THE BYRON SHIRE
Living
Volume 28 #11 Tuesday, August 20, 2013 Phone 02 6684 1777 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,200 copies every week CAB AUDIT North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
Inside this week
A 100-year-old timber homestead in Myocum was totally destroyed by fire on Saturday. Neighbours of the house on a property at the corner of Benloro Lane and Tyagarah Road alerted police and fire authorities, but when they got there the house was already engulfed in flames. Tweed-Byron police Inspector Greg Jago said noone was injured in the blaze. Five fire trucks from surrounding Rural Fire Service (RFS) brigades as well as a Fire and Rescue NSW truck from Mullumbimby arrived on the scene at around 12.30pm. The incident has prompted a reminder by fire authorities for residents to check the operation of smoke alarms in their homes by pressing the test button monthly and replacing batteries every six months. A spokesman said it took around three hours to extinguish the blaze but the home was completely gutted.
Axelsen’s Nelly The circus Gang rides into is coming! – p26 print – p20
Dressed for a fossil fuel future
Monday morning, August 19, 2013 and Graeme Dunstan, 71, walked into a Rockhampton court surrounded by around 20 supporters carrying peace flags and photos of dead civilians and soldiers. Northern rivers-based Dunstan is charged with wilful damage of Commonwealth property, namely an Australian Army ‘Tiger’ armed reconnaissance helicopter, which was disabled by a blow from a garden mattock during the 2011 Talisman Saber Military Exercises. Local filmmaker David Bradbury
Byron Shire Council Notices Pages 48–49
Pyramid scheme operating locally Staff reporters
A pyramid scheme reportedly operating in Byron Shire has duped a number of women in the northern rivers by cloaking itself in themes of new-age spirituality and women’s empowerment. Calling upon the power of sisterhood, the ‘Women’s Wisdom Circle’ invites women to part with a $5,000 ‘unconditional gift’ to join as a ‘seed’ with the lure of an eventual $40,000 if they ultimately blossom into a ‘lotus’. If this sounds too good to be true, it is. The activity is illegal, according to Australia’s competition and consumer law regulator, the ACCC. Similar schemes inevitably collapse, leaving the vast majority of ‘seeds’ out of pocket. Aussies Against Fracking co-director Nick Hanlon will go to extraordinary lengths, including wearing a Chinese wedding dress with a two-metre train on a trapeze, in a gas mask, to highlight the insanity of CSG mining. See more on Aussies Against Fracking’s gig on page 10. Photo Eve Jeffery
An act of conscience: protester on trial Hans Lovejoy
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E D U C AT I O N I S I M P O R TA N T, B U T B I G B I C E P S A R E M O R E I M P O R TA N T E R
Fundraiser for Candidates MP Don Page the Culberts send dodgy gets a grilling – p18–19 in Bruns – p5 mailers – p17
Myocum home claimed by fire
yle
en Eco lifest
Home Gard
is covering the case in Rockhampton, and told The Echo that Dunstan’s trial has initially been promising. ‘The judge seems to be reasonable and has a sense of humour,’ he said. ‘And Graeme seems to be winning with cross-examining the expert witness, and the questionable costs of the helicopter’s repair bill.’ While the action was allegedly committed by fellow activist Bryan Law, now deceased, Dunstan confessed to being Mr Law’s driver and assistant and is charged as a co-offender. But Mr Dunstan is pleading not
guilty to the charge and is employing the ‘Ploughshares’ defence, a biblical concept where military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications. He says he will be arguing that the strike was an act of conscience ‘aimed a raising public awareness to the true nature of the war in Afghanistan where the attack helicopters were to be deployed.’ ‘The Tiger is similar in design and identical in function to the Apache helicopter used by the US Army to gun down innocents in the “Collateral Murder” footage leaked by Bradley Manning and Julian As-
sange and which has had in excess of 14 million viewers on YouTube.’ His long and colourful peace activism legacy is well known: trained at Duntroon’s Royal Military College, he says he later became disillusioned ‘with the military mindset’ and enrolled to study engineering. In his opening address to the court, he said, ‘Soon I was to become a major campus organiser of the war resistance at the University of NSW.’ In 1973, Dunstan helped organise Nimbin’s Aquarius Festival and later founded Peacebus.com. The trial is expected to last three days.
Whistleblower
The Echo attempted to contact the proponents of the Women’s Wisdom Circle, via their website. Every link on the site that purported to provide a contact led to a ‘page not found’ failure message. An Echo source, who wishes to remain anonymous, was recently invited to join the Circle. continued on page 2
Meet the federal candidates night The Echo in conjunction with the Bay Community Reserve Trust will be hosting a Richmond meet the candidates forum on Thursday September 5 at 6pm at the Byron Community Centre. MC will be Mungo MacCallum and it will be broadcast on BayFM.