New Murwillumbah event sparks community conversations

A NEW community-led event in Murwillumbah is inviting locals to join open conversations about big ideas, from climate action to conspiracy theories.

Held on the first Tuesday of each month at Kombucha Cafe, Daring Dialogues was founded by Dr Richard Hill as a spin-off from his Politics of Life: This Stuff Matters series.

The free, public-square-style gathering encourages respectful discussion on topics ranging from the role of art in society to misinformation and community resilience. Participant and speaker Lynne Kohler said the format was informal but democratic. “The process is pretty relaxed – a topic will emerge, then we’ll workshop it, and it can change quite a lot,” Kohler said. “It’s not meant to be a debate – it’s about sparking ideas for discussion with the community and people having the space to stand up and have their say.

“The first night, I was terrified about taking the mic, but now I tend to take it all the time.”

Kombucha Cafe owner Jeani Rose Atchison said she was proud to host the event. “We’ve got the venue, and it’s great to have these kinds of community-led conversations,” Atchison said.

“The ethos of community leading these discussions is also what we’re about as a business.”

Each session features a speaker followed by crowd discussion, with an MC moderating and a roaming mic for two-minute contributions.

“The Kombucha Cafe has been amazing in supporting us and generously giving us this space, so we encourage the participants to support them in return when they come along,” Kohler said.

“There are great drinks and delicious tacos on the night, and we want to support the business that supports the community like this.” The next Daring Dialogues event, focused on fast fashion, will be held Tuesday, August 5.

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