Revealed: PM’s fundraiser venue

Andrew Abercrombie and his wife Shadda in 2016. Picture: David Geraghty

Next up on the election fundraising circuit: a $10,000-a-head “special dinner” with PM Scott Morrison in Melbourne. Who could afford to miss it?

The venue was to be top secret, only to be “advised on acceptance”.

But Margin Call couldn’t help but reveal that it’s happening at chairman of financial services outfit FlexiGroup Andrew Abercrombie and his wife Shadda’s mansion in Toorak.

No one could doubt the commitment of the former Victorian Liberal Party chief fundraiser, whose fortune was recently valued at $513 million on The Stensholt List.

As we noted last week, his French Provencal style mansion is plastered with the smiling face of local Liberal candidate Katie Allen, who is trying to defend the seat of Higgins after the departure of retiring member Kelly O’Dwyer.

The address is not short of backstory. Three years ago it was the site of a spectacular $1 million jewellery heist, which involved a wheelie-bin, a Holden wagon and buckets of diamonds.

Abercrombie also has an interesting Liberal backstory.

He was the Victorian’s honorary treasurer back when Damien Mantach was the state’s pilfering director. That was a connection former President Michael Kroger couldn’t repeat enough, which didn’t exactly encourage Abercrombie to help raise money for the Libs.

To Team ScoMo’s great relief, Abercrombie is back in the tent.