List: Northern NSW’s list biggest stories from the Murwillumbah bank robbery to Chris Hemsworth’s new house
From swamp beer to an unsolved bank heist, northern NSW has seen its fair share of the weird and wonderful. Throw in Chris Hemsworth’s new Byron pad and Russell Crowe’s Hollywood plans for Coffs and it’s been quite the ride.
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From the strange to the tragic and the outright outlandish - there’s rarely a dull moment in Northern NSW.
Here, we look back at some of the biggest stories to have come out of this area in recent times.
Murbah Swamp beer
On Good Friday in 2001 a semi-trailer carrying 40,000 bottles of beer crashed into the Tweed River near Murwillumbah.
As word quickly spread across town, locals took the clean up into their own hands with a mission to rescue every last beer that entered their river.
By the time the police salvage divers came to the crash site, there was not a bottle to be seen.
Instead the small town of ‘Murbah’ celebrated the Easter long weekend over many cold brews and stories about their involvement in the great beer salvage.
At the time, the news made headlines across Australia and local film makers Gary Doust and Brook Wilson made an award-winning documentary about that recovery.
The film was named after the beer which became known as ‘Murbah Swamp Beer’ because the labels had come off the bottles and only the letters MSB remained.
Ballina shark attacks
In 2015 and 2016, Ballina became shark attack central.
The world took notice when Japanese national Tadashi Nakahara was killed by a great white at Shelly Beach in Ballina on February 9, 2015 – less than 24 hours after Jabez Reitman was stalked and mauled at Seven Mile Beach in Byron Bay.
Bodyboarder Mathew Lee was then attacked off Lighthouse Beach on July 2, 2015, suffering horrific injuries to both legs.
But at the end of 2016, these attacks ceased as quickly as they began, despite the number of sharks congregating off northern NSW being no less today than what it was a few years back when the ocean waters turned red with blood.
According to scientists, while the sharks are still there, they are just not coming as close to shore for the time being.
Port Macquarie’s ‘mystery mouth’
In 2016, a ‘mystery mouth’, with a large ring of teeth, washed up at Lake Cathie after a series of storms and giant sea swells.
It caused a stir in the community, with people trying to figure out what creature it could have come from.
After countless emails and feedback on social media, it was eventually identified as the gill rakers of a mulloway.
Gill rakers are bony or cartilaginous projections which point forward and inward from the gill arches. They aid in the fish’s feeding.
“Not sure what others are thinking but I’m 100 per cent sure it’s a large fish’s gill rakers,” Andrew Martin from Laurieton said at the time.
Chris Hemsworth’s second Byron pad
Over the past decades, Byron has become synonymous with the rich and famous.
One of the small town’s most famous local residents, Chris Hemsworth, hit the news in 2018 when he snapped up another chunk of prime Byron Bay real estate to give his family somewhere to say while his mega-mansion was being built.
A Balinese-inspired house at Suffolk Park, which fronts Tallow Beach, was bought by Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky for $4.3 million in July 2018.
At the time, neighbours were entertained by a lavish Hamptons-style makeover complete with high-end security, masses of white paint and huge transplanted Canary Island date palms.
Suffolk Park, seven kilometres south of Byron Bay, is a quiet suburb popular with families.
But it didn’t take long for locals to find out who was behind the high-end makeover, as the genetically gifted pair emerged onto the dog-friendly beach with their three children and energetic labradoodle.
Lismore blockade
With the departure of Metgasco from the region in 2015, the Bentley blockade assumed a permanent place in the history books, according to activism academic and gas fields free organiser Aidan Ricketts.
Mr Ricketts, who is writing his PhD on the gas fields free movement, said the now famous blockade had achieved several “firsts” in protest history.
One was the fact a state government was fully prepared to send 800 police to the region and then backed down – before breaking the blockade.
Bentley was also unprecedented because unlike the famous Franklin Dam blockade in Tasmania and the Daintree in Far North Queensland, it wasn’t led by a small group of hardened protesters but a “whole region”.
Because of this, basic planning tasks like catering, setting up a temporary headquarters (in the Bentley RFS shed), and finding accommodation proved an obstacle for NSW Police.
“They’re all things that showed the entire community just wasn’t onside – I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before in Australia,” Mr Ricketts said at the time.
When the Queen came to Coffs
The late Queen visited the north coast of NSW twice – once in 1954 as part of her first tour to the antipodes, and again in 1970 as part of bicentenary celebrations.
The 1970 Royal tour was in connection with the bicentenary anniversary of James Cook’s 1770 voyage up the east coast of Australia, and saw the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as Princess Anne and the Prince of Wales received by large, warm crowds across the country.
Upon HMY Britannia, they sailed from Hobart up the east coast, arriving in Coffs Harbour on April 11, 1970 to fine weather after recent storms.
After a morning meeting with local representatives and civic organisations at the Civic Centre, lunch was taken at Bruxner Park with a timber felling for entertainment.
The Queen and Prince Philip were then hosted by the Coffs Harbour Surf Lifesaving Club for a Royal Surf Carnival, attended by 35,000 people.
