Having retired from his ultra-safe Gold Coast seat of Moncrieff at the May 2019 federal election, former trade minister Steve Ciobo was last sighted advising Bain Capital on its successful $3.5 billion bid for Virgin Australia. Not even a decade-long internecine psychodrama for the Liberal leadership can prepare someone for working with Jayne Hrdlicka.

And it seems Ciobo got a taste for the icy-blooded ways of private equity. He has landed a senior role at Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, the US$25 billion ($35.6 billion) PE firm spun out of Blackstone in 2011 by Macquarie alumni Mike Dorrell and Trent Vichie.