PVO: Not everyone had common sense at the Midwinter Ball (2024)

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The unofficial theme of the evening at the Midwinter Ball was cost of living. But not everyone was concerned about it.

The wines on the night weren’t dirt cheap, for a change. Both reds and whites would set you back $60 at any inner city Sydney restaurant in Albo’s all too hip electorate.

Not good enough for most of the corporates in attendance mind you, but they were already holding their noses being surrounded by so many politicians and journalists alike.

One high profile corporate sponsoring a table was heard suggesting he’d rather be forced to front two shareholder meetings a year instead of just the one if it meant being able to give this ball a miss.

But as the website says, it’s a networking opportunity not to be missed.

While cost of living pressures might not be an issue for our property mogul Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - slipping into a $2,000 black tie suits and accessories to enjoy the festivities - his better half, Jodie Haydon, is alive to the struggles of ordinary Australians.

Rather than spending up on a new dress for the evening she repurposed her old one from two years before. Bravo!

If only the PM and his cabinet were that in touch with the voters they hope to win over at the next election.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers's wife Laura took full advantage of the $9,000 income tax cut her husband granted their family this financial year. Spending a sizeable chunk of it on her evening ensemble.

Labor MP Josh Burns finallywent public at the ball with his burgeoning relationship with Victorian Animal Justice League MP Georgie Purcell.

The Jewish federal MP and the Palestinian activist state MP are a classic case of opposites attract. The soon to be Mrs Burns (maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves) had the good grace not to emblazon her dress with slogans advocating Palestinian statehood.

Former Greens MP Lidia Thorpe wasn’t so shy and stood out from the crowd in her striking Palestine-themed dress.

Barnaby Joyce was on the waters all night, having embraced dry July all year round. He was seen mansplaining his way through the night.

When it was time for speeches, former ABC political editor Andrew Probyn told the crowd that when he got let go by the public broadcaster he received a phone call from the PM questioning what on earth was the ABC thinking.

It won no small amount of applause.

What the crowd (and perhaps Probs himself) didn’t know was that Albo soon after also put a call through to a senior ABC journo, whose name we won’t reveal, congratulating the broadcaster on moving their political editor on. Exclaiming that Probyn’s problem was that he was too harsh on Labor.

Walking both sides of the street is Politics 101, I guess.

The speeches by the major party leaders underwhelmed, as always. But it didn’t matter because by the time they kicked off more than two hours after the wines were getting poured most in attendance had drunk their way to oblivion anyway.

Most in attendance thought Opposition Leader Peter Dutton did the better job with his musings, despite the PM’s team of 11 taxpayer funded comms specialists crafting his oral summary.

The journalists and pollies alike spent most of the night mulling over when the election might be held. The consensus is now firmly behind an early election, perhaps in mid September.

As soon as the formalities were over, the PM and Opposition Leader ran to the exit without a hint of doubt when doing so.

That’s when the dance floor opened up, with Mr and Mrs Burns leading the way. A spectacle to be missed.

Jodie HaydonJim ChalmersSydney