Lismore floods
2022 was a devastating year for Lismore, as thousands of residents lost their homes, and tragically some their lives, after flood waters smashed through the town, leaving a trail of trauma and destruction.
Today, thousands of residents remain in limbo – scattered far and wide and in the dark about what the future holds after the February-March 2022 disasters.
The state and federal governments have committed more than $4.6 billion toward flood recovery efforts in the Northern Rivers – but just over 10 per cent has been paid out a year on, as residents cry for help and a sense of hopelessness washes over some communities.
Federal and state MPs including Kevin Hogan and Janelle Saffin have called for a faster response to the floods. Ms Saffin has also spoken out about her own traumatic experience, which includes her husband almost drowning, and significant damage to her home.
The Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC) has received more than 6500 applications for buybacks of property across the region.
Murwillumbah bank robbery
The year was 1978 and it was described as a muggy November 23 night when the Murwillumbah’s bank was broken into in one of Australia’s biggest heists.
Without interruption, the men forced their way into the Bank of NSW (now Westpac) on the town’s main street, just steps from the police station – through the wooden back door, making for the strongroom.
There, they set up a sophisticated magnetic drilling rig and proceeded to bust open the vault and steal $1,763,400 worth of bills.
In today’s money that equates to about $9.6 million.
Nine hours after the fugitives had made their million dollar escape, a bank official stuck his head through the door and confirmed what all had suspected, stating: “They got the lot”.
To this day the crime has never been solved.
Mysterious Evans Head sea creature
In 2018, Evans Head was abuzz with news about a weird-looking sea creature which had washed ashore.
The Facebook group, Evans Head Goes Wild, was inundated with questions and guesses after a photograph of the sea creature was posted.
“This strange organism was found along Airforce Beach. There were several washed on the sand,” the group posted.
“Has anyone seen them before?”
There was plenty of speculation but no solid conclusion reached by the group’s followers:
Des Boorman: “Just a guess but maybe some sort of egg case squid or octopus.”
Russell Turner: “Whale sperm?”
Liam Norris: “Looks like it has eggs in it, but yeah I’m not sure what it is.”
Fishing for beer in Lismore
John was a local fisherman who usually pulled spanner crabs, snapper and mullet from his net.
But since a semi-trailer loaded with beer crashed off the Pacific Highway into the Richmond River near Wardell in 2007, he’s been fishing for stubbies.
“I’ve been three times now and got about 2000 stubbies altogether. But I’ve heard of other guys who have pulled out around 4000 stubbies,” he said.
John, who didn’t want his surname published, said he heard about the beer bounty in the river from a couple of mates who had already been helping themselves.
John said he once took his kids with him and they were ‘over the moon’ about pulling a few six-packs out with the gaffe hook.
Another local fisherman, Paul, and his mate, nearly sunk their tinnie one night after overloading it with about 70 cartons of beer.
Strange lights in the sky
Over the years there have been many reports of strange lights in the sky in Northern NSW.
From as far back as the beginning of the 20th century people have reported curious illuminations in the Northern Rivers area.
That’s what happened over 60 years ago when Brian Crittenden, 21, of Casino, said he saw a “bright dome-shaped white light” in the sky on January 14, 1958, while driving home from his girlfriend’s house in Shannonbrook.
Not only did he see the light - it followed him.
“I was driving on Benn’s Rd at the time and the light appeared to fall behind some hills nearby,” he told The Northern Star at the time.
“It then shot up from behind the hills and came towards me and then followed the car.”
Mr Crittenden said he thought he was imagining it, but every time he turned to look the light was still behind the car.
He said he was so frightened he didn’t stop to change a tyre which had gone flat.
Closure of Grafton jail
In 2020, Corrective Services NSW staff held the last flag-lowering ceremony at Grafton Correctional Centre for the final time in the facility’s 127-year history.
Foe more than a century, old Grafton jail had been a constant of the city’s landscape.
Built in 1893, the Grafton Correctional Centre was an institution in the community, providing near countless employment and in many cases, bringing new families to the region.
The community fought hard against plans to close the jail in 2012, with picket lines and protests on the street.
However, with the $800 million 1700-bed Clarence Correctional Centre completed, Grafton Correctional Centre is now closed for good.
Russell Crowe’s grand plans for Coffs
In 2021, Russell Crowe announced his grand ambition to bring Hollywood Down Under.
The Oscar-winning actor announced in June 2021 he would be bankrolling the estimated $438 million vision for a former banana plantation site in Coffs Harbour which is currently home to Pacific Bay Resort.
Crowe, a long-term resident of Nana Glen in the Coffs hinterland, revealed the plans had been in the works for several years and were fuelled by his desire to bring his work closer to home.
The state government threw its support behind the plans, which Crowe envisioned would bring a desperately needed jobs’ boost to the region.
“It takes a village of professionals to make a movie,” Crowe said.
“The opportunity to build a facility like this spreads opportunity through the community by creating jobs.
