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
· 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
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...
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...
👀👀👀
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 ‘highhandedness or cynical disregard’ 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
👀👀👀
went to the opera (saw Ralph Fiennes’ 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 Fiennes’ directorial debut of Eugene Onegin which was note perfect) and went completely bug-eyed
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 ‘highhandedness or cynical disregard’ 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 aren’t we more outraged?
His name was El Hacen Diarra. In a video of his arrest, he tells the officers: ‘You’re strangling me.’
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 Musk’s 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
one has to wonder why Andrew Podger keeps defending Renée 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 ‘context’ 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 Renée 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 ‘context’ but leaves a lot out in his repeated attempts
Whenever I write something, it's like that paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise. The closer I get to the end of the piece the more I am convinced I am almost finished and the more I slow down and so on, ad infinitum, such that I never really do.
January 27, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Whenever I write something, it's like that paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise. The closer I get to the end of the piece the more I am convinced I am almost finished and the more I slow down and so on, ad infinitum, such that I never really do.
Trying to arrange a plumber in French over the phone is testing all my powers of concentration and linguistic analysis
January 23, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Trying to arrange a plumber in French over the phone is testing all my powers of concentration and linguistic analysis
Reposted by Rick Morton
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will skip the signing of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos after Switzerland confirmed it would enforce the ICC arrest warrant over war crimes in Gaza.
January 22, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will skip the signing of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos after Switzerland confirmed it would enforce the ICC arrest warrant over war crimes in Gaza.
this is the university equivalent of the town that tried full blown libertarianism and got overrun with bears
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
www.politico.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:56 PM
this is the university equivalent of the town that tried full blown libertarianism and got overrun with bears
Reposted by Rick Morton
Look for the helpers
Alaska Art Student Arrested for Eating Another Student’s AI-Generated Art in Protest
A University of Alaska student was charged with a misdemeanor for eating another student's AI-generated art in protest.
www.artnews.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Look for the helpers
Some thoughts on Adelaide Writers' Week and the moment we find ourselves in. It's all just so grinding. rick-morton.ghost.io/the-great-si...
The Great Silencing
Last week it snowed heavily twice in Paris, turning the city into a frigid, monochrome fantasy land over three days, and at the weekend I popped into the Musée Marmottan Monet for a spot of impression...
rick-morton.ghost.io
January 14, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Some thoughts on Adelaide Writers' Week and the moment we find ourselves in. It's all just so grinding. rick-morton.ghost.io/the-great-si...
Louise is fierce and I support her entirely
“We need writers now more than ever, as our media closes up, as our politicians grow daily more cowed by real power, as Australia grows more unjust and unequal.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler
Cancelling the Australian Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Louise is fierce and I support her entirely
Reposted by Rick Morton
If you were part of the Robodebt class action settlement, you may be eligible for compensation. Registration for compensation ends in early March 2026. Make sure you’re registered. Contact Gordon Legal if you haven’t received a information document package from Services Australia
It is 2016. I am in an apartment in Balaclava, Melbourne, working on the issue of Robodebt
It is 2026. I am in Tungamah, assisting a client to register for compensation in the Robodebt class settlement
It is 2026. I am in Tungamah, assisting a client to register for compensation in the Robodebt class settlement
January 12, 2026 at 8:27 AM
If you were part of the Robodebt class action settlement, you may be eligible for compensation. Registration for compensation ends in early March 2026. Make sure you’re registered. Contact Gordon Legal if you haven’t received a information document package from Services Australia
Adelaide Festival / Writers’ Week now the biggest collapse in South Australia since the state bank (probably)
January 11, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Adelaide Festival / Writers’ Week now the biggest collapse in South Australia since the state bank (probably)
From May last year, when NDIS execs backflipped and introduced default 3-month funding "periods" more than 20,000 plans -- one third -- were cut by an average of 22.5 per cent. Rest increased but this includes across the board indexation. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/2026/01...
Exclusive: One third of reassessed NDIS plans see cuts to funding
As parliament considers another bill to boost the NDIA’s power to cut costs, tens of thousands of participants are now on reduced plans and many more have lost flexibility due to restructured payments...
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
January 9, 2026 at 9:18 PM
From May last year, when NDIS execs backflipped and introduced default 3-month funding "periods" more than 20,000 plans -- one third -- were cut by an average of 22.5 per cent. Rest increased but this includes across the board indexation. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/2026/01...
It’s going to be an interesting few weeks when the royal commission examines, as I suspect it will, the defraying of social cohesion caused by the organised censorship of writers, artists and employees across the country for daring to speak against an unfolding genocide
January 8, 2026 at 10:32 AM
It’s going to be an interesting few weeks when the royal commission examines, as I suspect it will, the defraying of social cohesion caused by the organised censorship of writers, artists and employees across the country for daring to speak against an unfolding genocide
Reposted by Rick Morton
Following the decision from the Board of the Adelaide Festival, The Australia Institute is withdrawing its support from this year’s literary festival. Here is our statement, and a personal one from me.
January 8, 2026 at 5:57 AM
Following the decision from the Board of the Adelaide Festival, The Australia Institute is withdrawing its support from this year’s literary festival. Here is our statement, and a personal one from me.
I love this city even more in the snow
January 7, 2026 at 7:58 PM
I love this city even more in the snow