Rights, Rorts and Rants

Until the 1970's no government would permit the unemployment rate to exceed 2%. This statement is usually met with disbelief but it's true. The unemployment rate announced today has unexpectedly dropped from 7.5% to 6.8%. This seems like good news but a closer look shows that the drop is likely due to an increase in gig employment , which is basically a form of self employment, insecure, poorly pa...

LIFE - the Living Incomes for Everyone campaign are a network of grass roots organisations, with endorsements from around Australia. We encourage people to join our broad movement to win an adequate income for everyone, to have a home, food and the other necessities for an adequate standard of living. Deb Smith spoke to Janet Burstall to find out more about their demands which include living incom...

In this episode of Rights, Rorts and Rants , on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM BMUC Tara Cameron the President of the Blue Mountains Conservation Society discusses the current major issues of concern to the society.   Tara and presenter Merran MacLaren  discuss the proposed Govetts Leap car park redesign, the Katoomba Airfield lease, the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall which  will t...

Rights, Rorts and Rants 21st August BMUC member and regular guest Jeanie Baxter discusses accelerated projects with presenter Fran Dyson.  The discussion raises concerns that expected regulatory checks, particularly in planning and developments, are being bypassed by the NSW Government due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  If you'd like to add to the discussion, you can  leave an audio com...

Rights, Rorts and Rants 21 August 2020 BMUC Secretary Debra Smith presents an up to date round up of events and industrial decisions which affect all Australian workers including pandemic leave and modern slavery.  If you'd like to add to the discussion, you can  leave an audio comment about our show, which may be added to one of our podcasts. This episode was first broadcast on  Ra...

Solicitor and BMUC member Mike Holland describes to presenter Fran Dyson  Henry VIII clauses.  These clauses began during King Henry's VIII's reign and continue into contemporary Australian parliamentary practices. Note: Due to technical difficulties the following information from the start of Mike's talk was not recorded .  "Henry VIII died in 1547. Yet two acts of parliament passe...

At the sunset of their lives our care of the aged is failing. In this episode of Rights, Rorts and Rants , on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM BMUC members and their guests investigate the state of aged care in Australia as "An expert witness to the Royal Commission into Aged Care has criticised Australia's response to COVID-19 in aged care homes — saying residents have been treated as second-class cit...

"These veins of life they sustain us all Cleanse and purify our soul So as we jump in, remember we are whole Give thanks and praise to the water as it flows" Water Song in Honour of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers - Manoa Blue Mountains Unions & Community member John Hockney talks to environmental hydrologist Peter Dupen about a precious resource - water. If you'd like to add to the discussion,...

Poet Brendan Doyle has been writing and sharing poems in the Blue Mountains for years and, in this broadcast from the City of the Arts , he reads us some of his work.  He was born in Sydney and grew up in Newtown, in a house with no books apart from a set of Richards Topical Encylopedias.  At 17 he started keeping a journal occasionally writing poetry. He was inspired by poets he learned...

"Where has all the money gone?" In this episode BMUC members with a lay interest in economic matters take a look at the so called economic cliff awaiting us in September: when JobKeeper and JobSeeker are wound back, mortgage and rental arrears have to start being repaid, and unemployment/underemployment are likely to be much higher.  Warren Ross and Jeannie Baxter join Fran Dyson to discuss t...

In Episode 2 of " Mudmaps and Milestones ", Marilla North talks about the autobiographies of Clive James . This episode was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 17th July 2020. Disclaimer: We seek a range of perspectives but that means that views expressed in these podcasts are not necessarily endorsed by the Blue Mountains Unions Council Inc . Apply to be a guest on our show . Join a...

Workers' News 10th July 2020 - a short summary of events in industrial relations in Australia. In this episode, President of the ACTU, Michele O'Neil will be presenting an ACTU post COVID-19 Jobs Plan at the National Press Club , the Australian Education Union release the findings of the 2020 "State of Our TAFEs" survey and retail workers lose bid to prevent Sunday penalty rate cuts from taking ef...

