The swish cocktail party — where the whiff of money, power and influence greeted guests at the door — was hosted by political lobbyist Michael Kauter, executive chairman of Strategic Political Counsel, and his kidney transplant specialist husband, Professor David Gracey, at their lavish Woollahra digs.

Never one to shy from the spotlight, the perennially perky Kauter curated an eclectic guest list of eastern suburbs power players new and old, including state MP Gabrielle Upton, former MP Michael Yabsley, indigenous leader Warren Mundine, Cr Sally Betts, stockbroker Mark Coppleson, former Australian of the Year Michelle Simmons, Sky News presenter Janine Perrett, social page regular Di Hamill and her millionaire meat king husband Ian, and Barry’s Bootcamp investor Heston Russell.

“Dave (Gracey) and I simply wanted to have a party to welcome the new fresh faces in town, to herald in the new era for the member of Wentworth and his parliamentary colleagues so they can connect with as many people in the electorate as possible and build a network of people around them,” Kauter said.

“We are the sort of people who like to open our home to a broad church of people and we wanted to share that with Dave (Sharma) so he can meet the clever and talented people in the eastern suburbs.

“With a new era comes new opportunities, and this is a watershed moment with a clean slate and that means building an entirely new network of people.”

Sharma joked upon handing Jones the bottle of 2006 Dom Perignon (a gift from Kauter), that it had taken him years to finally make his 91-year-old father, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, proud.

“I thought I it would make him somewhat proud when I topped the state in the HSC, or maybe proud when I went to Cambridge University, and then when I was finally elected to parliament I thought he would be proud,” Sharma said.

“But the proudest day of my dad’s life was Alan Jones interviewing me. He waited 91 years for that! And Alan, you now have a huge audience in Trinidad and Tobago, because Dad shared the podcast there! It’s an honour to have you here.”

Jones, who spoke at length on the economic responsibility Parliament’s newest recruits had in times of swinging voters, drought and energy crisis, joked he had come to the party under false pretences, assuming it was an intimate gathering and not realising the crowd Kauter had drawn.

“I must say, I sent a text message to Yabbers (Michael Yabsley) when I couldn’t get up the street for the cars everywhere, I thought ‘what on earth is going on here?’,” Jones said.

But after cautionary observations on the “enormous political fluidity out there where people are no longer committed to an one political party”, his final message for those who had the responsibility was to listen more than they can talk. “I wish you well,” he finished.