A 'shirtless, dancing' Tony Abbott apparently held a massive party after being ousted as PM where a marble table was smashed to pieces

Tony Abbott hosted a boozy party in the Australian parliament in which a table made of Italian marble was broken into several pieces on the night he was ousted as prime minister, the country's senate has heard.

It has also been alleged that senior members of parliament kept pieces of the tabletop as souvenirs of the night when Mr Abbott was deposed as leader of the Liberal party by Malcolm Turnbull.

The Sydney Morning Herald suggests that there have been reports of Mr Abbott dancing with his shirt off.

The aftermath of the shindig, and the damage to Commonwealth property, was discussed at a meeting of the senate finance and public administration legislation committee on Monday.

Senator Penny Wong, the Labor party's senate leader, was briefed by John Ryan, a member of the department of parliamentary services.

John Ryan:

We were told there were pieces of the table there.

Senator Wong:

Pieces?

John Ryan:

Pieces, yes.

Senator Wong:

How do you... what, pieces of the marble broke?

John Ryan:

Some of the pieces of marble were found by the cleaners, yes.

Senator Wong:

Quite a party.

Senator Wong also suggested that Liberal minister Jamie Briggs, who was seen in a wheelchair on the morning after the party, might be able to shed some light on the evening but he has taken to Twitter to explain that he had hurt his knee while out running and had not in fact been dancing on a table.

Senator Wong:

It's kind of unusual for ministers to have shards or fragments of marble in their offices, correct?

John Ryan:

There are many things that are in ministers' offices, I wouldn't like to comment.

The SMH also reports that "throughout the hearing Labor and Coalition senators wrangled over the correct term of whether the table had been 'damaged' or 'smashed' during the long drinking session".

Senate president Stephen Parry said: "The word smashed is speculative. It's seriously damaged." Senator Wong said she would agree to "broken in half".

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