The governor-general's office has written off $135,000 worth of medals and other insignia linked to Tony Abbott's defunct knights and dames reboot.
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The former prime minister reinstated knights and dames in Australia's honours in 2014, bizarrely handing one of the gongs to Prince Phillip.
At a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday, officials from the governor-general's office confirmed a series of items had been written down.
Governor-General David Hurley's official secretary Paul Singer said the items were formerly worth $135,000.
"With there no longer being knights and dames within the Order of Australia, those insignia hold no value," he told the hearing.
Labor senator Tim Ayres was flabbergasted by the high value of medals and other insignia which included four waist badges worth $20,000 apiece.
"That's extraordinary, isn't it?" he said.
Malcolm Turnbull dumped knights and dames after replacing Mr Abbott as prime minister in 2015, with the system widely lampooned.
Australian Associated Press
