Shaggy Dog Comments...

There's a bit of a quibble brewing between Lismore and Kyogle councils over the name of the road between the two towns, which is currently called the Kyogle Road. The problem is that Kyogle has a similarly named road heading to Murwillumbah, so it suggested the Lismore-Kyogle road be called 'Bentley Road'. Lismore council staff said no - we've already got one of those at Tullera.

They offered 'Disputed Plains Road'. It would have been appropriate considering the response from Lismore councillors last week. After some debate, Lismore decided to keep things the way they are - or as Cr Ros Irwin summed it up "We're going to say get stuffed". But the best moment came when Cr David Tomlinson suggested the local Aboriginal Lands Council should be consulted to suggest a name. "The Road to Reconciliation" Cr John Crowther quipped. Cr Reg Baxter thought that was a dumb idea "because you'll end up with a name you can't even pronounce". Kyogle is an aboriginal word meaning bush turkey. Maybe that's why Reg lives in Lismore.

Richmond Valley Council was discussing the KFC development in Casino when Cr Don Harvery said "I don't know if I should declare an interest, because I eat there." Quicker that you can say Colonel's secret recipe, the diminutive Cr Ray Jeffery blurted out "It looks like it, mate", leading to chortling round the table.

Declaring a Conflict of Interest became a popular theme of the meeting. Later on, when discussing street lights for Casino, Cr Eileen Melling wondered whether she should declare an interest because "there's one between Ross Schipp's (council's general manager) house and mine".

This year's Federal election is already turning into the equivalent of Chinese water torture, with both Labor and the Coalition in phoney election mode. This week the government resorted to its favourite propaganda weapon, advertising. Pity the poor ABC, which has to deal with pathetic funding, while Kerry Packer's Nine network gets richer thanks to those ads. Howard Inc has become the nation's biggest advertiser, outpacing even the hamburger and furniture sellers. The Opposition has been jumping up and down claiming the government is spending $20 million a month. Like most things Beazley's whiners say, that's utter crap. True Howard is rorting the system, but who do we blame for that? Well, Labor. Under Keating, the ALP set up the system in 1995 so they could stick their snouts in the trough first (remember all those Bill Hunter Working Nation ads...) Now the government's going hell for leather reminding pensioners they got $300 a couple of weeks ago.

But the people we worry most about are the advertising agencies charged with dispensing the government's wisdom. If you're a Lismore small businessperson whose store was damaged in the February floods, the good news is that the deadline for the Flood Business Grant assistance package has been extended until June 29 (Phone Centrelink on 1800 050 585). If you missed the June 1 deadline, act now to score up to $10,000. The bad news is that you won't find the ad detailing this in The Echo, which covers Lismore. It was placed in the Byron Echo - a shire that wasn't flooded or declared a natural disaster area to make them eligible for the grant. Oh well, those country towns all look the same to ad jocks in North Sydney.

From The Echo, June 21, 1991: Nimbin's now famed permaculture hamlet, Jarlanbah, by developer John Hunter, was before Lismore council. Dunoon was looking at building a sports club. Lismore council was chasing a $5,706 bill for repairs after the visiting Moscow Circus damaged sports grounds in Goonellabah. And council decided to charge $1 to walk through the rainforest display at the Heritage Centre.

Beatles fans and Seed Savers Jude and Michel Fanton caught our eye with this sign. Jude is currently in India with the Green Foundation conducting training on vegetable seed production in villages.

For details on the Byron-based Seedsavers, visit www.seedsavers.net or email info@seedsavers.net.