Gold Dinner raises record $33.4 million despite Albo’s declining pull

The main prize up for grabs at Wednesday night’s Gold Dinner – recently dubbed the country’s “most glamorous charity gala”, raising money for the Sydney’s Children’s Hospital – was a private audience with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

We’re told bids rose in lots of $25,000 before the auctioneer, 2GB’s Ray Hadley, appeared to find softening demand for the prize. Hadley, reliable shit-stirrer he is, turned to Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull hoping they’d get in on it. People in the room were led to believe Lucy then pitched up $100,000. Did the wife of a former Liberal prime minister come to save the day, saving some blushes for the Labor prime minister? Organisers later said the winner was “anonymous”.