Dinner with deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop and one-time Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull has proved the most-sought after item in an online auction, edging out the chance to sup with Prime Minister Julia Gillard or cycle with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
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The dinner for six at the National Press Club with Ms Bishop and Mr Turnbull went for $13,000 after 34 bids in the charity auction for Wednesday night's press gallery Midwinter Ball, the experience raising the most money of the seven items.
Perhaps recognising it may be a never-repeated opportunity - for all concerned - bidders had spent Wednesday afternoon fighting for a chance to dine with Ms Gillard at either the Lodge or Kirribilli House.
In the final four hours of the auction on eBay, dinner with the on-the-ropes PM jumped more than $5000 to finish at $12,600 after 39 bids.
But it wasn't enough to edge out the double act of Bishop and Turnbull, which also proved more sought-after than a bike ride with Mr Abbott (followed by breakfast) which received 15 bids, going for $7100.
It was a humble scarf to be knitted to order by Ms Gillard which emerged as the most fought-over item.
And, no, GetUp! isn't planning to use it as a political statement.
Forty-eight bids were registered on eBay for the hotly-contested scarf, with the new owner to hand over $4050 for the exclusive neckwear. Paul Donohoe from ball organiser, BDW Special Events Management, said the scarf would be "crafted to order and you can even choose your own colour".
The activist group GetUp! said it hadn't put in a bid for any items this year. It previously successfully bid for dinner with Ms Gillard for three same-sex couples and a surfing lesson with Mr Abbott for an Afghan refugee.
About 640 movers and shakers will attend the ball in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday night, with "several hundred turnaways" for people who applied for tickets but didn't make the cut.
Entertainment will be from the House Howlers, the choir of press gallery members who put the year's political events to popular music, with a little ditty about 457 visas expected. The Prince of Polyester Bob Downe is the MC and music by La Fiesta Sound System.
The other auction items were Qantas business travel for two to either Santiago, New York or London which went for $12,300, VIP tickets for four to the Prime Minister's XI cricket match including the pre-game reception at the Lodge ($5102) and dinner for six at the National Press Club with some of the press gallery's heavy hitters including 7.30's Chris Uhlmann ($3750).
Charities supported by the ball this year are the Indigenous Reading Project, the Inspire Foundation, Lifeline Australia, the MS Society of the ACT, Red Cross ACT and SpinalCure Australia.
Now in its 14th year, the ball has raised more than $2 million for charity.
