The Northern Rivers Times Newspaper Edition 216

The Northern Rivers Times is packed with essential information as we continue our “Meet the Candidates” series. This week, we’re featuring the candidates from Ballina, Kyogle, Lismore, and Richmond Valley, giving you a closer look at the people vying for your vote.

The Northern Rivers Times is packed with essential information as we continue our “Meet the Candidates” series. This week, we’re featuring the candidates from Ballina, Kyogle, Lismore, and Richmond Valley, giving you a closer look at the people vying for your vote.
Our comprehensive 72-page edition is full of insights, interviews, and profiles to help you make an informed decision at the upcoming elections.
Pick up your copy early tomorrow from your nearest Newsagent, Woolworths, or Ampol Foodary service station, general and rural stores. Don’t miss out on this vital resource for the Northern Rivers community!

Our comprehensive 72-page edition is full of insights, interviews, and profiles to help you make an informed decision at the upcoming elections.
Pick up your copy early tomorrow from your nearest Newsagent, Woolworths, or Ampol Foodary service station, general and rural stores. Don’t miss out on this vital resource for the Northern Rivers community!

World champion took 20 years to get back in the water

By Samantha Elley

For 20 years, Joel Taylor stayed out of the water after an horrific bodyboarding accident that resulted in his paraplegia.

“I had my injury in 2001 at Pipeline, Hawaii,” the now 43-year-old man said.

“I was a professional body boarder.

“Now I’m a pro on a surf board and I have 20 year to make up.”

And that is exactly what the Lennox Head man is doing.

Joel is the Australian Para Surfing Champion, World Para Surfing Champion, Australian Para Surfer of the Year and Ballina Shire Citizen of the Year.

“I successfully defended my Australian Para Surfing Title at the 2024 Australian Surfing Championships, comboing the field in the final with the highest heat total of the event,” he said.

Next step, defending his world title at the ISA World Para Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach, California in November.

“Before that, I will be at Oceanside, California in early September for the fourth and final event of the world adaptive surfing tour,” said Joel.

“I am in the running to win the tour championship in my rookie year.”

Not bad for someone who, at the beginning of the year, wasn’t sure he wanted to keep competing.

“I’d had a big year last year, so I was 50-50,” he said.

“Then I decided to go all in.

“My main goal has been winning Australian titles again.”

Joel’s regime includes exercising twice a day, six days a week, then surfing a few times a week.

This is a far cry from the man who refused to go in the water after his accident.

“There was fear, anger and just the unknown,” he said of giving up his surfing.

“There was only a handful of people who surfed with disabilities, and I didn’t know it was a possibility.

“I didn’t know there was a whole sport developing and once I found that out and I could access the beach, (I’m hoping) para surfing could be included in the Paralympics.”

While he uses a surfboard, rather than a bodyboard now, Joel Taylor said that it felt natural.

“It felt like I’d been in the water yesterday. All those years faded away. I was supposed to be there. It felt like I was home,” he said.

“Once I am in the ocean, I am independent.

“I need help to get down to the water, but I catch waves by myself.

“I ride prone doing a combination of bodyboarding and surfing. Similar moves to stand up surfing in a prone position.

“It’s a hell of a lot of fun even if I get funny looks from people.”

Joel Taylor hopes that para surfing will be included in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.

“It was approved by the IOC and IPC, but unfortunately the organisation committee for LA knocked back the suggestion to put us in,” he said.

“We have a petition going around to get us included.

“Any additional signatures would be great.”

If you would like to sign the petition to get para surfing in the LA 2028 Paralympics, you can go to the link below:

Petition · Save Paralympic Surfing LA 2028 – United States · Change.org.

For more local Ballina news, click here.

Northern Rivers Koala Hospital needs funding: Urgent appeal for support

By Sarah Waters

Koalas are becoming an increasingly rare sight in NSW and the one organisation that is dedicated solely to their care in the Northern Rivers is desperately trying to keep operating as normal.

The Northern Rivers Koala Hospital, operated by Friends of the Koala, has made an urgent plea for financial support.

A decline in donations and available funding has threatened the hospital’s ability to operate effectively.

The hospital is specifically designed for the medical treatment of koalas and is the only wildlife hospital in NSW licensed to vaccinate all treated koalas against Chlamydia – the number one cause of death for koalas in the Northern Rivers.

General manager of Friends of the Koala Silva Everaers said more than 350 Koalas are treated at the hospital each year.

“From July last year we’ve seen a 20 per cent increase in koalas coming in, versus the year before,” Ms Everaers said.

“It will continue to increase as the threats to koalas are increasing with climate change, natural disasters, habitat being destroyed causing more koalas on the road, which leads to car hits, dog attacks and more diseases due to stress.

“So that’s obviously concerning, and it has been really, really busy for our volunteers rescuing and caring for them,” she said.

The Northern Rivers Koala Hospital was formed in 2019 and is part of the wider Friends of the Koala (FOK) organisation.

The FOK organisation receives government grants for certain projects including a recent grant to vaccinate 300 koalas against chlamydia.

But no government money is received for the operational cost of the koala hospital.

General Manager of Friends of the Koala Silva Everaers

Half a million dollars needs to be raised by Friends of the Koala each year to cover the hospital’s annual operating expenses.

It is set up with diagnostic and treatment tools including ultrasounds, x-rays, a blood bank, as well as surgical and pathology equipment to provide specialised 24/7 veterinary care to koalas.

Until more funds become available the hospital may not be able to continue in its current capacity.

Ms Everaers said the priority was to keep the hospital funded and veterinary staff paid.

“That really is where the research and the magic happens,” she said.

“We work with over 300 volunteers, who do an absolutely incredible job rescuing and rehabilitating the koalas treated in our hospital, and because of that we are able to keep operational costs really, really low.

“But we can’t do it without financial support, in the end, there’s medicine, veterinary staff, the equipment we need, research facilities – it’s not free.”

Friends of the Koala have set up a special donation drive, appealing to the public’s generosity to help keep the hospital in operation and maintain their high standards of care.

Anyone with a heart for wildlife, including business owners and philanthropists, can become a ‘Friend of the Northern Rivers Koala Hospital’ at: friendsofthekoala.org or support by donating to the organisation.

Friends of the Koala are a grassroots organisation with more than 35 years of experience working on critical, on-the-ground activities to conserve habitat and protect koalas individually and as a species.

It originated as a charity focused on planting trees but has evolved into a multifaceted organisation that also provides 24/7 koala rescue, medical treatment, research, advocacy and community education.

Friends of the Koala has successfully rehabilitated and released over 2000 koalas back into the wild since its inception.

The Northern Rivers is home to one of the last significant, genetically diverse koala populations.

For more local news, click here.