ONE NIGHT IN CLUBLAND

Outgoing Liberal senatorArthur Sinodinos will soon head to Washington DC to take up a posting at Australia's Embassy asDonald Trump-whispererJoe Hockey’s replacement.

And while the move is not due to take place for several months,that's not stopped the farewell tour from starting already,most recently on Tuesday night at the Australian Club.

There for evening cocktails with Sinodinos was accident-prone Financial Services Council bossSally Loane and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry business council directorPaul Nicolaou.

It’s nice to see the two men together again after a difficult period when their dealings as Liberal money men were subject to an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation (no findings were ultimately made against Sinodinos,but Nicolaou was found to have channelled political donations,including from property developers,to the NSW Liberals 2011 campaign,disguising the true source of the funds).

Also there:John Howard,Sinodinos'former boss,as well as Destination NSW board memberMargaret Jack.

That gathering took place on the same evening that the first of the many planned forensic accounts of the coup that toppledMalcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership was broadcast.

Sinodinos was one of Turnbull’s most loyal supporters,as he explained toDavid Speers'Sky News Australia specialBad Blood,New Blood. So too was former workplace ministerCraig Laundy,also present last night.

But they would have missed their man himself,perhaps by mere hours.

Turnbull had lunch at the Macquarie Street club earlier that day.

On a separate table that evening we spotted former health bureaucratChris Crawford celebrating his birthday with his wifeCatherine Cusack,one ofGladys Berejiklian’s many parliamentary secretaries,and Liberal powerbrokerMichael Photios,former Law Council presidentStuart Clark and Federal Circuit Court judgeRobert Cameron.

PRIME TIME PYNE

Another of Sinodinos'Cabinet colleagues,Christopher Pyne,has set a startlingly brisk pace finding new work.

Less than two months after leaving Parliament,he secured a gig at law firm Thomson Geer,according to theAdelaide Advertiser ⁠— an office out of which Pyne's former chief-of-staffAdam Howard also works.

But perhaps it's not much of a coincidence after all.

Now we can reveal that one day before the May federal election,Howard's company registered Pyne&Partners.

Pyne has also struck a deal with big four accountancy firm,EY,providing advice about an area of his expertise — defence.

There is,of course,the small matter of the Ministerial Code of Conduct,which prohibits him from meeting with MPs,the public service or the defence force"on any matter on which they have had official dealings as Minister in their last eighteen months in office". That restriction is in place for 18 months after departure.

Who could forget former small business ministerBruce Billson's run-in with those guidelines,having drawn a Franchise Council of Australia salary before he left Parliament.

Department of Prime Minister&Cabinet secretaryMartin Parkinson eventually decided he had not breached the rules,although he was eventually censured by Parliament last year.

A LEARNED MAN

Yesterday,we brought you the news that Fairfield City mayorFrank Carbone — formerly of Labor but now an independent — and his allies had quietly decided to make some electoral changes which would simply reduce the number of votes needed to get elected. Handy,when an election is due next year.

Now,in leaked emails,we see Carbone has taken to likening himself to Shakespearean antagonistShylock.

“If you prick us,do we not bleed? If you tickle us,do we not laugh? If you poison us,do we not die? And if you wrong us,shall we not revenge,” he wrote on June 17 in response to an argument over the controversial changes.

Small aside:Shylock suffers a devastating loss in the Merchant of Venice.

Meanwhile,on Wednesday we pinned the 2008 CBD Metro toKristina Keneally’s government. We should have said it was a project under the Rees government. It was an oversight on our part.