It was a curious question: who was going to pay $895 (US$640, £476) to see Michelle Obama speak at 12.30pm on a Tuesday in Melbourne? While she is an indisputably excellent public speaker, the ticket prices for Obama’s first-ever speaking event in Australia raised a few eyebrows, ranging from the $895 “platinum” package (which promised a priority seat, an “exclusive” brunch, and a “commemorative lanyard and tote bag”) to the cheapest seats at $195 a pop.A sign that expectations may have been bigger than our wallets in a cost-of-living crisis: two weeks ago, my “cheap” seat at the back was suddenly upgraded to a much better spot due to “a recent change in production requirements” that was left unexplained. Another: the visibly empty patches at the front of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.None of this is a reflection on Obama herself, who still managed to lure a sizeable crowd on a weekday afternoon. Her speaking tour, which only reaches Melbourne and Sydney, has been organised by Growth Faculty, a company that stages events about workplace leadership – so it wasn’t all that surprising when host Annabel Crabb opened by saying she would not ask Obama about current politics, because, Crabb claimed, “that is a convention that former first ladies don’t comment on”.“And what else is there to say? I’m sorry?” Obama said jokingly.The former first lady never shied away from delivering veiled but sharp remarks on current politics. When Crabb quoted the former Australian senator Amanda Vanstone as saying, “Think of the dumbest guy you know in politics”, Obama interjected with: “Everyone, close your eyes. Just imagine! Hmmm.” The applause and laughter of the crowd almost drowned out the rest of the quote. (“When a woman that dumb can succeed in politics, that’s equality.”)Asked how she felt her famed catchphrase, “When they go low, we go high”, resonated now when so many prominent figures seem to benefit from openly terrible behaviour, Obama said, “You know those folks aren’t happy. You don’t show up like that in the world and have that not eating away at your soul.”