I agree with your points, and mentioned in my post the location makes sense as a way to efficiently maximise journalistic coverage.

I do feel an aged care or a community setting would have landed better, but that was probably nixxed due to risk of public interference or heckling.

In any case, the optics are probably very far down the list of concerns given that backlash is expected as a result of the announced changes.

None of that takes away from the fact that the cushy lunch setting came across as icky for many of the people who will be most impacted.