Yatching News #3

The Daily Mail / MailOnline carries a story and video of Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch on their new $30M Superyacht ESTROS as seen in this screenshot from that newspaper. The Estros is certainly a welcolm addition to Sydney Harbour with it's graceful old world charm. The only other yacht that can give it a run for it's money is the ENA (pictured below) which is moored at the Maritime Museum and was restored by a consortium headed by former Prime Minister Paul Keating and sailing legend Dennis O'Neil. Alas, the famous Mail Sub Editing Gremlins have struck once again with this caption : "The rebuilt 42-metre 1954 classic Istros was once once by the Pappadakis shipping dynasty". Still, you get the idea. For the full story go here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10862731/Lachlan-Sarah-Murdoch-look-happy-cruise-Sydney-new-30million-yacht.html

Katherine Keating in Manhattan Special

Dom Perignon & Ghislaine Maxwell Invite you to a cocktail reception Celebrating the launch of Ideapod

116 East 65th Street, NYC
Thursday, September 19, 2013

Photo above: Katherine Keating, The President Of Iceland- Olafur Ragnar GríMsson, Dorrit Moussaieff, Ghislaine Maxwell.

It takes the tabloid media awhile to catch up. Katherine Keating, daughter of former Prime Minister Paul Keating has been living in New York now for over 10 years.
Keating apparently visited the home of the late Jeffrey Epstein and managed to get photographed by a paparazzi being farewelled by Prince Andrew.
There is a problem with the reporting here though: Epstein's NY house is regarded as one of the cities more substantial residences and he may well have had numerous guests staying over the years. Keating has been photographed with and is apparently pals with Prince Andrew's daughters, hence, it's not too a leap of logic to suggest she was in fact visiting Andrew seeing that it was he who showed her to the door.


Such hyperventilating like this is a tad over the top when the  Daily Mail / MailOnline  say that she must "answer allegations" why she was there. Allegations? Is it really anyone's business why she visited someone?.
Anyway here is a photo roundup from uber New York social snapper Patrick McMullan who knows everyone who should be known in Manhattan and Los Angeles.

# McMullan was a guest at a Sydney exhibition many moons ago at which other guests included the late Min Keating (Paul Keating's mother and Katherine's Grandmother) and the late Lady Sonia McMahon. The three of them got on famously and dined together later.
All photographs; copyright: Patrick McMullan / PMc

Keating is regular seen at the smarter New York parties..with her younger sister Alexandra Keating

exclusive : Anthony Pratt's New York party

PM Malcolm Turnbull & Lucy Turnbull     *      Hannah Godefa     *      Claudine Revere *      Eudoxie Bridges

 Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman of Pratt Industries, opened the doors of his New York City townhouse for a fundraiser.. or a “friendraiser” as the invitation put it to honour the accomplishments of two young women helping to change the lives of millions of people in Africa.
And among the guests were some familiar faces : Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who had earlier addressed the UN, with Lucy Turnbull and daughter of former PM Paul Keating, Katherine Keating who now works in New York at the web publication Vice. Also there was Barbara Bush daughter of former US president George Bush Jr, who spent over a year in Australia studying.


Being honoured: Eudoxie Bridges from Gabon and founder of Unspoken Angels which aims to support, educate, inspire and empower young women and 19 year old Canadian Hannah Godefa , who serves as UNICEF National Ambassador to Ethiopia. 

Randall Lane* Hannah Godefa * Eudoxie Bridges * Anthony Pratt                     Eudoxie Bridges & Barbara Bush

 

                                          photographs : Patrick McMullan Company (C)

Plenty of Gold

Last year Whispers attended the Gold Ball held at the Darling Point home of Aussie Home Loans boss John Symond. One guest crashed to the floor perhaps overwhelmed by the lavishness of the Symond digs with it's sweeping harbour views.
Fortunately numerous doctors were on hand, as guests, and our patient quickly recovered to enjoy the evening. This year the Gold Ball which raises funds for the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick- Nicole Kidman is a patron- packed in over 400 guests at the Royal Hall of Industries in Moore Park and we are happy to report not one ball goer swooned and a massive $1.6M was raised for the kids. Our snap (below) shows nightclub mogul Justin Hemmes with John Symond on the right and Symond's wife Amber. Amber & John were married earlier this year and it's the second time round for both- Amber was married to former prime minister Paul Keating's son Patrick Keating (yes we were at that wedding too as out exclusive snap above right shows).
On the subject of Prime Ministers and kids- Justin held a fundraiser on Saturday night for Malcolm Turnbull at his magnificent Vaucluse pile The Hermitage (pictured above) and a bunch of children turned up correctly dressed and waving bundles of cash asking to be admitted so they could grill the PM over environmental matters. Sadly they were rejected.

