Australia’s politicians, media figureheads and power players descended on Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch’s Bellevue Hill mansion on Thursday night, in a return of their highly exclusive and renowned Christmas bash.

And, the biggest guest of them all, Lachlan’s father, Rupert Murdoch was in attendance, in town for his first visit since 2018 after several cancelled trips. The newlywed, alongside his fifth wife Elena Zhukova, arrived in Australia for a summer break.

It was an evening to relax and mingle with some of Australia’s biggest power players after a year of ups and downs for the Murdoch family. Rupert, who married Zhukova in June, was slated to visit Australia earlier this year for the lavish 60th birthday celebrations for the masthead he personally founded, The Australian, but cancelled the trip.

Yet one individual was afforded more time with the 93-year-old guest of honour than most. That would be the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who arrived (and left) early and was seen having a “long chat” with Murdoch, two attendees told this masthead on condition of anonymity.

Peter Dutton was also in attendance, though a spokesperson for the opposition leader told this masthead they would not confirm which guests he spent time with, or for how long.

Throughout the course of the party, guests were lined up for their moment with Murdoch, who has been locked in a secret legal battle with his children for the past year. The outcome of a court hearing in Nevada in September for control of the family trust – and control of the News and Fox Corp empire – still hanging in the balance and out of public view.

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The media mogul officially retired last year, handing the reins over to Lachlan, his elder son. He has angered his three other eldest children, Prudence, James and Elizabeth, by seeking to shift all voting control held in the family trust over to Lachlan in the event of his death.

But both will be acutely aware the last time the News Corp chairman emeritus stepped foot on local shores, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull just happened to be rolled in a leadership spill which ultimately brought Scott Morrison to power.