Ex-Australia PM Tony Abbott to pay for damaged table Published duration 19 October 2015

image copyright EPA image caption Mr Abbott was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull last month

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he will pay for a table smashed during a farewell party after his ousting from the leadership.

After the matter was raised by the opposition he said "it was my event so I take responsibility for it".

The marble table cost A$590 ($428; £277) when it was purchased more than twenty years ago.

Mr Abbott was toppled as leader by Malcolm Turnbull last month after being plagued by poor polls.

Cleaners discovered shards of the marble table on 15 September, the day after Mr Abbott's ousting, a parliamentary committee that viewed pictures of the table heard.

The committee also heard from an email written by a Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) official suggesting the table "may have been damaged by persons standing or dancing on it".

Mr Abbott said in a statement: "On the night of the leadership change I hosted drinks in the cabinet ante-room for staff and colleagues. During this event, a coffee table was damaged."

"I have asked my office to have the Department of Parliamentary Services invoice me for the value of the table."

"Quite a party," said senator Penny Wong from opposition Labor.

But Cory Bernardi, from the governing Liberals, urged caution over the matter saying the email suggesting the cause of the damage was "largely speculative".

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Tony Abbott