Rick Morton
@squigglyrick.bsky.social
I write. Author of Mean Streak and other things. Day job: senior reporter The Saturday Paper. I write a decent newsletter: https://rick-morton.ghost.io
Pinned
Rick Morton
@squigglyrick.bsky.social
ยท Sep 29
Writing the book on Robodebt drove Rick Morton mad. Now it's won him $80k
Journalist Rick Morton didn't want to write a book about Robodebt. Now that book, Mean Streak, has won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for non-fiction.
www.abc.net.au
What a ride. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Angus Taylor resigns from nothing to be nothing
February 11, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Angus Taylor resigns from nothing to be nothing
Fuck. What was this.
February 9, 2026 at 10:18 AM
Fuck. What was this.
Had the privilege of working with Jon Kudelka for most of my journalism career at two different papers. He was the best. An even better person than his cartoons were brilliant. Much love to his family and friends.
February 9, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Had the privilege of working with Jon Kudelka for most of my journalism career at two different papers. He was the best. An even better person than his cartoons were brilliant. Much love to his family and friends.
If you subscribe to my newsletter Nervous Laughter you, too, can enjoy me Clever Hans-ing my way through to a French plumber. And also occasionally my more serious thoughts on the world being properly cooked. It's free for all, paid if you want. rick-morton.ghost.io/plumb-and-pl...
February 4, 2026 at 9:32 AM
If you subscribe to my newsletter Nervous Laughter you, too, can enjoy me Clever Hans-ing my way through to a French plumber. And also occasionally my more serious thoughts on the world being properly cooked. It's free for all, paid if you want. rick-morton.ghost.io/plumb-and-pl...
Opera I donโt think ever, but ballet and theatre often.
February 3, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Opera I donโt think ever, but ballet and theatre often.
In which I encounter the privilege of trying to order a plumber in French, go to the opera and reckon with the USA's quickening descent into fascism. I contain multitudes. rick-morton.ghost.io/plumb-and-pl...
Plumb and Plumber
On a recent Wednesday, the kitchen sink in my Paris apartment became totally clogged and I was deserted by the civilising infrastructure of modern life.
Thus begins my nightmare.
The building pipes ...
rick-morton.ghost.io
February 2, 2026 at 8:18 PM
In which I encounter the privilege of trying to order a plumber in French, go to the opera and reckon with the USA's quickening descent into fascism. I contain multitudes. rick-morton.ghost.io/plumb-and-pl...
I miss footnotes so much
February 2, 2026 at 5:41 PM
I miss footnotes so much
๐๐๐
New misfeasance in public office decision dropped. A cracker: Judge awarded $2m in damages, including v. rare punitive exemplary damages, against former head of Medicare watchdog. Matters are RARE. Wins rarer. A boon to potential Robodebt + other cases. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Exclusive: Misfeasance case paves way for robodebt action
A damning judgement of โhighhandedness or cynical disregardโ by the Medicare watchdog has established a new front for civil litigation of public servants named in the robodebt royal commission.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
February 1, 2026 at 10:44 PM
๐๐๐
You decadent bish
February 1, 2026 at 8:30 PM
You decadent bish
went to the opera (saw Ralph Fiennesโ directorial debut of Eugene Onegin which was note perfect) and went completely bug-eyed
February 1, 2026 at 8:16 PM
went to the opera (saw Ralph Fiennesโ directorial debut of Eugene Onegin which was note perfect) and went completely bug-eyed
โShe had as much โmotive to falsifyโ then as she does now, because on both occasions her conduct was being called into question,โ Justice Treston wrote of the former Director of the Professional Services Review agency. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
January 30, 2026 at 8:41 PM
โShe had as much โmotive to falsifyโ then as she does now, because on both occasions her conduct was being called into question,โ Justice Treston wrote of the former Director of the Professional Services Review agency. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
New misfeasance in public office decision dropped. A cracker: Judge awarded $2m in damages, including v. rare punitive exemplary damages, against former head of Medicare watchdog. Matters are RARE. Wins rarer. A boon to potential Robodebt + other cases. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Exclusive: Misfeasance case paves way for robodebt action
A damning judgement of โhighhandedness or cynical disregardโ by the Medicare watchdog has established a new front for civil litigation of public servants named in the robodebt royal commission.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
January 30, 2026 at 8:02 PM
New misfeasance in public office decision dropped. A cracker: Judge awarded $2m in damages, including v. rare punitive exemplary damages, against former head of Medicare watchdog. Matters are RARE. Wins rarer. A boon to potential Robodebt + other cases. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Reposted by Rick Morton
Essential reading from @katyinparis.bsky.social. El Hacen Diarra died in police custody this month, after video shows officers beating him on the street and screaming that he was being strangled. Very few people are talking about it.
millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/a-man-just...
millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/a-man-just...
A man just died in Paris in police custody. Why arenโt we more outraged?
His name was El Hacen Diarra. In a video of his arrest, he tells the officers: โYouโre strangling me.โ
millefeuilleparis.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Essential reading from @katyinparis.bsky.social. El Hacen Diarra died in police custody this month, after video shows officers beating him on the street and screaming that he was being strangled. Very few people are talking about it.
millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/a-man-just...
millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/a-man-just...
yeah cos the one thing space needs is more child sexual abuse material
Exclusive: Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year reut.rs/45C8a9s
Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX in merger talks with xAI ahead of planned IPO, source says
Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year. The combination would bring Muskโs rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social...
reut.rs
January 29, 2026 at 7:35 PM
yeah cos the one thing space needs is more child sexual abuse material
I really canโt with these people anymore
January 28, 2026 at 9:57 PM
I really canโt with these people anymore
one has to wonder why Andrew Podger keeps defending Renรฉe Leon against the findings of the APSC code of conduct which found she breached the code due to her handling of robodebt, which is also what royal commission found. He keeps arguing for โcontextโ but leaves a lot out in his repeated attempts
January 28, 2026 at 9:56 PM
one has to wonder why Andrew Podger keeps defending Renรฉe Leon against the findings of the APSC code of conduct which found she breached the code due to her handling of robodebt, which is also what royal commission found. He keeps arguing for โcontextโ but leaves a lot out in his repeated attempts
One of my favourites. Especially Sheer Rage!
January 27, 2026 at 9:19 PM
One of my favourites. Especially Sheer Rage!
Iโm not lazy Iโm just a Pisces!
January 27, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Iโm not lazy Iโm just a Pisces!
genuinely think this is why I became a journalist
January 27, 2026 at 8:43 PM
genuinely think this is why I became a journalist
I couldnโt even write this gif
January 27, 2026 at 8:42 PM
I couldnโt even write this gif
God this is scarily accurateโฆ certainly it has always felt avoidant but I hadnโt really considered avoidant of WHAT
January 27, 2026 at 8:42 PM
God this is scarily accurateโฆ certainly it has always felt avoidant but I hadnโt really considered avoidant of WHAT
but I just wanna watch my shows!
January 27, 2026 at 8:18 PM
but I just wanna watch my shows!