South Australian powerbroker Don Farrell got off the mark early, congratulating Albo for leaving the Socialist Left while Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon, who convenes the NSW Right, continued by walking across the room midway through his speech while declaring “I’m trying to move back to the centre”. But it was deputy leader Richard Marles who went for the jugular. “The Left had had their end of year gathering last week. It was a light vegan supper. And afterwards they had four hours of quiet reflection,” he said. “This is a right faction event, so we’ll be eating steak and getting pissed — hope that’s OK with you.” Marles was true to his word. The room feasted on steak washed down with Farrell Wines Shiraz from the Clare Valley. LEGAL AFFAIRS The banks downgraded their Christmas parties this year — or in the case of Westpac, called them off entirely — following scandal after scandal. But their lawyers are still very much looking forward to the festive season.

This fortnight some of the nation’s largest firms will treat their partners, starting with Big Six outfit Ashurst which is hosting a "futuristic" knees-up. Will managing partner Paul Jenkins turn up as a robot? Stay tuned. For the truly risque, however, it’s over at Allens (the firm which was engaged not only by Westpac during the Hayne Royal Commission, but also Macquarie). We can’t imagine what Bleak City-domiciled managing partner Richard Spurio — reappointed to the top job for another four years only in September — will be wearing for the bash. The theme? “A night at the toy store”. “We don’t comment on internal events,” Allens’ communications director Germaine Graham sniffed on Monday. Thankfully, the invitation speaks for itself. "What happens in the toy store late at night,

when the doors are shut, and humans out of sight?

From games and dolls to scary trolls,

who will you be, and what will you see?

So come along to the Allens Emporium while closed,

what will come alive, it's you that knows.”

This Thursday rival Herbert Smith Freehills is going for a more tasteful theme. Kinda. “From Sydney to St Tropez”. Perhaps they’ve learned from knees-ups of the past including the 2005 “Pinch of Glamour” Christmas party which the Herald reported was complete with bikini-clad go-go dancers (and held on the same day as the firm apparently signed a new equal-opportunity policy). Last week it was Gilbert + Tobin (another Westpac firm) which went full-boring by hosting Christmas drinks with the theme of “The Nineties”. This, according to our correspondents in Danny Gilbert’s domain, came after concerns were raised about the cultural appropriateness of last year’s bash: “The Pacific Islands”. TROLLING NEWS Last month we noted that Macquarie Street Clerk David Blunt has concluded an investigation into whether political staffers were using fake Facebook accounts to troll their employer's political rivals. As it turned out, Liberal MP Catherine Cusack's adviser Tasman Brown had a hand in using one fake social media account to pursue Labor's environment spokeswoman Kate Washington during the March election.