Nobody ever called it the People's Republic of North Sydney. This is dyed-in-the-wool Liberal territory - except that the blue dye seems to be fading.
How else do you explain the presence of Labor leader Anthony Albanese among the cupcakes at a nice detached home on Third Avenue?
In atmosphere if not distance, this comfortable land of prams the size of trucks seems like a long way from the Camperdown where he was brought up - he once called it a "proud working class community".
North Sydney and Camperdown are on different sides of the famous bridge - the one of class and politics, of course.
Except that he and the Labor number crunchers think North Sydney is in play. It's a seat the ALP has never won but the way second preferences fall may just change that.
The general assumption has been that the real contest is between incumbent Liberal Trent Zimmerman and independent Kylea Tink - but Labor has seen a way of sneaking through the middle.
In this scenario, Tink comes third on first preferences but her second preference votes go to Labor, and da-da: out go the Liberals.
So, with hope and a cupcake, there the Labor leader was, in the living room of Number 65, perched on a Parisian-style bistro chair (you know, the nice wooden ones with the curly backs), on the stripped pine floor, stroking Poppy the groodle (a posh type of dog - they don't come cheap).
Oh, and with a ravenous pack of Terriers for Truth just outside, sheltering under the awning on the deck from the not-so-gentle Sydney downpour.
Mr Albanese was there to promote Labor's childcare policy. The mums relayed their heartfelt woes to him - the lack of affordable childcare hampered their ability to work and bring up children.
And he relayed back his plan to help. He does know about the toughness of raising a child as the son of a single mum.
Under the policy, the maximum subsidy would rise, by more for those on lower pay.
This was music to the ears of the parents (on the bistro chairs on the stripped pine).
The Labor candidate for Red North Sydney is a lawyer, a university law lecturer, to boot - classic Labor these days.
"People who are lifelong Liberal voters are saying, 'We have to get rid of Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce'," Catherine Renshaw said.
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That is, of course, what candidates say - but there is evidence: the presence of Mr Albanese.
He has dashed and darted across Australia in the past two days - three states alone on Monday - so his time garnering votes is precious. He goes where there might be an electoral dividend - like North Sydney.
The cruder world of politics did eventually intrude on the comfortable scene. Outside the Terriers were waiting.
Mr Morrison had been unpleasant on the wireless that morning. He had said that Mr Albanese was a "complete loose unit".
What would Mr A make of that, barked a hundred hounds.
It was the Prime Minister who was being "loose with the truth", the contender retorted.
He then gave what seemed like a passionate assertion of why the minimum wage should rise with the rise in prices.
"What we are talking about here is the lowest-paid workers in Australia," he said, "workers who are paid $20.33 an hour to be paid a dollar extra. That is what this debate is about."
What is not clear is whether he thinks all wages should rise with price inflation - and what the word "should" should mean. Is it a vague desire or something tougher amounting to a policy?
Either way, the nice voters of North Sydney seem less frightened by the prospect of rising wages for the lowest paid than they once were - or so we are told.
Red North Sydney it is not - but maybe shading from blue to pink.
We shall see.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