photograph by Belinda Rolland

Mrs Keating's Raincoat

Min Keating and our Paul Keating portrait

The Keating clan assembled last week at St Patricks Catholic Church in The Rocks to farewell their beloved matriarch Min Keating who died at the grand age of 94. Min was the mother of former Prime Minister Paul Keating and notable businesswoman Anne Keating. Whispers & Min had a long association first formed via our own late mother who was a long time pal of Min's.
 In the late 90s Whispers held an exhibition of Warholesque style photographic screen prints on a blustery June night in Kings Cross. It was a huge success with many of the portraits being snapped up by their subjects including Kylie Minogue and Elle McPherson along with Lady Mary Fairfax's daughter Anna and brother Charles purchasing a picture of Lady Mary for the family art collection.

Unashamedly influenced by Andy Warhol (he was an old friend) the famed New York society photographer Patrick McMullan who had two regular social pages on Warhol's Interview Magazine flew out for the opening night of the exhibition. Patrick was chuffed to meet members of Sydney society including Lady Sonia McMahon and Min Keating who was pleased to see a portrait of her son Paul in the exhibition. As we all dined later in a nearby restaurant Min finally left at around 2am.

McMullan was startled to receive a rather frantic phone call from Min at his hotel at 7am the next morning. Min had left her raincoat at the restaurant but it was a very special one- purchased by son Paul on one of his Prime Ministerial trips to the UK.
"I dined out on this for weeks to come when I got back to New York" said Patrick later. " Having the PM's mum telephone is like having the US presidents mum on the blower.".
But what has he done with those photos from the night?,  Somewhere in his extensive archive is a series of pics taken after Min left the dinner, of each of the guests parading in Min Keating's fetching leopard print raincoat, including Lady Sonia McMahon!
" I seriously though of holding an exhibition in New York titled The Prime Minister's Mother's Raincoat" said McMullan. "It's the sort of arty thing that goes down well in the Big Apple"

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.

Shuttle history on sale

A photograph taken by a Social Shuttle contributor is for sale on Ebay and currently stands at $660  $810. It's a snap of former Prime Minsters Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating and Bob Hawke with the then Labor Opposition Leader Kim Beazley and it's signed by all four leaders. 25 signed copies were produced and many have re-sold for much higher sums
You can bid here : http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261277166245

Gold Everywhere

radiant : Sonia Kruger

UK cricketing captain David Gower may think Australian cricket fans are devoid of culture but the Aussie cricketers sure have damned fine luggage. That was evident at this week's 2013 Gold Ball where one of the auction items was a splendorous set of Louis Vuitton luggage created for cricket captain Michael Clarke.
The Louis Vuitton luggage was just one of the many donated items along with Paspaley Pearls and world airline trips that saw around one million dollars being raised for the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick.
The Gold Ball brought out 350 of the good and great including former prime minister Paul Keating and captains of industry including the new slimline 'Aussie John' Symonds and new girlfriend Amber Keating , PM Paul's former daughter-in-law and a newly svelte Joe Hockey MP.
 Also there was Nine Network boss Jeff Browne and partner Rhonda Wyllie. Nine will be hosting the Gold Telethon this Queen's Birthday Holiday and Nicole Kidman, the hospital's patron has kicked in $100,000 to get the ball rolling.

slimmers club : Joe Hockey MP, John Symonds & Amber Kaeting

Glenn & Sarah McGrath

The Tony Assness designed ball room was really quite sensational with what seemed a million candles glittering and with catering by Matt Moran and endless crates of the finest chilled Bollinger. The idea first kicked around by PR gal Skye Leckie and Professor Les White (Chief Paediatrician for NSW Health) 17 years ago has grown to be the must attend social event.

Rhonda Wyllie & Jeff Browne

cute blonde Lea Goodrem &daughter Delta

Professor Les White & Mrs White

Peter Overton & Jessica Rowe

Out In The Open

It's been the gossip of the town but at last week's Silver Party mega millionaire John Symond finally appeared in public with his new girlfriend Amber Keating.

