Arise Lord Abbott

A plan is underway to ennoble former prime minister Tony Abbott so he can aid the UK in their battle to "stop the boats".
Would Abbott accept the invitation to take the ermine? Oh yes he would. Read about in the UK's Daily Telegraph.

Young professionals love the Black & White Ball

 They were there in force. Young professional thirty somethings who have discovered the famous Black & White Charity Ball which was held this year in the Intercontinental Double Bay's ballroom. Amongst a smattering of familiar social faces including a couple of High Court judges, social mavens and self made business folk were celebrity dentist David Carr (he does the gnashers of Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig) hairdressing boss Marylin Koch and arriving by humble taxi, the former Speaker of The House Bronwyn Bishop ( a waiter had whipped away the toy helicopter one wag had placed at her table setting). Now in it's 79th year the ball raised a tidy fortune which goes to aid Vision Australia.
 left : B&W president Susan Diver and Bronwyn Bishop MP

David Carr - always accompanied by a leggy blonde takes to the dance floor

The traditional Derby was run : young ladies compete by winding in a  wooden horse to win a prize and entertainment was from a Rat Pack  tribute act who while not looking like the originals, sang up a storm

"No Comment"

One guest at the David Jones Spring Summer fashion parade last night was TV presenter Angela Bishop, pictured right. Angela's mom is the Hon Bronwyn Bishop MP who has just had a horror few weeks culminating in her resignation as Speaker of The House. Something to do with a helicopter. And what did Angela think of Bronnie's Mensis Mensis Horribulus (hey it's Latin for a ghastly month!).
"No comment" was Angela's response. Sensible girl.
And another guest- the delightful actress and film producer Samara Weaving  (who is actor Hugo Weaving's niece) who we are showing just because we can. And she looks fab.

At the Archibalds

 The Archibald portraits never disappoint and an invite to the opening night is much sought after. Pictured above left is the NSW Art's Minister Troy Grant with the youthful NSW Premier Mike Baird and the director of the NSW Art Gallery Michael Brand on the far right. Below is the winning portrait on the left, a painting of Penelope Seidler by Fiona Lowry (it picked up $70,000), Rodney Pople's Barry Humphries, Tonya Bright & Zoe Young and Kate Benyon with 'Sangeeta and Fuji'.

# The Shuttle was once invited to a party at Harry & Penelope Seidler's magnificent harbour side duplex that overlooks Luna Park in North Sydney. Asking for the gents, Penny responded "upstairs and down the hallway and through the door with the Picasso on one side and the Van Gogh on the other".  Below-more portraits.

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Two snaps have come to our attention. One is a pic sent to us from our good pal Joan Rivers currently on a European tour. She's just about to join a queue to get into The Vatican. The other a sharp eyed reader has sent with a query : there is a remarkable resemblance between the popular (?) Speaker of the House of representatives Bronwyn Bishop MP and the famous Australian housewife & megastar Dame Edna Everage. Are they perchance related ?. I think we should be told.

Birthday News

Did anyone know that former Treasurer and Deputy PM Wayne Swann was an old rocker at heart?.
We knew he was a surfer in his young days living in sunny Queensland and still regularly hits the waves with his board and wetsuit but we have pleasure in outing the backbencher as a card carrying & bandanna wearing Bruce Springsteen fan.
Yesterday Wayne celebrated his 60th and as our exclusive snap shows  good pal and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard dropped by to celebrate and bop away to Wayne's surprise gift from friends, a concert by The Springsteen Experience.

We think bandanna wearing should be encouraged to loosen up the House of Reps and have forwarded a communique to our pal Speaker Bronwyn Bishop MP. Failing that we may lobby Clive Palmer MP . He should be up for it.

Below is a video of The Springsteen Experience in action. Gosh, aren't they good!

( although we think a few drinks beforehand may help aid that experience)

Our Damehood Awaits

With the exciting news that Knighthoods and Damehoods are on the offering again we present former prime minister Paul Keating's views on the subject with his legendary Cultural Cringe speech in Parliament.
# The new Speaker (Dame) Bronwyn Bishop MP turfed out an hysterically laughing Labor MP from the House yesterday. What was her offense?. During a heated discussion on the new Imperial Honors a fellow MP was heard to quip 'unleash the hounds' as an LNP MP fumed at Labor's chortles. The poor woman collapsed in tearful laughter and was ejected.

Black Is White

Let us cast our minds back to 1937.

Earl of Gowrie

Mrs Eric Sheller of Darling Point put forward, to a group of well heeled ladies, the idea of holding an annual charity ball. Soon the The Black and White charity committee was formed and thus Sydney's annual society get together began it's life with the then Governor General of Australia, the Earl of Gowrie,as the  guest of honour at the first Black and White Ball held at the Trocodero, the most glamorous event the city had ever seen.

The Town Hall

Lord Gowrie, late of the 3rd Battalion Highland Light Infantry, the Cameron Highlanders in Dublin, a companion to Lord Kitchener on his visit to Australia had been appointed by King George VI as Governor General to the former colony under the British born working class Labor Party Prime Minister Billy Hughes (later known as the Little Digger), the longest serving Australian parliamentarian in the countries history.

Fast forward to 2011 and last Friday night at the Sydney Town Hall where the 75th Black and White Ball was held with an impressive 450 guests.. One guest of honour was the interior designer Leslie Walford who has decorated grand houses from Belgravia to Beverley Hills and Sri Lanka.and is the son of the committee's founder Mrs Sheller.

