I T ’ S H A R D T O F LY L I K E A N E A G L E W H E N S U R R O U N D E D B Y ‘ N O ’ The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 38 #19 • October 18, 2023 • www.echo.net.au
Main Arm Byron bucks ‘No’ trend Byron Shire booths ƐƖŕĕƆ Ɩż Īşſ W ĶƐƆ ćĶī ĎëƷ hile nearly all the nation’s states and territories rejected the referendum question of an Indigenous Voice to parliament (except the ACT), Byron Shire bucked the trend with the ‘Yes’ votes claiming all booths on Saturday. Byron Shire is part of the seat of Richmond, which also includes Ballina and Tweed shires. Despite some close counts in various booths, those surrounding shires recorded a ‘No’ majority.
Seat of Richmond Storm and Remi were half dead after a full-on afternoon of raging at Saturday’s Music In The Valley, held at the Upper Main Arm School. The day featured jumping castles, circus acts, pony rides, magic bus rides, food, and music by Harry James Angus, Greg Sheehan and Emily Lubitz, to name a few. The school was badly impacted by last year’s catastrophic floods – the rebuilding of infrastructure and grounds is expected to be fully completed in the next few months. Photo Jeff ‘Zombie Wiggles’ Dawson
LşŔĕōĕƆƆ ƆĕſưĶĈĕ ſĕĈĕĶưĕƆ şŕĕ şǔ ĪƖŕĎĶŕī Hans Lovejoy & Mia Armitage The NSW Labor government has come good with their promise to find emergency funding for Byron’s Fletcher Street Cottage (the Cottage), yet it will not prevent the service from reducing its services, say management. The vital homeless hub assists the growing number of homeless people in Byron Shire, the shire with the highest homelessness rate in the state. Minister for Homelessness, Rose Jackson (NSW Labor), said in a statement last week, ‘The one-off funding [of $125,000] is an initial step to strengthen the homelessness response in Byron and is
Council wins in court – large Suffolk Park DA refused ▶ p9
in addition to the government’s 2023-24 $11 million investment for homelessness services in Northern NSW, which covers the LGAs of Ballina, Byron Shire, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed’. Federal Greens candidate, Mandy Nolan, says the funding falls short of the funds the Cottage needs to keep their doors open five days a week. She said, ‘I’m backing [Greens] state MP Tamara Smith’s calls for the federal government to come to the table with funding for the Cottage, so they can continue to support the most vulnerable’. Local federal MP, Justine Elliot (Labor), told her social media
followers that it’s the first time a NSW government has ever provided funding for this service. Byron Community Centre General Manager Louise O’Connell welcomed the funds and told The Echo, ‘I don’t know how they allocated those funds, but I’m just so grateful that we can have some more funding to help our frontline workers provide support to people experiencing homelessness, living in cars, couch surfing, sleeping rough’. The funding is 12.5 per cent of the million dollars Ms O’Connell says the hub is expected to cost to run for another year. ‘We recently did a fundraising ▶ Continued on page 2
From devastation comes determination ▶ p10
62/$5 )5(('20
Byron Bay Film Fest kicks off this week ▶ p15
On Tuesday, according to www. tallyroom.aec.gov.au, the Richmond booths recorded 41,020 ‘Yes’ votes, and 52,506 ‘No’ votes in the booths. There were 1,378 informal votes out of a total of 94,904 votes with 123,584 enrolments. The postal vote count recorded 2,309 ‘Yes’ votes to 4,451 ‘No’ votes.
WŽǁĞƌ WƌŝĐĞƐ ƚŽ ZŝƐĞ ϱϲй ŝŶ ϮϬϮϯ͊
combined: 5,011 ‘Yes’, 2,487 ‘No’
• Coorabell: 211 ‘Yes’, 95 ‘No’ • Ewingsdale: 120 ‘Yes’, 47 ‘No’ • Federal: 225 ‘Yes’, 93 ‘No’ • Mullumbimby (two polling booths combined): 1,873 ‘Yes’, 951 ‘No’
• Ocean Shores (two polling booths): 1,505 ‘Yes’, 845 ‘No’ • Suffolk Park: 680 ‘Yes’, 232 ‘No’ • Wilsons Creek: 145 ‘Yes’, 57 ‘No’ Outside Byron Shire, Lennox Head (Ballina Shire) recorded 1,290 ‘Yes’ to 736 ‘No’ votes. The combined booths in Kingscliff recorded 1,016 ‘Yes’ votes to 1,250 ’No’ votes.
▶ See Dr Ray Moynihan’s article on page 10 for more detail on the referendum results.
