Senator Eric Abetz

Labor's unbridled hubris at the passing of Labor's now flawed modern award system legislation at taxpayer's expense gives the Australian people an insight into Rudd Labor, according to Senator Eric Abetz.

It's been revealed that at the height of the global financial crisis, as businesses were being sent to the wall and workers all over the country were being sacked because of Labor's mismanagement, Julia Gillard was whooping it up late into the night behind closed doors in her Ministerial suite hosting an indulgent party for 75 invited guests at taxpayers expense to celebrate Labor's new workplace relations system.

It's reported the catering for the Deputy Prime Minister's champagne and canapés bash was signed off by Kevin Rudd at a cost to the Australian public of a staggering $1767.

Apparently sometime after knocking the top off the 29^th bottle of bubbly a dispute appears to have broken out about who was eventually going to foot the bill.

Ms Gillard's office insists Kevin Rudd promised to pick up the tab but now it emerges the Prime Minister welched on the deal forcing the deputy PM to pay and that she then attempted to sweep the entire sordid affair under the carpet by trying to hide the cost from the public as a portfolio-related expense. 

Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard need to be held to account for this shameful waste of taxpayer's money, says Senator Abetz.

Australians need to know who was invited and why they were invited and whose idea was the champagne celebration, Mr Rudd's or Ms Gillard's?