Whose side is Mar’n on?

James Burke writes: Re. “Martin Ferguson’s revolving door puts energy industry in a spin” (yesterday). While he was a minister in the Labor government(s), Martin Ferguson was routinely described in the media, including Crikey, as being highly regarded among the business community. He was often spoken of by the boardroom crowd as one of the few sensible figures capable of keeping his rampaging comrades in check; if he’d been in charge, that terrible commie mining tax would never have been approved.

Others were not so respectful: remember when his electorate office was tagged with the slogan “Federal Lackey For Mining Bastards” by environmental activists? Ferguson’s post-politics career goes to show that Labor voters should be extremely suspicious of any MP who is “highly regarded” by the “business community” (or as we might more accurately term it, the “robber baron billionaires” lobby’). Such worthies are unlikely to uphold the “Labor values” you expect of them.

Where is Saudia Arabia in the ISIS drama?

Ian Macintosh writes: Re. “The deadly cast of characters in Iraq’s lethal ISIS game” (yesterday). What? No mention of Saudi Arabia in Guy Rundle’s “table of dominant interests”? Surely an oversight?

Caption competition — parliamentary whispers:

Peter Matthews: Credlin to Bishop — “Use the death stare on me and Tony will have you on the back bench before you can blink.”
Cameron Hindrum: Hunt to Hockey — “You know Joe, the sun. It’s that big hot yellow thing in the sky.”
Chris Harrison: Hockey to Hunt — “Perhaps the tax on lap band surgery wasn’t such a good idea.”