In Episode 1 of " Mudmaps and Milestones ", Marilla North introduces herself and the segment which will feature weekly on Rights, Rorts and Rants which broadcasts on Friday afternoons from 4pm to 6pm. What's the relationship between mudmaps and milestones? You can find out more by listening! This episode was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 10th July 2020. Disclaimer: We seek a ra...

A review of Zoe Fletcher's book " Frogalik's Star " by the children of the Blaxland family. The book, and accompanying colouring book, can be purchased directly from the author by ringing 0497 766 522 or emailing her at zoefletcherartist@gmail.com .

On Thursday, 25th June 2020 a few BMUC friends decided to go for a walk at Radiata Plateau. Who should we meet just as we arrived but our local NSW MP and BMUC member Trish Doyle MP ? Before we knew it we had the honour of witnessing the handover of Radiata Plateau to National Parks, as Trish asked us to delay our walk and wait for the NSW Minister for the Environment Matt Kean to arrive.  Wi...

The Blue Mountains Gazette has reported on 22nd June 2020 that our local elected representatives from the NSW State Government, Trish Doyle MP , and the Blue Mountains City Council, Mayor Mark Greenhill and Ward 1 Councillor Don McGregor , have been excluded from community consultation meetings about the duplication of the Great Western Hwy in the upper mountains . According to the Gazette, "The c...

A short roundup of events and decisions which affect all Australian workers. Compiled by Deb Smith and presented by Fran Dyson and Nick Franklin. Join a union - 1300 486 466 or join online . This episode was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 19th June 2020. Disclaimer: We seek a range of perspectives but that means that views expressed in these podcasts are not necessarily endorsed...

Nick Franklin talks to Dr Lee Duffield about the closure of local and regional newspapers by the Murdoch press, and the future of journalism. They discuss the possibilities of a changing media landscape for local journalism and for journalists, and the rise of independent media. Duffield is a media editor for Independent Australia . "He has been practising and teaching journalism for over 40 years...

Former ABC journalists Nick Franklin and Matt Peacock discuss the decimation of the ABC over many years, with the latest cuts threatening hundreds of jobs, and the quality and existence of our national broadcaster, the ABC. Although retired, Nick is an active member of Blue Mountains Unions & Community and one of team of volunteer presenters on Rights, Rorts & Rants Blue Mountains communit...

Deb Smith talks to Dr Jenna Price, an academic at the University of Technology Sydney and a columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times about her experience of teaching and working via Zoom because of the CORONA-19 pandemic. Dr Price wrote an article, " Getting on talking terms with our new Zoom or bust lives " which was published in the Canberra Times on 24th April 2020. This i...

Archival material In the wake of the 2019/2020 megafires we interviewed Mina Howard about the HUFF program - a community program based on neighbours knowing and helping their neighbours. Mina, who had the idea for Heads Up For Fire after the 2009 Victorian bushfires, tells us about the HUFF program, how it's evolved and some of the lessons learnt in the Blue Mountains during the 2019 megafires. HU...

The "Quiet" Australian shares his horror at the removal of PM Scott Morrison's statue from Katoomba and his insider knowledge of the Queen's Birthday Honours system. *Satire alert! This episode was first broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 12th June 2020. Disclaimer: We seek a range of perspectives but that means that views expressed in these podcasts are not necessarily endorsed by the Bl...

Rights, Rorts and Rants presenter James Dawes gives us an insightful round up of events related to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. This episode was recorded on 13th June 2020 and broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 14th June. Disclaimer: We seek a range of perspectives but that means that views expressed in these podcasts are not necessarily endorsed by the Blue Mount...

Content warning: This episode discusses Aboriginal people who have died. We've heard conflicting reports about a disturbance in Long Bay Prison , with authorities telling us it was an argument about drugs, but with evidence it was a Black Lives Matter protest about the more than 430 Aboriginal deaths in custody since 1991 . The voices we haven't been able to hear are those of the people who are cu...

Part 2 Fran Dyson discusses the revival and the future of analogue media, including the work of Stephen Jones - one of the most important electronic and video artists in Australia and a pioneer of the video synthesizer in the infamous group Severed Heads - with Ricardo Moreira and Sy Dyson of Blue Mountains band Hibiscus Biscuit .   We'll also be joined by Nick Franklin and Peter Lammima...