Amber & 'Aussie' John

Keating is the soon to be ex-wife of Patrick Keating, handsome son of former Prime Minister Paul Keating and when the Shuttle attended their wedding at St Mary's Cathedral in 2002, it was regarded as the match of the year.
 Patrick is now living with fashion identity Penny Hunt and the pair are expecting a baby.
(right : Amber & Patrick at their 2002 wedding)
Last Thursday at the fundraiser for the Sydney Children's Hospital the affection between the pair was obvious when John who walked up the driveway in the pouring rain spotted Amber who was waiting for him and the pair embraced.
Two weeks ago Amber was also on hand when Aussie Loan's John gave away his son Stephen Symond who married his partner Ed Smith in a civil ceremony in the garden of Symond's $60M Darling Point mansion.

Those Paul Keating Insults..

He is an expert in demolishing his opponents with a few well chosen barbs. From the moment ex-Labor Prime Minster Paul Keating described then PM John Howard in 2007 as looking like a 'desicated coconut'.  Howard was doomed. As was Opposition leader Andrew Peacock when Keating called him an 'intellectual rust bucket' in Parliament.

Possibly his greatest coup was dismantling a brewing scandal over Labor Party fixers Brian Burke and Julian Grills whose shenanigans threatened Kevin Rudd's bid for the Lodge.
Paul Keating dismissed the pair's influence when he described them as the "Arthur Daley and Terry of WA politics".

Now an App for your Iphone that will deliver Keating style insults such as  : " "you intellectual gigolo with the integrity of a rust bucket," or "You stunning example of mental incapacity, you gutless spiv.". It's been created by Dan Nolan of Synthetica and is available from Apple App Store.

Below is a video created to honour Paul Keating's time in Canberra :

Prime Ministers, Book Launches and Slapped Faces

Last Monday Sue Pieters-Hawke launched her book Hazel: My Mother's Story at the SH Erwin Gallery and it was a fairly quiet affair.

Hazel & Bob in happier days

There was none of the fanfare that accompanied the launch of the book her step-mother Blanche d'Alpuget authored -Hawke, The Prime Minister about Sue's dad, former Prime Minster Bob Hawke who is still regarded as the most popular leader Australia has ever had.

The current PM Julia Gillard did the honours for Blanche's tome in front of a number of notable guests like actors Geoffrey Rush and Rhys Muldoon and former Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett who is now the Minister for Education.

Last June it was alleged that Blanche and Sue had encountered each other in the Qantas's exclusive Chairman's Lounge at Brisbane Airport and each had slapped the other's face before being separated by authorities. Both denied the claim but witnesses say the incident was fairly heated although it's claimed the two have since made up.

Blanche, Julia & Bob

Despite this neither Bob Hawke nor Blanche attended Sue's book launch which Pieters-Hawke has written in retaliation to d'Alpuget's impliction that Hazel only stayed married to Hawke while he was PM so she could stay in The Lodge at Canberra and enjoy her role as first lady. 

Sue Pieters-Hawke's book covers Hazel's life from a schoolgirl in Perth, her life with Bob -''the love of her life'' - her career in welfare, life at The Lodge and her sad decline into Alzheimer's disease in 2001.
                                                 *************************

Meanwhile the man who deposed Bob Hawke in a party room coup, former PM  Paul Keating launched his own book After Words on Sunday.
Keating, who was dubbed The Lizard of Oz by the British media in 1992 who accused him of manhandling HM The Queen has likened Australia to "a child clasping at the Queen's coat-tails, waving an embarrassing little flag' in a Daily Telegraph report.

                                        
                                                 *************************

Not to be left out, former PM Kevin Rudd, himself deposed 2 years ago by Julia Gillard has been entertaining a crowd at a function following a meeting of Foreign Ministers at the CHOGM conference in Perth. The audience demanded Rudd break into song but he informed them "I sing like a cow".
(What does a cow sound like when it sings?)

UK's Andrew Gilligan Outed as Pauline Hanson Supporter

With lips quivering in that inimitable manner that makes her appear so brittle that she may shatter at any moment, or at least burst into tears, Pauline Hanson lashed out in the media at the preferential voting system that today denied her a seat in the NSW upper house, the Legislative Assembly.

For days Pauline was ahead on first past the post votes. As absent votes were counted she slipped into second place with a Green and a Liberal MHR finally seizing the last two spots.

