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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton
@squigglyrick.bsky.social
18K followers 380 following 970 posts
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
rick-morton.ghost.io
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
What a ride. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
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
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Reposted by Rick Morton
cwebbonline.com
Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 2d
Federal agents aren’t trying to keep the peace. They want violence to escalate so that Trump can declare martial law.

They shot a reverend in the head with pepper balls while he was praying in front of an ICE facility. If that doesn’t tell you where we are as a country, nothing will.
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 2d
Ha, I cannot agree with you. Some of my best friends have done PhDs and would murder me!
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 2d
Thank you! I do find with this story more than anything else it’s the details that really make you see it for the conspiracy it was. And so I did not pull back from those details.
mfsampson.sda.io
Mike Sampson @mfsampson.sda.io · 2d
Finished Mean Streak by @squigglyrick.bsky.social It was a great read, harrowing at times, and insanely well researched. The details! 5 stars. Recommended.
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 3d
Thankfully it actually has nothing to do with the prime minister’s taste anymore
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 3d
The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, "You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are."
The man replied, "Things as they are,
Are changed upon the blue guitar."

Plus ça change! My newsletter: rick-morton.ghost.io/a-new-three-...
A New Three Laws of Motion
I night not tell you if I win the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, but there will be signs. Ha ha, I'm fully kidding. I did win it. The news was everywhere anyway. I was a push notifi...
rick-morton.ghost.io
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 4d
Thanks for this Kate.
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 4d
to be fair to him, he was far from alone in this
mfsampson.sda.io
Mike Sampson @mfsampson.sda.io · 4d
“Unfortunately, it occurs to me that Alan Tudge was not even close to being a genius.” Mean Streak - @squigglyrick.bsky.social
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 6d
De Brouwer made the exact same argument two years ago after the Robodebt Royal Commission report was delivered. This is how I treated it in Mean Streak: "Grow up."
Screenshot of the book Mean Streak by Rick Morton. The text reads: for the past decade and half, when conclusive certificates were discontinued, is counterproductive to the Parliament’s intent. ‘When it comes to deliberative material, FoI does not ensure transparency (because advice is not being written) and it undermines integrity (because advice is not being written).’ So officials don’t put things in writing because they might get released under Freedom of Information laws, therefore the FoI laws aren’t working? Grow up. De Brouwer is not alone in his views. Former secretaries have been doing the rounds making exactly these kinds of noises, as if the outcome of poor professional behaviour is the result of some law and not … poor professional behaviour.
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 7d
I am convinced that no one else in the world can sit like a Frenchman. It is a way of being, mastered and deployed with the confidence of a people who have been sitting for thousands of years. I think it might have something to do with all the statues.
rick-morton.ghost.io/a-new-three-...
A New Three Laws of Motion
I night not tell you if I win the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, but there will be signs. Ha ha, I'm fully kidding. I did win it. The news was everywhere anyway. I was a push notifi...
rick-morton.ghost.io
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 8d
The NDIS algorithm is on the way, and no they don't want you giving them any evidence about your disability. In fact, they are going to make it next to impossible. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Algorithm to be used for NDIS plans
The government is using an ‘instrument’ designed by the University of Melbourne to reassess support payments for disabled people.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 10d
birthday cart
squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 10d
“We’d like to talk to you about your vehicle’s extended warranty.”
abcnewsbot.bsky.social
ABC News Bot (unofficial) @abcnewsbot.bsky.social · 10d
A Canberra man has captured footage of the dramatic moment a magpie plucked his earphone from his ear.
Swooping magpie plucks earphone from cyclist's ear
A Canberra man has captured footage of the dramatic moment a magpie plucked his earphone from his ear.
www.abc.net.au
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 10d
It's almost uncouth at this point, but the Walkley Book Award longlist has been announced and Mean Streak is on there with seven other incredible titles. Pity the judges whittling that down to a shortlist of three. www.walkleys.com/2025-walkley...
2025 Walkley Book Award longlist finalists announced - The Walkley Foundation
The Walkley Foundation is delighted to announce the finalists for the 69th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
www.walkleys.com
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 11d
I’m trying so hard not to, but it’s now a fundamental part of who I am.
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 11d
add it to the list
bluntshovels.bsky.social
El Gibbs @bluntshovels.bsky.social · 11d
NDIS can now deliver debts to disabled people if they get things wrong, even though new permanent rules aren't in place

ndis.gov.au/news/10949-n...
The NDIS supports transition period is ending | NDIS
The 12-month transition period for adjusting to the NDIS support lists ends on 2 October 2025.
ndis.gov.au
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
the army connections continue
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Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
I am!!! If I can ever make it past the first fucken chapter!
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Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
😘
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Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
This made me lol
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Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
We’re gonna call it a win after accounting
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
Re-sharing this just for the pullquote, waking up in Paris early mornings and doing five interviews in a row before coffee leads to even less of a filter than usual
phonakins.com
💜 phonakins 🍉 @phonakins.com · 13d
Congrats @squigglyrick.bsky.social!!!!

www.smh.com.au/culture/book...
How robo-debt turned this prize-winning author into a ‘vengeful god’
Rick Morton has won a Prime Minister’s Literary Award for his non-fiction book Mean Streak. He’d trade it all for justice for the victims.
www.smh.com.au
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
Thanks mate, that’s so kind
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Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
You’re a gem, Leena
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squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 13d
What a ride. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
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
150 170 920
squigglyrick.bsky.social
Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 16d
Hmmmmmmm! www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
Screenshot of part of the newspaper article in this thread. It reads: At the end of July, a final response to the clarifications sought by Knight and the other person were being prepared. UTS chief legal counsel Kylie Gould reviewed the statement. So did KPMG. Vice-chancellor Parfitt directed it be sent out by his acting chief of staff, Danielle Woolley, herself a partner at KPMG until she was hired by the university. “I can confirm that no master spreadsheet of research staff as referred to was produced or delivered in partnership with KPMG,” Woolley wrote, without indicating whether any versions of the spreadsheet existed. “I trust the above clarifies the matter.” Now it has been produced and confirmed delivered, although the university maintains it was never finished and was not used. By way of explanation, UTS inserted a “context” page just before the sudden appearance of the Excel spreadsheet and emails between McGrath and KPMG. “As part of this work at that time KPMG began developing a list of D to E researchers but the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research intervened, and upon reviewing and seeking to validate this data with our own research data insights team, the work was discontinued,” the university says in its explanation. Instead, it says, the university used “aggregate” data from its own internal systems “in order to consider whether any proposed OSI changes would impact on our research activities”. Coincidentally, UTS says, the resulting insights are the same as if they had relied on the KPMG analysis.
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