Tony Abbott's post-putsch party at which a marble table was broken will only heighten the contempt many Australians already have for politicians, independent senator Nick Xenophon says.
Revellers at the dumped prime minister's farewell party at Parliament House on September 14 allegedly smashed the table as they danced on it.
Mr Abbott has accepted responsibility for the damage given he hosted the event and has offered to pay for the repairs.
"I'm glad the table will be paid for, but honestly we're here to do a job - not be dancing on tables," Senator Xenophon told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
"A lot of people in this country are worried about losing their jobs ... you'd think we've got better things to be doing than dancing on tables and breaking them."
A Senate estimates hearing was told on Monday cleaners found broken pieces of the $590 table - an original piece of furniture bought for the parliament in 1988 - on September 15 and alerted the office in charge of asset management.
Cabinet Minister Sussan Ley said Senate estimates spent a long time on some "rather silly issues", suggesting this was one of them.
"Accidents happen, it's as simple as that," she told reporters.
"I wasn't at the party, so I don't know what happened.
"Sadly, my table-dancing days - if indeed there was any dancing on tables - are long gone."
Tasmanian Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic said the table would have been stronger if it had come from the Apple Isle.
"I reckon it's about time we replaced all of that weak structural marble in Parliament House with good quality, strong Tasmanian marble," he told reporters.
Nationals MP Andrew Broad prefers wood, saying the jarrah table in his office can hold his weight, although he's not much of a dancer and hasn't attempted to use it as a dancing platform.
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