Seats in the Upper House are worth their weight in gold and are the cushiest lurk in town . A 6 year term at about $180K  per annum and if you win a second term you qualify for a lifetime pension, gold travel passes and all sorts of goodies.

Pauline has cried foul on the AV system and questioned it's relevence-the same system that millions of Brits will vote for or against in an historic referendum in May.

An unlikely supporter has come forth in the form of Andrew Gilligan writing in the UK Telegraph. In a piece titled "AV- it's nothing to shout about" he gives  a few examples of NSW politicians elected under the AV vote :

"At a drunken party in his parliamentary office, the Police Minister, naked but for a pair of “very brief” underpants, climbed on top of a female MP and pretended to have sex with her. The Health Minister, who was 53, used his office to entertain his 26-year-old mistress. The Ports Minister visited porn sites on his official computer.

The Regional Development Minister – known to the local tabloids as “Sir Lunchalot” – charged taxpayers for a holiday to Dubai and Italy. The Education Minister promised to “stand by” her husband after he was arrested buying ecstasy. Several ministers were implicated in a corruption scandal involving a female town planner who approved illegal high-rise buildings in return for sexual favours and designer handbags. And the Aboriginal Affairs Minister? Well, he is doing 14 years after his conviction on multiple counts of child sex abuse."

Ouch !

(He missed out on the replacement Police Minister who was recently embroiled in a sandal involving a gay bath house)

Gilligan actually gives a pretty balanced run-down on how AV voting works in Australia despite being an obvious opponent of it. He also gets stuck into Question Time in Canberra and the insults that fly back and forth.

But are our politicians any worse than their British counterparts in the insult department ?. We sought out our resident parliamentary insult expert , the great Mungo MacCallum who provided a list of some of the choicest terms used by the master of put-down, former PM Paul Keating who referred to various Opposition members as :

harlots, sleazebags, frauds, immoral cheats, blackguards, pigs, mugs, clowns, boxheads, criminal intellects, stupid crooks, corporate crooks, friends of tax cheats, brain-damaged, loopy crims, stupid foul-mouthed grub, piece of criminal garbage, dullards, stupid, mindless, crazy, alley cat, bunyip aristocracy, clot, fop, gigolo, hare-brained, hillbilly, malcontent, mealy-mouthed, ninny, rustbucket, scumbag, scum, sucker, thug, dimwits, dummies, a swill, a pig sty, Liberal muck, vile constituency, fools and incompetents, rip-off merchants, perfumed gigolos, gutless spiv, glib rubbish, tripe and drivel, constitutional vandals, stunned mullets, half-baked crim, insane stupidities, champion liar, ghouls of the National Party, barnyard bullies, piece of parliamentary filth, lick spittal dogs vomit.

Keating once labelled Treasurer Peter Costello as "all tip and no iceberg"and described John Howard as a 'like a desicated coconut":
When the Opposition attacked him over his late filed tax return Keating said they were "playing the man not the ball" . A Liberal MP exclaimed ": "Oh, for goodness sake, Mr Keating! Only last week you called the Opposition front-bench 'sleazebags'!"
Keating replied "But that was a generic term, describing the Opposition front-bench as a whole. I wasn't insulting any particular person."

We nearly lost Pauline for awhile. She sold up a year ago and emigrated to the UK claiming Australia was full of Muslims and other undesirables ( a DNA ancestry test once revealed her origins as being central Turkey) but soon returned claiming that Britain was "full of immigrants". The irony was lost on her.

Here's Pauline in her famous 'I'm dead' video :

A Chance To Ask Tony Those Difficult Questions

" Get out of your homes and attack them in the streets, you people who love Moamar Gaddafi'".

Does Tony Blair love the soon to be ex-leader of Libya ? They look pretty pally in our snap.

You will get a chance to ask Tony soon when he visits Sydney Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane on his first Australian speaking tour. Blair who was prime minister of Britain for 10 years is one of the " most respected , engaging and in demand speakers of our time ". (according to the press release ).



Anthony Pratt



He's being brought to Australia by Anthony Pratt who inherited the Dick Pratt billions when his father died in 2009 along with Vizy Industries-the largest privately owned cardboard packaging company in the world. Apparently the two Anthonys are good friends.

