Audiobooks by Rick Morton

Mean Streak: A moral vacuum, a dodgy debt generator and a multi-billion government fraud - the power

From award-winning journalist and writer Rick Morton comes Mean Streak, the gripping, utterly compelling and horrifying story of how, over the course of four and a half years, Australia's government turned on its most vulnerable citizens. Robodebt was the automated debt recovery system, in which close to half a million Australian welfare recipients were illegally pursued over false debts. It was described by the Royal Commission's report as a ''massive failure of public administration'' caused by ''venality, incompetence and cowardice''. Essentially, Australia was gaslit by its own government. From ministers to public servants - they backed something that was illegal, just to shake down innocent people for money, then they lied about it for four and a half years. In the tradition of Chloe Hooper (The Tall Man) and Helen Garner (This House of Grief and Joe Cinque's Consolation), Rick Morton tells a powerful and emotionally compelling story of one of the most shocking, large-scale failures of the Australian government, a historic and appalling political tragedy, which clearly displayed the wide-reaching and systematic contempt that a government had for its most vulnerable citizens. The saga of robodebt tells us deeply disturbing things about the country we are, the people we are, the bureaucrats we have (both good and bad) and the government that was. This is a powerfully moving, deeply compelling cautionary tale of morality in public life gone badly awry.

Rick Morton (Author), Rick Morton, TBD, Tamblyn Lord (Narrator)

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Growing Up in Country Australia

Black Inc.'s bestselling Growing Up series goes to the country Growing Up in Country Australia is a fresh, modern look at country Australia. There are stories of joy, adventure, nostalgia, connection to nature and freedom, but also more grim tales - of drought, fires, mouse plagues and isolation. From the politics of the country school bus to the class divides between locals, from shooting foxes with Dad to giving up meat as an adult, from working on the family farm to selling up and moving to the city, the picture painted is diverse and unexpected. This is country Australia as you've never seen it before. Including nearly forty stories by established and emerging authors from a wide range of backgrounds - including First Nations and new migrants - Growing Up in Country Australia is a unique and revealing snapshot of rural life. Contributors include Holden Sheppard, Laura Jean McKay, Annabel Crabb, Sami Shah, Lech Blaine, Tony Armstrong, Bridie Jabour, Jes Layton, Lily Chan, Jay Carmichael and many others. 'A colourful and griping pastiche that updates the experience outside Australia's cities and large regional centres. You will find, despite the absolute variety in these essays, that there is still something ineffable about life in the country.' RICK MORTON, editor

Rick Morton (Author), Rebecca Bower, Rick Morton, Tamala Shelton, Various (Narrator)

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