Forestry and Conservation Minister Ian Macdonald threw down the challenge on Wednesday. “Perhaps Crikey.com.au owe me some reward for quadrupling their profile in my home state of Queensland?” he asked the Senate.

His request has smoked out a strong response from subscribers, who recall the minister describing greenie protesters on the weekend as “the bong brigade.” There is a common theme emerging.

Mikey writes: “Canberra does a fine line in bongs… How about a gift certificate to the ‘Bongs, P*rn, and Fireworks’ warehouse in Hume? That way he can select something he really likes…”

Ignaz concurs: “Let’s give him a bong, fully loaded. That’ll make him a high-profile Minister for sure.” While subscriber Steve suggests: “Perhaps he would like a souvenir John Howard bong, which of course can be picked up in many stores around Canberra. He can relax with the Bong Brigade while protecting his Tory sensibilities.”

We haven’t seen one of those items, but it sounds a little like the classy Bob Hawke wine cask covers you could get back in the ’80s with the slogan: “take the piss out of Bob.” All told, a novel idea. We like the notion of the minister smoking the peace pipe with his critics, but there’s still time for your suggestions before we present the minister with his reward.

Send your ideas to hugo@crikey.com.au.