This won't be  Blair's first visit to Australia. He's been twice-before he was PM. Once to see his good friend the former premier of WA Dr Geoff Gallop and to attend a Rupert Murdoch get-together on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. The rumour goes that it was then he cemented a relationship with Murdoch and a promise of future support even though then Aussie PM Paul Keating advised  him it would be an 'unmanageable ' relationship.

Tony Blair was appointed Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East when he resigned as PM in 2007 which should present a few challenges for him at present although he's been fairly quiet on the subject.

If you want to go and hear Blair's speech you can get tickets via Melanie Hendra at melanie@marksonsparks.com or phone 612 9699 2000

Michael Parkinson Becomes Honorary Australian

Comedian Ben Elton has become a citizen and 70's star Leo Sayer loves the place.

Now Sir Michael Parkinson has been given the rare honour of giving the Australia Day address at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music tonight.

Parky is no stranger to the place, Both he and wife, the TV presenter Mary Parkinson have been visiting Australia for 30 years. They spend most summers in an apartment in Rushcutter's Bay overlooking the harbour. One daughter and her family have lived here for 20 years which gives them the excuse to visit.

But of course, Parkinson's love of Australia has always been well known and since his retirement last year he told the Shuttle in January 2010 that one of the joys of giving up his interview program was the ability to spend more time here and of course, the ability to watch even more cricket, one of his greatest loves.

Leo Sayer (Australia Day Council)

Tonight Michael Parkinson in his speech pointed out some of the reasons he loves the place including the lack of snobbery and the directness of Aussies. He used former Prime Minister Paul Keating as an example pointing out the outrage that surged through British tabloids when Keating put a protective arm around HRH The Queen on an official visit and labelled Keating The Lizard of Oz :

 "He was simply reaching out in a friendly gesture as one human being to another. Here we are all human beings."

Parkinson said Australia first came to his attention as a boy in Shropshire when his miner father constantly commented on the quality of Australian cricketers. In his speech he marvelled at how the country had progressed from a penal colony to in his words : "one of the most powerful and progressive nations in the world".

And he brought up the subject of the devastating floods in Queensland and the dreadful bush fires in Victoria last year saying :


"It is a reminder to the world of the resilience and the courage of the Australian people"

# Fans of Parky should check out former East Ender Graeme Goldberg's Dee Bees cafe in Double Bay where Michael and Mary often take breakfast. You may even see Leo Sayer there-he and Goldberg are great mates. According to Graeme, Ben Elton is yet to visit as he lives in Perth with his family.

See our earlier chat with Michael Parkinson at Doyles in Watson's Bay.

A reminder of Michael Parkinson's brilliant show with one of his favourite guests-Dame Edna Everage.

Great Minds Think Alike #3

Following our exclusive story yesterday about Australia's TV media mogul and billionaire Reg Grundy, the UK's Daily Mail has warmed to the theme today with the story of Kylie Minogue's attempts to get her appearances on Neighbours permanently canned.

little bay with big problems

It's only 3 kilometres from the city centre and a stone's throw from Kings Cross-Elizabeth Bay, a harbour-side suburb where a battle royal is about to break out.

The suburb has some rich and famous residents overseen by the imposing  Elizabeth Bay House, the historic homestead of Governor Lachlan Macquarie whose wife Elizabeth the area was named after. Chef Kylie Kwong lives there as does trucking magnate Lindsay Fox who stumped up $29M for the 1920's Spanish style residence Boomerang, built by the Albert's music family and the locale for the film Mission Impossible 11. At one stage actor Tom Cruise considered buying Boomerang as his Aussie base for he and former wife Nicole Kidman . Just up the road from Boomerang in Billyard Avenue have lived Russel Crowe and Lachlan Murdoch. A few hundred metres in the other direction in Roslyn Gardens is the imposing 4 storey terrace being restored by former Prime Minster Paul Keating-to date a 15 year project.

Rene Rivkin

 Owner of the fashion label Diesel and former James Packer partner , Theo Onosforou has a house there as does the head of the  Broome pearl empire Nick Paspaley while Consolidated Media's chairman, John Alexander lives in a magnificent penthouse. Right on the small park at the end of a marina where the action is taking place is controversial West Australian businessman Warren Anderson who has his elegant terrace for sale for give or take $30M.

Opposite Anderson's house is the Elizabeth Bay marina whose owners, rag trader Michael Dalah and the rich  panel beater Peter Fitzhenry wish to turn from it's present 30 vessel berth into 50. It's a fight that is sure to end  up in the courts as the residents oppose the development. They successfully saw off the last entrepreneur, the late stockbroker Rene Rivkin.

