He sat in a separate room, away from the DJ and partygoers holding pink cocktails, and met with the cream of Australia’s media, entertainment and sporting crop for a few minutes each to talk politics.

Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old media baron, flew into Sydney this week for the first time in six years. On Thursday night, he held court at his eldest son Lachlan and wife Sarah’s annual Christmas party at their Bellevue Hill mansion, Le Manoir.