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Anthony Albanese was left temporarily speechless after being confronted by Ally Langdon with bombshell reports senator Kimberley Kitching endured a ‘mean girls’ culture within the Labor Party before her death.
The Today host on Wednesday asked the Labor leader to respond to claims Ms Kitching faced a ‘pattern of hostility’ from senior female members of her party.
The late senator died at the age of 52 on Thursday from a suspected heart attack.
The report in The Australian claimed her relationship with Labor senators Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally soured over the rape allegations made by Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and a bill targeting human rights abusers.
‘Is there a cultural problem with senior women within the Labor Party?’ Langdon asked.
Mr Albanese replied simply ‘no’ – prompting Langdon to ask him again – before the Labor leader paused for several seconds.
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died at the age of 52 on Thursday from a suspected heart attack
Pictured left to right: Labor senators Katy Gallagher, Kristina Keneally and Penny Wong. Late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching felt ostracised by the three women, a new report has claimed
‘No – I’m very proud of the fact I lead a team that has 50 per cent female and male contribution in my shadow cabinet,’ he said.
‘I’m proud of all the people in the leadership team of the Labor party.’
The Labor leader said he would pay Ms Kitching the ‘respect she deserves’ by focusing on her funeral on Monday rather than an investigation into the party’s culture.
‘It’s important we pay tribute to the contribution that she made in too short a time,’ he said.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the women Ms Kitching fell out with were in any way responsible for the stress that led to her death.
Ms Kitching reportedly fell out with Ms Wong after calling for new laws sanctioning foreign human rights abusers.
The report claimed Ms Wong initially refused to support the laws, before proposing them herself.
The late senator also allegedly fell out with Labor’s Deputy Leader in the Senate Kristina Keneally over Ms Kitching’s support for Liberal Minister Linda Reynolds.
Ms Kitching warned Ms Reynolds that Ms Higgins – one of her staffers – had come forward with an allegation of sexual assault against a male employee.
The report claimed Senator Penny Wong initially refused to support laws sanctioning foreign human rights abusers, before proposing them herself
Labor leader Anthony Albanese was left temporarily speechless after being confronted by Ally Langdon with the bombshell reports on Wednesday morning
Senator Kitching is pictured with Labor Senator Kristina Keneally. Ms Kitching was summoned to a meeting with the senior senator over her support for then-Liberal Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in the wake of the Brittany Higgins allegations
The move backfired, with the senator later summoned to a meeting with Ms Keneally and accused of leaking to the Liberals.
A friend said Kitching from that point on felt she had to ‘reprove her loyalty’ to the Labor Party.
‘She was under severe internal pressure and wanted to get revenge against Linda for having betrayed her,’ the friend said.
Ms Kitching felt ostracised by the three women and would later refer to them as ‘the mean girls’, the report claimed.
She was demoted from her role as assistant spokeswoman for government accountability in a party reshuffle by Mr Albanese in January 2021.
Ms Gallagher on Wednesday morning said many of the claims about her working relationship with Ms Kitching were incorrect.
‘I’ve seen the article and I think Senator Kitching’s death last week was a huge shock and deeply distressing to everyone who knew her,’ she told ABC Radio.
‘Many of the assertions in the article are not true from my point of view.
‘But I just don’t think it’s respectful for us to enter into commentary or disagreement about particular aspects of it at this point in time. I don’t think it’s right.’
During her maiden speech to parliament, Senator Kitching spoke about her hope to represent everyday Australian people. She is pictured with former opposition leader Bill Shorten
Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died of a suspected heart attack last week
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten last week told how Senator Kitching was under ‘great stress’ in the face of a move to kick her out of the senate.
She faced a tough preselection fight for a winnable spot on the senate ticket for the upcoming election.
‘She was under great stress. Preselection is never easy,’ close friend Mr Shorten told ABC Radio National in an emotional interview.
‘I’m not a coroner. I can’t tell you why this woman at 52 was taken from us but I have no doubt that the stress of politics and the machinations in the back rooms had its toll.
‘She’s a very strong person. She could give as good as she could get. But you take all that home with you.’
Source: DailyMail
