Rights, Rorts and Rants

The only place in the world that the dwarf mountain pine (pherosphaera fitzgeraldii) is found is in the Upper Blue Mountains of NSW. Unfortunately, it is listed as critically endangered which is only one step away from extinction. Presenter Nick Franklin interviewed Liam Ramage, the Threatened Species Officer for the Blue Mountains Conservation Society, about the dwarf mountain pine for Rights, Ro...

Once a wonderful establishment and one of the best examples of Greek cafes in Australia the Paragon Cafe in Katoomba is boarded up and deteriorating and has been for the past 8 years. Presenter Nick Franklin spoke to Friends of the Paragon President Rob Strange for Rights, Rorts and Rants 29 May 26 show in a quiet corner of the Carrington Hotel about the current condition and status of the Paragon...

CONTENT WARNING - features discussion of political violence and oppression. In December 2024 South Koreans in Seoul prevented the imposition of martial law and dictatorship. In a world where the right to vote is often taken for granted or even disparaged, why were South Koreans so passionate– even risking their lives in defence of their democracy? The answer lies in history and in living memory, w...

On Rights, Rorts and Rants Terry Morgan talks about the Lock The Gate Alliance in conversation with Presenter Merran Maclaren. He outlines its background and past and present campaigns. For information on getting involved in current campaigns contact Jo Lynch jo@lockthegate.org or Terry Morgan djarrak@gmail.com Two tracks by Ray Dinakarri Dixon are also played during the show: The Fracking Song an...

Rights, Rorts and Rants Presenter Merran Maclaren uncovers Jim Angel's memories of community activist Muriel "Tibbi" (also known by Tibby) Whalan. Tibbi Whalan's campaigning included "Save our site", which is the site of the Tibbi Whalan Hall and Community Centre, free lunches for primary school children, creating the new Katoomba High School, Library and Senior Citizen...

The Member for the Blue Mountains Trish Doyle MP spoke to listeners from Radio Blue Mountains Katoomba studio on the Rights Rorts and Rants show on 8th May 26. Note: The first 1min 50 seconds have a track playing under the interview which was not able to be erased. We apologise for this section of poor sound quality. In a long interview Trish provided our listeners with updates on major issues of...

This podcast follows up on a November 2025 interview with Erst Carmichael from Blue Mountains Demands an Airport Curfew or BMDAC on Rights, Rorts and Rants. Erst updates listeners on the latest correspondence with BMDAC regarding noise monitors for the Mountains to monitor aircraft noise, the impacts of aircraft noise humans animals and plants in the unique Blue Mountains context and more ahead of...

Deadline looming and fast action required! On 6 March 26 Tania De Bortoli from the Blue Mountains Conservation Society (bluemountains.org.au) spoke again with Rights, Rorts and Rants on 89.1FM with an update on the "Blue Mountains - not just a suburb of Sydney" campaign to stop the proposed oversized Narrow Neck development. Blue Mountains Conservation Society have recently run community...

On 6 March 2026 Kris Newton the Executive Officer of Mountains Community Resource Network spoke to Rights, Rorts and Rants on 89.1FM about the withdrawal of all government funding by the end of March 26 and MCRN's fight to continue its work. To find out how you can help MCRN contact Kris Newton at eo@mcrn.org.au The show was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 FM on Friday 6 March 202...

Presenter Merran Maclaren spoke to Brian Mackellar and Brian Coates from KRAG, a group of volunteers bringing life and colour into Katoomba in the form of Christmas trees, flowers and a new art space. This podcast was recorded from an interview broadcast on the 27 Feb 2026 on Rights, Rorts and Rants show on Radio Blue Mountains Founder Brian McKellar explains how he became sick of hearing people c...

Academic, researcher and author of "Nuked: the submarine fiasco that sank Australia's sovereignty" (2024), Andrew Fowler spoke to Rights, Rorts and Rants' presenter Fran Dyson in February 2026 to provide us with brief history and an update on Australia's AUKUS controversial nuclear powered submarine contract with the UK and USA. Andrew's informative interview provides ins...

Peter Lammiman and Dr Rodrigo Acuña discuss Venezuela and its relationship with the US. On 3 January 2026, the United States captured and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores after launching a military strike, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve. This episode was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 23rd January, 2026. Dr Acuña, an expert on Latin...

