It was inspiring to join the North Coast Greens family to welcome NSW Greens MPs Jamie Parker and Jenny Leong, along with the Greens MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman, to our Plastic Free July celebration at Wildspace on Main Arm Road at the weekend.

It was quite a party, and 💯 per cent free from disposables! 

It was a gala day for pool openings on Saturday.

The weather was ideal for the re-opening of both the Ballina and Alstonville pools. As the patron of the Ballina RSL Sub-branch I was particularly delighted to see the Ballina Memorial Pool looking so wonderful.

Congratulations to Ballina Shire Council for delivering such wonderful amenities and well done to the community who have contributed through their rates towards truly first-class swimming baths that are there for everyone.

New holiday letting laws could mean the end of our communities

Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith says proposed legislation expected to be voted on in August could mean the end of communities as we know them in many areas of Byron and Ballina.

E News Update

I share the joy and relief of the Lennox and wider community at the withdrawal of the DA for the expanded sand mine at Newrybar Swamp Rd.

After attending a meeting between the RMS and Meerschaum Vale and Wardell residents on Monday, Tamara Smith says it's time for a dedicated RMS Ombudsman and for an inquiry into how highways are built in New South Wales.  

People forming a human NO on the beach at Lennox Head to protest against the sand mine. 

Community power wins – no new sand mine for Lennox

Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith today congratulated the group No Sand Mines for Lennox and its supporters across the community for its stand against a sand mine at Newrybar Swamp Rd.

Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith will support Meerschaum Vale and Wardell residents as they discuss their concerns at a meeting tonight with representatives from the RMS and its subcontractors.

“Residents from Wardell feel the RMS has not listened to their concerns about the speed of heavy vehicles going through their town, or taken seriously enough the damage that the heavy vehicle traffic has been causing to their houses,” said Ms Smith.

I'm looking forward to hearing former Australian Greens leader Christine Milne at the Byron Writers Festival next month.

I was happy to sponsor Christine's appearance for an In Conversation session with Margaret Throsby on the Saturday morning of the festival, to learn more about her focus on serious legislative action on global warming, advocacy for human rights and the restoration of our democracy.

She is also appearing as a panel member in a session entitled How to Buy less Stuff and Save the World.

In another session, called Keeping the Blue Planet Green, she is joined by Joelle Gergis, author of Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia, which highlights the impact of a warming planet on Australian lifestyles and ecosystems, and David Ritter, the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, whose book The Coal Truth: The Fight to Stop Adani, defeat the big polluters and reclaim our democracy provides a timely and colourful contribution to the crucial topic of the future of the coal industry in Australia. 

See you there!

Investigative journalist Carey Gillam will be one of many authors tackling environmental issues at the Byron Writers Festival in August.

Her book,  Whitewash: the Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer and the Corruption of Science, paints a damning picture of the glyphosate herbicide Roundup. A growing body of evidence indicates the Monsanto product has links to cancers and a host of other health threats, and Gillam's book reveals evidence of widespread corporate influence.

Other books to be showcased include: 

Michael Ableman's Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier tells of residents of a Vancouver slum who joined together to create an urban farm as a means of addressing the chronic problems in their neighborhood.

Eskil Engdal & Kjetil Saeter have an story of high adventure in Catching Thunder: the True Story of the World’s Longest Sea Chase, about Sea Shepherd's pursuit of an infamous illegal fishing ship, the Thunder, in the forbidding waters off Antarctica.

Joelle Gergis highlights the impact of a warming planet on Australian lifestyles and ecosystems in Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia, while Micheline Jenner reveals The Secret Life of Whales - her findings from 30 years of cetacean research while raising two daughters at sea.

Locals Emma and Tom Lane will share the story of moving their young family to the Byron Bay hinterland in search of a simpler life, which unexpectedly led them to create The Farm, in The Farm Community.

Charles Massy's  Call of the Reed Warbler looks at how regenerative agriculture can save our health and planet.

The CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, David Ritter provides a timely and colourful contribution to one of the most important struggles in our national history - the future of the coal industry, in The Coal Truth: The Fight to Stop Adani, defeat the big polluters and reclaim our democracy.

And finally, former Australian Greens leader Christine Milne will be on the panel for several sessions, including How to Buy less Stuff and Save the World; Keeping the Blue Planet Green, and In Conversation with Margaret Throsby.

See you there!