There’s always an interesting letter to be found in The Australian Financial Review.

If it is not a letter from Geoff Dixon at Qantas, it’s a timely chiding of our regulators or policymakers from VJ Carroll over some issue. Vic Carroll used to be the Editor of the AFR and the SMH in a long and very distinguished career.

There was a good one today from Carroll, reminding people that while our PM might be warning about interest rates rising under the ALP, Australia presently had the second highest level of rates in the OECD after New Zealand.

But perhaps the most intriguing missive today appeared under the headline, “Sour grapes”. It said:

“According to Simon Evans (September 3) McGuigan Simeon Wines chief executive, Brian McGuigan said there were “millions of dollars” worth of costs that could come out of the operation. Would any of them be the iridescent green Aston-Martin parked at the Westin Hotel, Sydney at lunchtime Friday with the registration WINE 1 and the McGuigan decal on the rear of the car?”

Good question.

Second Fin letter – Downer hypocrisy

Lex Loser, our illustrious Foreign Minister, must have got very red in the cheeks as he fired off this letter which appeared in today’s AFR:

“Plumbing new depths

During more than two decades in public life, I have seen few more disgusting contributions than Geoffrey Barker’s comparison of the terrorist atrocity in Beslan wiht the situation of asylum seekers in Woomera, Port Hedland amd Nauru (Sept 6).

This was journalism plumbing new depths.

Alexander Downer
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Canberra, ACT”

CRIKEY: Hmmm, and what does that make the attempt by Phillip Ruddock to gain political capital out of the school siege by warning that Labor was soft on terrorism?