Blaze rips through Tyagarah
A bush fire on Saturday had, by Sunday, engulfed a large section of the Tyagarah Nature Reserve, located between Belongil and Grays Lane. As of Tuesday, it had jumped containment lines and was moving north. Private property is not currently at risk, say police and the RFS. Photo Benjamin Gilmour
The simple pleasures of Brunswick Heads ▶ p20
Healing for the body, mind and soul ▶ p22
^ƉĞĐŝĂů͊ Ͳ ĚĚ ĂƚƚĞƌŝĞƐ ƚŽ ŶLJ džŝƐƚŝŶŐ ^ŽůĂƌ ^LJƐƚĞŵ ŶĚ 'Ğƚ Ă &ƌĞĞ WĂŶĞů ůĞĂŶ͊
Ž LJŽƵ ŚĂǀĞ ƐŽůĂƌ ƉĂŶĞůƐ LJĞƚ ĨŝŶĚ LJŽƵƌ ďŝůů ŝƐ ŶŽǁ ƚǁŝĐĞ ĂƐ ŵƵĐŚ ĂƐ ŝƚ ǁĂƐ ůĂƐƚ LJĞĂƌ͍ dŚĞ ĞůĞĐƚƌŝĐŝƚLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŝƐ ďƌŽŬĞŶ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƚĂŝůĞƌƐ ŚĂǀĞ ĂƚƚĂĐŬĞĚ ƐŽůĂƌ ƵƐĞƌƐ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ĚŽƵďůĞ ǁŚĂŵŵLJ Ͳ Ăůůů ^ůĂƐŚ ƚŚĞ ĂŵŽƵŶƚ ƚŚĞLJ ƉĂLJ ĨŽƌ LJŽƵƌ ƐŽůĂƌ ĞŶĞƌŐLJ ĂŶĚ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ Ăůů ƚŚĞ ŽƚŚĞƌ ĐŚĂƌŐĞƐ͘ DŽƌĞ ƉĂŝŶ ŝƐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ǁĂLJ ͲĂŶŽƚŚĞƌ ϮϬй tŝƚŚ Ś ƉĂLJďĂĐŬƐƐ ĂƐƐ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ŝŶ ƉŽǁĞƌ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ƚŚŝƐ LJĞĂƌ͘ tŝƚŚ ƉĂLJďĂĐŬƐ ĂƐ ůŽǁ ĂƐ ϱ LJĞĂƌƐ͕ ƐŽůĂƌ ůŽǁ ǁ ĂƐƐ ϱ ϱ LJĞĂƌƐ͕͕ ƐŽůůĂƌ hŶůĞƐƐ LJŽƵ ŚĂǀĞ ƐŽůĂƌ ďĂƚƚĞƌŝĞƐ LJŽƵ ĂƌĞ ĨĂĐŝŶŐ ƐĞƌŝŽƵƐ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞƐ ŝŶ ĞŶĞƌŐLJ ĐŽƐƚƐ͘ ϴϴϴ ^ŽůĂƌ dĞŬ ŚĂǀĞ ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŚƵŶĚƌĞĚƐ ŽĨ ƐŽůĂƌ ďĂƚƚĞƌŝĞƐ ĂƌĞ ďĂƚƚĞƌŝĞƐ Ɛ ĂƌĞ Ğ ďĂƚƚĞƌLJ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ EŽƌƚŚĞƌŶ ZŝǀĞƌƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ϴ LJĞĂƌƐ͘ /Ĩ LJŽƵ ĞƐƐĞŶƚŝĂů ĨŽƌ ůŽǁĞƌ ĞƐƐĞŶƚŝĂů ů ĨŽƌƌ ůŽǁĞƌƌ ŚĂǀĞ ĞdžŝƐƚŝŶŐ ƐŽůĂƌ ƉĂŶĞůƐ ǁĞ ĐĂŶ ĞĂƐŝůLJ ƌĞƚƌŽĨŝƚ ƐŽůĂƌ ďĂƚƚĞƌŝĞƐ ƚŽ ďŝůůƐ ĂŶĚ ĨƌĞĞĚŽŵ ďŝůůƐ Ɛ ĂŶĚ Ě ĨƌĞĞĚŽŵ ƐƚŽƌĞ LJŽƵƌ ƉŽǁĞƌ ĨŽƌ ŽǀĞƌŶŝŐŚƚ ƵƐĞ͘ tŚLJ ďƵLJ ŵŽƌĞ ĞdžƉĞŶƐŝǀĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƉƌŝĐĞ ƌŝƐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ĨƌŽŵ ŵ ƉƌŝĐĞ Ğ ƌŝƐĞƐƐ ĂŶĚ Ě ĞůĞĐƚƌŝĐŝƚLJ ǁŚĞŶ LJŽƵ ĐĂŶ ƵƐĞ ŵŽƌĞ ŽĨ LJŽƵƌ ĨƌĞĞ ƐŽůĂƌ ƉŽǁĞƌ͍ Ăůů sŝŶĐĞŶƚ ŶŽǁ ƚŽ ŐĞƚ Ă ĨƌĞĞ ŽŶͲƐŝƚĞ ĐŽŶƐƵůƚĂƚŝŽŶ͘ ďďůĂĐŬŽƵƚƐ͘ ůĂĐŬŽƵƚƐ͘
&DSWXU UH &DSWXUH WKH H 6XQ Q WKH 6XQ
• Bangalow: 845 ‘Yes’, 374 ‘No’ • Billinudgel: 316 ‘Yes’, 206 ‘No’ • Brunswick Heads: 945 ‘Yes’, 544 ‘No’ • Byron Bay (three polling booths
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