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.
Murdoch 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.
While there was no sight of Murdoch, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese nor Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, plenty of others were on show as they arrived or left the party.
Among those seen arriving included NSW Premier Chris Minns and his wife Anna, making a brief appearance, as well as billionaire Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht.
Two of the nation’s most influential sporting executives, former AFL and now Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan and NRL chief Andrew Abdo were pictured smiling as they left the party.