The CSIRO plans to cut another 350 research jobs, on top of the 800 jobs already lost in the past 18 months, on top of people in non-permanent roles whose contracts won't be renewed. Presenter Nick Franklin interviewed Susan Tonks, Secretary CSIRO Staff Association which represents CSIRO union members and is affiliated with the CPSU (Commonwealth Public Service Union). The interview was follow...

Rights, Rorts and Rants Presenter Peter Lammiman interviewed Michael Wright, the Divisional Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union. The ETU is talking to politicians in Canberra about the potential safety risks to electrical apprentices when entry to TAFE is delayed. WHS training is the first content studied by electrical apprentices at TAFE but the ETU is concerned that course commencement dela...

The reason why we need aircraft noise monitors in the Blue Mountains is the commencement of flights in and out of Western Sydney International Airport that will operate 24hours/day and permanently impact the peace and quiet in the Blue Mountains from June 2026. Merran Maclaren interviews guest Erst Carmichael, spokesperson for BMDAC (Blue Mountains Demands A Curfew) on Rights, Rorts and Rants. Ers...

Ahead of the first ever Gardening with Natives workshop in the Blue Mountains to be organised by the Blue Mountains Conservation Society on 9 Nov 2025, Paul Gadsby dropped by the Radio Blue Mountains studio to discuss growing native Australian plants with Rights, Rorts and Rants. Paul is a botanist, educator and expert with 20 years experience with native plants. He has a passion for working in an...

Rights, Rorts and Rants' presenter Peter Lammiman interviewed guest Trish Doyle NSW MP for Blue Mountains to seek updates from her on a range of local issues. The interview covers a range of Blue Mountains issues from addressing PFAS in the water to examples of pressure for housing developments on sensitive sites ....from the new Mariyung fleet to upgrading the Blue Mountains Hospital. The rad...

Carol Probets lives on Darug and Gundungurra land in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. She is a bird observer and former bird guide. On Rights, Rorts and Rants Carol shares with Nick Franklin some of her extensive knowledge about the behaviour of some of the birds we may come across in the Blue Mountains. Carol and Nick spoke during the annual Aussie Bird Count and explained how to get invol...

On 24th October 25 on Rights, Rorts and Rants Peter Lammiman had a brief interview with Colin Galvin, Co-founder of the Australian Fairness Advocacy Network. A Blue Mountains resident Colin described how he is at the stage in the campaign of building awareness among Blue Mountains community groups that may lead to the development of an ethical procurement policy presented to Councillors and politi...

On 24th October 25 Nick Franklin interviewed three community members who have strong ties with Clairvaux, a site in Katoomba which has housed the treasured Wildplant Rescue for 30 years and has deep Indigenous significance. The programmes guests were Aunty Carol Cooper, elder and past resident of Clairvaux, Genevieve Murray from Blue Mountains Community Land Trust and Verity Harris from Wildplant...

What do we want from our criminal justice system? The obvious answer is “justice” but what does that look like? We know jailing is not a deterrent or reformative because theimprisonment rate has doubled under governments of both persuasions over the last thirty years and 61% of prisoners have been there before. This is despite a national cost of $6.3 billion per year. Robert Tickner of the Justice...

In this podcast RRR presenter Nick Franklin talks about ants with Sean Moore, a bush regenerator who is currently studying ants in the NSW Blue Mountains. We learn from Sean about the remarkable abilities of ants, their importance in bush regeneration and how much we are yet to find out about the thousands of ant species. Further information: Sean recommends the app iNaturalist and website AntWiki...

Rights, Rorts and Rants' Nick Franklin interviewed Tania De Bortoli from Blue Mountains Conservation Society on 19th September, 2025 on 89.1 FM. Tanya concisely describes reasons for ConSoc's grave concerns about a 4-storey, high density housing development proposed for Narrow Neck Road, Katoomba NSW and the approval process that does not include local environment and control requirements....

Veterans of the Peace Movement, groups like ICAN, Rotary and Quakers, and young activists gathered for a Peace Symposium in Katoomba in the 80th year since the US obliterated the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima with nuclear weapons. The event included internationally renowned speakers Robert Tickner AO,  the Ambassador for ICAN , and  Dr Siswo Pramono, Indonesian Ambassador, as well as M...

This interview with the late John Ellison was recorded at nolan on lovel gallery on June 20th 2025 by Merran Maclaren and played the same day on the Rights, Rorts and Rants radio show. The interview was recorded during 'Flexing', an exhibition of John's watercolour paintings. The paintings in the exhibition are discussed first then Merran asks John about the history of The Winter Magic...