Excuse me officer,where's your ID?

Talk about the thin blue line.

We're told a manager within the office of Police CommissionerMick Fuller,a well-regarded public servant,was on Tuesday night charged with impersonating a police officer outside of work hours.

Turns out our man,who we will not name,was allegedly passing himself off as an undercover cop to ingratiate himself with the management of Darlinghurst nightclub Arq.

It's a tough world out there.

Turns out getting into one of these bars is hard enough in Sydney,even for a faithful servant of the commissioner!

We hear that despite never being a police officer,our man allegedly told the bouncers at the aforementioned establishment he was police on a number of occasions,which may or may not have been after he failed to show ID.

Those bouncers are a tough lot,we'd know.

But for all his sins,our man will appear at the Downing Centre in January.

Just enough time to get out there and sink a few more drinks.

In the Nick of time? Not quite

What terrible luckNick Cater’s Menzies Research Centre has when it comes to timing.

Their last major Canberra outing,a $250-a-head affair to commemorateEnid Lyons (the wife of former PMJoseph Lyons,who also became the first female member of Federal Parliament) took place only hours afterMalcolm Turnbull called the Liberal leadership vacant in August.

Yesterday,having organised Prime MinisterScott Morrison to launch a book authored by former Howard government ministerDavid Kemp,Liberal turmoil struck again.

Moments before the launch,Victorian MPJulia Banksquit the party.

(The charmless Canberra lobbyistMichael Kauter,of Strategic Political Counsel,was quick to take to Facebook and,with characteristic grace,label Banks a “bitch” and a “dog”.)

But that didn’t stop a number of Liberal MPs making their way through the launch,with SpeakerTony Smith and Senate PresidentScott Ryan on hand to replace Morrison.

“Developments have meant he can’t attend today,” Ryan said.

You don’t say.

Also along with Melbourne University Press chief executiveLouise Adler:Trade MinisterSimon Birmingham,Cities MinisterAlan Tudge,Liberal MPJason Falinski and senatorsLucy Gichuhi,Eric Abetz,Concetta Fierravanti-Wells andAmanda Stoker.

Meanwhile,Sky News Australia launched its new Canberra studio last night,appended to a truncated News Corp bureau,with missives to staff demanding they clear away any newsroom-related debris including,could you believe it,stationery.

Standoff at The Lodge

And how distant did Morrison’s Christmas cocktail party for the Canberra Press Gallery feel yesterday - despite being held at The Lodge only the night before?

It was a tranquil Cronulla-comes-to-Yarralumla moment away from the misery of Parliament House,broken only by the continued ignominy of Keating Media’sMichael Keating.

Having been dispatched a fortnight ago in the race to be elected press gallery president,Keating found himself mysteriously off the Prime Minister’s Office party invite list.

(Could it have something to do with Keating Media’sturn as a glorified networking event organiser that happens to also publish a newsletter?)

Not to be deterred,our man Keating rang,and rang,and rang.

The PMO phones must have rung around the clock - and yet,no luck.

As intrepid as a reporter sniffing out Russian spooks at the Kingston Hotel late into the evening,Keating simply refused to take no for an answer.

So as the gallery gathered at The Lodge,so too did Keating.

And to defuse what would have otherwise been a nasty standoff,he was allowed in.

Success!

Sadly,if only a treat described by one Sky News correspondent as a “savoury cheese eclair” had been barred from the party instead,a creation so despairing it led to a frantic,mid-bite search for the garbage bin from one unsuspecting PMO staffer.

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Bestest night in town

Meanwhile in Sydney,a respectable crowd gathered for the annual Bestest dinner on the Bennelong lawns of the Royal Botanic Garden on Monday night,hosted by the charity’s chief executiveGina Boon and aGuillaume Brahimi-chosen selection of chefs.

Despite no doubt terrified about the prospects of a Aurora Funds Management-backed intervention for Fairfax Media (publisher of theHerald) the following morning,chairmanNick Falloon and CEOGregHywood nevertheless showed little sign of nervousness over dinner.

Along for the show,former magazine editor turned former Ardent Leisure chief executiveDeborah Thomas and her vodka manufacturing partnerVitek Czernuszynand Vittoria Coffee chief executive and European food importerLes Schirato.

So too was former Seven Media executiveMaureen Kerridge and her husbandKeith,a former investment banker turned operator of Southern Highlands cattle stud Bannaby Angus.

We hear theRoss Greenwood-led auction for Paspaley pearls went extremely well,but at time of publication,nobody has yet volunteered the winner.