The blue-blooded affair began with a lounge room rendition of Advance Australia Fair (both verses, of course) and finished with young talent Matthew Manahan singing Tenterfield Saddler. Kauter rustled up quite a crowd including failed Gilmore candidate Warren Mundine and 2018 Australian of the Year Michelle Simmons - though businessman Rodney Adler was a no-show. Also present: Kauter's neighbour and Sky News host Janine Perrett, nursing two broken ribs from a recent jaunt in Ibiza and Monaco, and former model Di Hamill. Sharma had to rescue Hamill's mangled vote of thanks after she observed it was "great to have some gay people" in the room. Unsurprisingly, no one had much to say to journalist Kate Doak, who has been assisting Network Ten with its ugly story about a legal challenge to Josh Frydenberg's eligibility to sit in Parliament. That barrow is being pushed by lawyer and ALP member Trevor Poulton, author of a book called The Holocaust Denier - though he denies being one himself.

NEW ENERGY It's back to business-as-usual in Canberra this week at the start of another parliamentary sitting week. But there are changes afoot in the micro-chambers of power. For one, firebrand Liberal Craig Kelly is no longer in charge of the Coalition's backbench policy committee on energy - to the delight of many of his colleagues. Liberal MP Craig Kelly will no longer chair the Coalition's backbench committee on energy policy. Credit:AAP Kelly practically became a shadow energy minister last term, using the committee - and his constant Sky News appearances - to hammer away at Malcolm Turnbull's National Energy Guarantee.

Now he'll have more time to indulge other passions, such as abusing activists in dinosaur costumes and accusing ice creamery Ben & Jerry's of undermining Australian democracy. Meanwhile, former neighbourhood accountant Barnaby Joyce is going back to his roots as chair of the committee on small and family business, employment and education. SAFE BETS It's been a big three weeks of churn inside the Stephen Conroy-led bookmakers rep, Responsible Wagering Australia. It was only five minutes ago the team lost the most popular guy in the building, Lucien Fells, to Labor's deputy leader Richard Marles, in an exquisitely co-ordinated move which saw Fells replaced on the same day by former Bill Shorten staffer Shawn Lambert.

Now there's been another timely Labor-RWA switcheroo. Federal leader Anthony Albanese has nabbed Conroy's executive assistant and former Marles staffer Bec Smith, who is off to be an advancer inside the House of Albo. And in what is fast becoming RWA tradition, she was replaced on the same day by some-time Shorten staffer, Claire Stephens. Stephen Conroy's Responsible Wagering Australia has become a halfway house for Labor Right staffers. Credit:Dean Sewell It's great to see the lines of communication between Labor Right kingmakers working better than ever. But we can't imagine RWA's members are stoked to see the joint operating like an ALP halfway house. Then there's the rumour Conroy is eyeing David Gallop's job as head of Foodball Federation Australia once Gallop steps down at year's end. Conroy isn't prepared to say; he didn't answer our calls on Sunday.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER Quelle surprise. No sooner did Friday's CBD land on front lawns than The Agency boss Matt Lahood was assuring Facebook followers his realtor's new store in Melbourne's dress circle suburb of Hawthorn will finally open today. Fixers must have been hard at work over the weekend to patch up the ceiling and unwrap the desk chairs CBD found lying around just last week. It was an eerily minimalist setup given The Agency had told investors way back in April the Hawthorn branch was part of an "established" national presence of 10 stores. According to Lahood, the new digs are "pretty suave" and the delay was because "builders aren't easy to get".