The Danish royals partied at Boomerang

Meanwhile John Alexander who led the fight to prevent the previous development has had to halt the renovations of his large terrace overlooking the harbour after another tenant of his building Julie Schaeffer took out an injunction in the Supreme Court citing lack off council approval. Schaeffer was the previous owner of Boomerang where she hosted the return home party for Princess Mary of Denmark when Mary paid her first visit back to Oz with her husband Frederick-the future King of Denmark.

Boomerang

And right across the road from Boomerang is the multi storey apartment of property entrepreneur Gary Baker and his wife Karin Upton Baker the head of the fashion label Hermes where they have hosted parties for Elle McPherson and Cate Blanchett. The Bakers-noted for their series of black autos-a Bentley Continental,  a Rolls Phantom , a vintage Mercedes sports car and a Mini Cooper all with XXX numberplate's, are facing a Supreme Court fight over their investment in a set of Bondi beach-side apartments once owned by the late singer Peter Allen the former husband of Liza Minnelli. The Bakers are being  sued by a credit company for around $18M and risk losing their home.

 

Directly across from the marina where all the woes are about to descend is tSS contributor Bill Ranken who has a pied-à-terre . He's not buying into the fight-he doesn't like boats.

"If you don't know Patrick-you should go out more" : Andy Warhol

      What better way to start a new year off than a shameless plug for a pal. The above quote is genuine-tSS was there when the late Andy Warhol said it. Patrick McMullan has been New York's top society snapper for going on 20 years now-in fact he's probably the USA's most sought after photographer for social get-togethers.

     Patrick has regular columns in Warhol's Interview Magazine, Vanity Fair (for which he's a contributing editor) New York Magazine, Ocean Drive,  and a few others. His pics appear in basically every US newspaper and around the world. He's one of the guys on the inside. Even Paris Hilton 2009's 2008's famous party girl says no party is complete without Patrick in attendance. He's also published 7 best selling books of party snaps. tSS can't quite remember where we met Patrick-it was most likely at a very disreputable Greenwich Village bar called the Ninth Circle.

        For the past 2 decades we've made an annual pilgrimage to visit Patrick in his Fifth Avenue apartment near Washington Square where he's lived since he left college. Soon we'll bring you a video of interview with Patrick conducted there. When we first started crashing on Patrick's sofa we usually had to cobble together a few dollars for breakfast the next day, Now McMullan employs around 40 people and 20 photographers around the USA. tSS occasionally helps out. I think he might own the building now.

       tSS once flew Patrick to Sydney for an exhibition of our snaps of various celebrities at a King's Cross gym transformed for the night into a gallery. He was a huge hit with the local media and our own party guests like the late Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue, who signed her snap which was later sold at a charity auction for the Bobby Goldsmith HIV charity bringing around $8000. Kylie loved the pic and asked us where we took it.."somewhere or other" was our reply, not wanting to remind her that it was in a bar when she trying to be incognito and she told tSS to "fuck off" at the time.

       Afterwards we all retired to a restaurant that is now the uber-chic Hugos Lounge (the bar and the only one not owned by 'nightclub identity' John Ibrahim). Joining us were our favourite former First Lady, Lady Sonia McMahon and Min Keating, mother of the then Prime Minister Paul Keating.(left) Everyone got along famously.

      right :   Lady Sonia McMahon with son , Hollywood hearthrob Julian McMahon

 In the morning Patrick received an urgent phone call from Min Keating.  "I left my beautiful rain coat behind" said Min. "Paul (Keating) will be furious " she said. " He bought it for me in Paris when he was on a state visit". Said raincoat was quickly found but as the half a dozen of us who had slept around Patrick's hotel suite arose, McMullan decided we should all pose in Min's leopard print raincoat for a future exhibition. "No-one will believe this" said Patrick...."the Prime Minister's mother waking me at 7am looking for her raincoat-it's like getting a call from the White House". Hopefully the snaps are locked away in a safe.

       Heaven forbid they should emerge. At former PM Bob Hawke's 80th birthday bash at the Opera House  a fortnight ago tSS earned a withering smile from Keating as we caught him trying to avoid the media upon arrival.

  Surpassing Patrick's photographic snaps now are his fashion reports for NBC TV. If you want to know the latest about New York's fashion scene go here to watch a few of McMullan's interviews.