the Special Broadcasting Service, Woolworths Group, Shell, Salesforce, Sony Music, the Australian Recording Industry Association, and the Department of Parliamentary Services. Notable attendees All Australian Prime Ministers since the year 2000 have at some point attended the Midwinter Ball, usually attending each year. The same true for all leaders of the opposition, and most minor party leaders including the Australian Greens. The US ambassador to Australia is another notable regular attendee. Celebrities known to have attended the ball include Buzz Aldrin, Sam Neill. Prominent business people known to have attended the ball include Kerry Stokes, Michael Ebeid, and Robert Costa. Among performers who have been invited to the ball, are the new wave band Mental As Anything, Jessica Mauboy, Marcia Hines, Shaun Micallef, Julian Morrow, David Campbell (singer), Christine Anu, Björn Again, Paulini, and Grace Knight. Journalists known have attended the event include Latika Bourke, Laura Tingle, Annabel Crabb and David Speers. Controversies The Midwinter Ball has been the venue for a number of reported controversies in Australian public life. A staffer to a lower house MP had his career ended after allegedly groping a woman at the event. It has also been reported in The Australian that Kevin Rudd's speech to the Midwinter ball as prime minister was 'so unfunny it surely contributed to his political demise a few days later. An impersonation of Donald Trump made by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull caused a minor diplomatic stir in 2017 after being recorded and leaked. The recording of the speech was criticized by politicians on both sides of the aisle, some decrying the recording as "unethical", while others described the incident as having "damaged politicians' belief in the mid-winter ball as somewhere they can let their hair down". The incident led speeches being broadcast publicly from the 2019 event onwards. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's speech to the ball a few weeks after becoming prime minister, was infamously heckled by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young who shouted "bring back Malcolm" throughout his speech. See also Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery White House Correspondents' Association White House Correspondents Dinner References Dining events Annual events in Australia Culture of Canberra