Last Post: Vale Simon Crean and the perils of making Putin an enemy

Listening to the classy comments of Simon Crean, compared with the hectoring of the socialist left, the Greens and Lidia Thorpe, highlights just how much the left of politics has declined over the past 20 years.

Alan Freedman, St Kilda East, Vic

As a rusted-on right-of-centre voter I would like to say vale to Simon Crean, a committed politician who really believed in social justice.

Simon Marston, Eltham, Vic

I note that our Prime Minister has stated that Simon Crean would have made a good PM. Well maybe, but the caucus of which Anthony Albanese was a member, in its wisdom, selected Mark Latham. And we all know how that worked out. And we are still waiting to see how its most recent choice works out.

Alexander Haege, Tamarama, NSW

Reading Nick Cater’s excellent article (“Transition furphies won’t stop energy woes”, 26/6), I was very tickled by his evocative sentence: “When the energy market operator uses a phrase such as ‘stitch together’ in a scripted speech, it is hard to suppress the image of an electricity system fallen apart at the seams.” It is equally hard to suppress the huge smile on my face at this image, despite the serious implications.

Robyn Manoy, Darling Point, NSW

If I were Yevgeny Prigozhin, I’d be keeping clear of upper-storey hospital windows.

Maris Dabars, Murray Bridge, SA

Will that be one lump or two of novichok with your coffee today, Mr Prigozhin?

Geoff O’Brien, Eltham, Vic

We are told “Aboriginal babies are drinking sweet cordial instead of water, as it is cheaper”. We are also told the taxpayer pays $32bn a year supporting Aboriginal people. In addition, some Aboriginal groups are paid large sums of money by mining companies. Where is all this money going if some cannot afford to buy water? Will the voice solve this conundrum and how?

Roy Kington, Castle Hill, NSW

Chris Kenny predicts, “It can’t be long before the ABC provides us with free virtual reality experiences” (“Aunty’s five-year plan: don’t mention the B-word”, 24-25/6). It already does. It’s called ABC News.

Trevor Farrant, Hackney, SA

As Gemma Tognini’s kindergarten teacher in the late 1970s I read with interest her column in The Weekend Australian. Surely she had made an error. How could she possibly be turning 50? That would make me – quelle horreur!

Fiona Brown, Esperance, WA