultural communities within Byron Shire. Scores of performers and stall holders from over 20 different ethnic backgrounds including Indigenous, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Irish, Nigerian, Japanese, Sudanese, French, Vietnamese, Indian, Celtic, Spanish, Mexican, German, Mauri, Israeli, Islander, Lebanese, Latin American are
currently rehearsing, preparing craft activities and food stalls in the leadup to Harmony Day to be held in Railway Park and Byron Community and Cultural Centre. Byron Harmony Team is also presenting Barbara Shaw and Valerie Martin from the Northern Territory on the ‘Talking Up the Territory’ tour to raise awareness of the issues involved in the NT Intervention, such as the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. Barbara says, ‘The Intervention is not working, it is not the way to work with our people to solve the problems affecting us.’ Another exciting feature of Harmony Day will be a very special Sudanese
feast being prepared by members of the Lismore Sudanese community as a fundraiser for the Victorian Bush Fire Appeal upstairs at the Harmony Café in the SCU Room from 2pm to 6pm. Byron Harmony Day has now become a one year project funded by the Area Assistance Scheme, NSW Dept of Community Services and Byron Shire Council. The project aims to create a multicultural infrastructure for the Byron Shire community. Main activities include the creation of Byron’s first ever website of local multicultural communities, an on-line discussion group, Community Leaders Committee as well as the
Multicultural Drop In every Thursday at BBCC as well as support for culturally diverse groups to develop their own activities. For further information go to www. myspace.com/byronharmonyday or contact 6680 8079 or byronharmonyday@gmail.com. In March 2008, the first Byron Harmony Festival was held involving over 300 multicultural performers and volunteers and a great turnout of about 2,000 audience and supporters, enjoying 22 hours of live entertainment of all kinds. The success of this festival day attracted the support of the NSW government.
At this stage the extent of the damage to wildlife and habitat from the oil spill is not fully known. Manager of Pelican & Seabird Rescue Brisbane Hammie Forrest and his team, who have been helping with the rescue of oil-affected birds and marine life, has been advised that they can check out Stradbroke and the other islands but the EPA has banned anyone from landing on Moreton Island. ‘Given the number of birds we’ve been bringing into care we’re not doing too badly,’ said Hammie. ‘But we’ll know more in the next couple of days.’ Anyone finding a sick, injured or oil-affected bird or marine animal should call ASR on 6686 2852 or 0428 862 852.