“But not just jobs – actual professions and careers.”
Hermes Far Eastern Shining cult
Once the fastest-growing spiritual community in the US and Australia, Hermes Far Eastern Shining – which is frequently referred to as ‘The Water People’ – was prevalent in the mid-1990s.
A band of members sprang up in Maroochydore, Queensland, led by clinical psychologist Gerald Attrill, who reinvented himself as an alchemist and Jesus-figure called Jessa O’ My Heart.
Attrill instructed gurus to recruit at New Age festivals and target Brisbane university students before he moved members to Sydney and then to a property at Tygalum, 70km north of Byron, in the shadows of Mt Warning, more than a decade ago.
Jessa proclaimed he was the messiah who possessed the power to bless water and was sent to bring god to Earth.
He died of a suspected stroke, aged 72, in December 2012.
Scorpion-like fish
In 2021, a spiky scorpion-like fish spotted in Northern Rivers waterways proved to be no urban myth.
The bullrout ‒ also known as a freshwater stonefish or kroki ‒ is found in waterways right across the North Coast.
According to the Australian Museum, the bullrout should be handled with extreme care.
“The dorsal, anal and pelvic spines all have venom glands,” the website states.
“A puncture wound from one of these spines can be excruciatingly painful.”
Reptile Solutions recently posted about the creature on their Facebook page as a warning for anyone heading to local waterways to cool off.
“They are not an urban myth to keep the tourists away from the local waterholes,” they wrote.
Closure of the Northern Coast rail line
Just before midnight, nearly two decades ago, a crowd of about 200 turned up at Lismore railway station to witness the departure of the last train to run on the Casino to Murwillumbah line.
The sombre occasion saw a mock coffin produced by protesters mourning the loss of the train service, while others took more direct action by laying across the railway sleepers.
This was the bitter end of a long-running campaign to stop the Bob Carr Labor government ending train services on the line permanently.
Placards were waved with the words “Rail to stay, Carr and Costa to go” and “Save our train”.
The train line was a vital public service which connected people living inland at Casino, Lismore and Murwillumbah with the coast.
Various petitions launched since the closure have generated more than 17,000 signatures in favour of restoring the trains, and the campaign to reopen the line continues to bubble.
Massive scrap metal car yard fire
Last year, firefighters underwent a mammoth battle to control a massive fire in a scrap metal car yard at Trenayr, in the Grafton area.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and the Rural Fire Service (RFS) were called to the fire on Trenayr Rd just before 6pm on November 29, an RFS spokeswoman said.
As many as 1500 vehicles destined for scrap ignited, generating a mega-plume of smoke from a cocktail of chemicals.
At its height, smoke from the fire had impacted Summerland Way and other nearby roads.
Residents were warned to stay indoors, close windows and doors and to turn off airconditioning.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
Coffs Harbour’s ‘tent city’
In 2022, Roxy Quinn, a recovering drug addict, gave an exclusive insight into Coffs Harbour’s homeless district, saying she would be dead if she was still in “tent city”.
Coffs Harbour’s tent city is the result of rising housing prices and declining wages, which means more and more people are finding themselves homeless.
A 2020 report indicated there could be as many as 2000 homeless in the local government area. The 2016 Census recorded just 323 homeless people (a 15 per cent increase from 2011).
Ms Quinn, who was once one of Coffs’ homeless residents, said methadone “saved her life” but tent city put a halt on progress.
“You can’t get onto methadone if you’re homeless,” she said.
“Drugs destroyed our lives.”
When Tweed was closed off from Queensland
During the height of the Covid pandemic, Tweed was closed off from Queensland, meaning many essential workers could not enter the state they were required to be in as part of their job.
In August 2021, Tweed MP Geoff Provest said claims by the Queensland government that they are “doing all (they) can to ease the Tweed border situation” was a statement “economical with the truth”.
The MP believed the region’s Covid-19 statistics justified a return to the border zone system.
“Stopping essential workers, including medical professionals, from crossing the border doesn’t save any lives it puts lives at risk,” he said.
Mr Provest stressed said the Tweed Shire had no active cases and a greater proportion of people vaccinated.
“The stats show an immediate return to the border zone system we had in place until recently is the healthiest option for both communities,” he said.
When Chinese illegals came ashore at Scotts Head
It’s been over two decades since Scotts Head made national news after the landing of the infamous Chinese tug boat Zhou Gan Tou with 59 illegal immigrants on board.
In 2019, at the 20-year anniversary of the event, the town of 895 people remembered that unexpected day on Saturday, April 10 when the rudderless tug came ashore on a storm.
“The thing was they were all wearing suits, and you know what the dress code’s like around here - thongs, stubbies and boardshorts. You could pick them a mile away,“ Club Scotts director Victor Mankin said.
“They were all around a town, a few made it into Kempsey and up to 30km away then it all hit - police, security, Border Force, Immigration, helicopters.
“A chopper landed next to the bowling club and there were guys jumping out all fully loaded. It didn’t take them long to round them all up.”
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