The old Labor Party public brawls at national conference have largely disappeared.
Instead, the factional heavies usually get the arm-wrestling and shouting matches done behind closed doors.
And when they emerge deals have been done to keep a semblance of unity in place.
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What that leaves is the performances.
On view this year is a political version of the Adelaide fringe festival, both inside and outside the venue.
Notable have been the anti-Israel activists who chanted “from the river to the sea” and heckled delegates.
Others dug out the hazmat suits and set up a giant green inflatable submarine to make their anti-AUKUS voices heard.
There was plenty of amusement inside too.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s speech fired some shots at his opponents, which gave One Nation a platform of its own.
Labor had its awards ready to go, with best on ground votes to former Member for Adelaide Kate Ellis, who has taken over as ALP National President — and promptly confirmed she will initially be based in Spain as she and her family relocate to Europe for six months.
And there were gongs too for former treasurer Wayne Swan and former Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney, who receive life memberships.
But as the chest thumping and triumphalism continued, in the real world some very big issues are piling up.
Among them are the prospect that 13 men who turned their backs on Australia to join ISIS — a murderous cult which spread terror through the Middle East — may be allowed back into this country.
Then there is the matter of the delicate state of relations with our biggest trading partner, China, and most important ally, the United States, both of which delivered us the diplomatic equivalent of a shirt-front this week.
The China relationship is being severely tested in the wake of its aggressive foreign policy in our region and by test-firing a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific Ocean this month.
And there was further tension when Chinese diplomats reacted with fury after The Nightly revealed a Taiwanese representative had been invited to the national conference.
The Chinese delegation stormed out of the event in protest on Friday after it failed to have the Taiwanese representatives removed.
Given China plays a very good long game, this is not likely the last we will hear of the matter.
And then as the weekend loomed, the rather inconvenient news broke that Donald Trump had slapped a new 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports to the US.
Many other countries have also been hit with new tariffs.
The Trump administration says the move is aimed at tackling forced labour and slavery, arguing American businesses are being placed at a competitive disadvantage because other countries are not doing enough to address the issue.
When Labor’s Adelaide festival is over the Albanese Government will have plenty to keep them busy when they get back to investigating their in-trays.
Let’s hope they are not too exhausted from all the festivities.
