It’s the spill night “wake” that some politicians can’t stop talking about.
Malcolm Turnbull was not the only parliamentarian trying to bring down Tony Abbott on 14 September – although the previously unknown attempt by Jamie Briggs took the form of a failed tackle that left the challenger limping.
Briggs, who was seen in a wheelchair the following day, claimed at the time that he had been “running and changed direction quickly” when he sustained the knee injury.
But the South Australian frontbencher admitted on Friday that the injury occurred during “high jinks with the former prime minister” at the event Abbott hosted at Parliament House.
“Everyone knows that Tony Abbott is a very fit man, he’s a very strong man, and I’m not at the peak of my powers as far as fitness and strength is concerned and I lost,” Briggs told 2GB. “We were mucking around, let me put it that way.”
The radio broadcaster Ben Fordham demanded more details. Briggs obliged.
“Look, I went to tackle him; I ran at him and missed and the rest is history. I then limped back to my office and licked my wounds. The table occurred after that so you’re going to have to ask Joe Hockey.”
That was a reference to the other notable event at the party: the smashing of a marble table that Abbott has since offered to pay the costs of replacing.
Asked whether he was implying that Hockey had broken the table, Briggs rushed to defend his friend. “No I’m not saying that, I’m just saying that Joe Hockey was still there. And I don’t think you can describe it as a party. It was a wake.”
Briggs bristled at suggestions he had misled the public at the time.
The MP’s spokesman was quoted on 16 September as saying he was not sure whether his boss attended the event and “he has seriously injured his leg while on a run this morning”. Briggs himself told the ABC the same day: “I was running and I changed direction quickly, and in doing that I heard a very loud pop, and quite a deal of pain.”
@BevanShields @rharris334 @BenFordham I said I was running which is true.
— Jamie Briggs (@BriggsJamie) November 13, 2015
@BevanShields @BenFordham he didn't know at the time, I was at the doctors. Really focussed on the big issues.
— Jamie Briggs (@BriggsJamie) November 13, 2015