Ita Buttrose & Professor Ross Steele

 And what a fab night it was. Like stepping back in time to an era of restrained elegance. They even rolled out the red carpet (only slightly soiled) while dozens of bemused (and confused) by-standers gathered at the foot of the Town Hall steps and gazed in awe at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

Leslie Walford & Susan Diver

They had no idea what it was all about of course but there was colour and movement, glamorous ball gowns and a Scots bag-pipe band to serenade the swells as as they arrived in line after line of limousines.

Up until the late 1980sw the B & W Ball was  the cities premier social event. Then a  sort of unfounded and ill-informed criticism was perpetuated in the popular media . Just who in the hell were these ladies, probably with too much time on their hands, many with wealthy husbands , organising these over the top shindigs where hundreds would gather to drink champagne, dine on fine fare and dance the night away all in the name of charity?.

Bronwyn Bishop MP & Angela Bishop

In light of the latest report here-where some of Australia's most well know charities have been exposed for spending up to 60% of donations on  "operating costs" one fact has been ignored. The ladies of the Black & White Committee work for free. They cajole, pressure, plead for every single aspect of the ball.

Caterers, waiters, alcohol suppliers, venues, entertainers, doormen, prize donaters and so on-not one single one is paid. Everything is donated and every penny raised goes directly to charity

The Town Hall looked as splendid as it can at times although sadly the great organ on the stage-the largest in the world -remained silent but a terrific 1940's style band belted out numbers from the past 70 years.

The traditional 'Derby' went off went off without a hitch (although we noticed one gent at a front table, an 87 old retired Admiral almost had a heart attack when the starter's gun was fired) and the throng were soon up and dancing a storm.

The Derby

One guest- Bronwyn Bishop MP who spent the first half of the evening in Canberra at the Parliament House reception for HM The Queen caught a plane to join her TV presenter daughter Angela Bishop at the ball.

Four former presidents of the committee were on hand but the current president, Sue Diver deserves a gold star stamp for her superb efforts. Having survived 75 years, the Black and White Ball looks assured of a future for many years to come.

Oprah's Aussie Secrets-we have them

One of the benefits of attending the old fashioned Black & White Ball is the contacts one runs into. It's the last of the old style Eastern Suburbs dances and the madcap Debutante's Derby is a sight to see.

Ball-gowned young beauties reel in wooden horses in a paean to the Royal Randwick Races. A heart stopping starter's gun is fired and pandemonium breaks loose as the barracking from the well-heeled spectators fills the room egging on their young daughters to gallop the wooden charges into first place.

The other major excitement for the night was asking the Hon Bronwyn Bishop MP-guest of honour-what she thought about now being the oldest MP in the Federal parliament. She fixed us with her steely gaze and replied-"there are MPs older than me you know". Her prediction for the future-Kevin Rudd will resign from Parliament within a year.

Next year all that may change. As one racing identity told us tonight-the snooty Australian Jockey's Club (AJC) that runs Randwick has voted to merge with the Sydney Turf Club that oversees racing tracks in outer Sydney such as Rosehill near Parramatta. AJC members are mortified.

The last time the Shuttle attended the races at Rosehill we were cadged into assisting as spotters in a local version of 'Fashions In The Field' . When our choice of young filly alighted the competitor's stage in a white wedding dress (with beefy tattooed arms), the announcer enquired as to what the large ornamental object was that she was holding high like a trophy.

His words-broadcast to thousands as necks craned to see, faded away to a hoarse croak as it dawned upon him that he just drawn the inquisitive crowd's attention to a giant purple dildo. Alas-she didn't win a prize and we haven't been asked back.

We digress. The ball was held at the Four Season's Hotel at Circular Quay and we button-holed someone that matters. In December a large block booking has been made for 180 rooms plus the penthouse . A range of alterations to the penthouse have been requested from a crew of 8 advance crew from a certain TV show broadcast out of Chicago. At the nearby Holiday Inn, a further 144 rooms have been booked.

However the plot thickens. At the very same time 6 of the very very best rooms and the major suite at the Park Hyatt Hotel, directly opposite the Opera House has been booked by the same US crew.

Our source however says that Oprah herself will most likely be at the Hotel Intercontinental due to it's close location to the Opera House.

And there are more hotel bookings. At the luxurious Hamilton Island, a luxury suite that comes with butler service and overlooks the Coral Sea, has been secured for 2 nights. So now you know. And more soon on who will be Oprah Winfrey's guests and who won't. Gardening guru Jamie Durie is in the second lot and we'll tell you why.

everything old is new again

Let's hear a warm welcome for the diminutive Bonwyn Bishop MP who arrives back on the Opposition front bench, elevated today by the Mad Monk Tony Abbott. As a sometime walker of the Antipodean Iron Lady-who makes her heroine Margaret Thatcher look like a lefty-underneath that steely exterior tSS can report is a real party gal.

Bronny becomes Opposition spokesperson on aged care. She has experience here. In a similar role under PM John Howard she had to weather the storm that surrounded reports of pensioners being scolded in baths and doused in kerosene in Victorian retirement homes.

With a tSS produced Warhol style portrait dominating her Dee Why electorate office, Bishop had made many a senior public servant wilt under her fixed gaze and rapid fire questioning in Senate Estimates Committees.

Once, when Minister for Armed Forces Personnel, Bronwyn inspected one of the new Collin's Class submarines and later back on the wharf and surrounded by young smiling sailors announced to the assembled media flock: "I'm the first female politician to go down on a submarine !"