How Labor’s “Mean Girls” Hounded One of Their Own

When Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died last week, from a heart attack at the shockingly young age of 52, tributes flowed for a politician who was respected on both sides of the political aisle.

Or was she?

There are damning allegations that Kitching’s death was at the very least hastened by bullying, intimidation and “internal political cruelty”.

Not from the supposed wicked sexists on the government benches, but from her own party. Especially a “mean girl” clique of extremely powerful women who allegedly ostracised and undermined her with vicious determination.

Respected across the political divide, Kitching helped secure bipartisan support for Magnitsky laws that have been used by the Morrison government to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. When Kitching received the Magnitsky Human Rights Award in London last year, she had to pay her own airfare after being denied funding from the opposition travel budget. The award is fitting recognition of her achievement.

She was an outspoken critic of China’s interference in Australian politics and its assertiveness and aggressiveness in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Kitching was effective in Senate estimates, grilling ministers and public servants on a range of issues and gaining media attention for numerous revelations.

Kitching upset some of her Labor colleagues with her outspoken views.

And, boy, did they make her pay. Even Bill Shorten, who is no stranger to allegations of mistreating women in politics, said:

“I have no doubt that the stress of politics in the machinations in the back rooms had its toll,” he said last week. “Stress is like invisible coats of paint. It’s got to be having an impact. And she was greatly stressed.”

The Australian

In a heartfelt interview on ABC radio last Friday morning, Bill Shorten laid bare the viciousness within his party. At least partly, he blamed Kimberley Kitching’s sudden death on the brutality of politics.

Indeed, Kitching herself castigated a great many on the political left for their horrific bullying of another woman politician, the Liberals’ Nicolle Flint, who was harassed and stalked to the extent of taking out Apprehended Violence Orders against some activists.

Kitching bravely called out the sexist crap within her own party – not on her way out the door of parliament like many others, but while still in parliament […]

Kitching wrote: “What Labor needs to say in response to Nicolle’s confronting words is nothing more or less than ‘We’re sorry. We can’t deny the truth of what you say because we saw it and did nothing. We’ve tolerated the intolerable, so very visibly on social media, for far too long. We’ve called out the speck in the Liberal eye on those issues without acknowledging the log in our own’.”

The Australian

Some of the worst bullies from Kitching’s own party are named as its most powerful, prominent women.

When Kitching pushed for Australia to adopt a Magnistky Act (a human rights law allowing sanctioning of individuals rather than entire states), Labor’s foreign policy heavy-hitter, Penny Wong, rubbished the idea and refused to allow Kitching to table a private member’s bill. 18 months later, after celebrity Amal Clooney petitioned the Australian Senate, Wong gave an interview to the media, pitching the idea as her own.

In another incident, when Kitching tacitly warned a high-profile Liberal female politician that “someone’s sexual assault experience was about to be weaponised” by Labor (in what became known as the Brittany Higgins affair), Kitching was pilloried by none other than Labor’s “Quota Queen”.

The Australian can reveal Kitching was even hauled into a closed-door meeting with Labor’s Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Kristina Keneally, where she was wrongly accused of disloyalty and siding with Liberal minister Linda Reynolds over the Brittany Higgins allegations […]

She was accused of leaking to the Liberals and was read a series of accusations and charges. She was not permitted a right of reply. Nor was she given advance notice of what the meeting was about so she had no lawyer or support person present. She was offered no procedural fairness […]

Kitching and some of her supporters would refer to the three women – [Katy] Gallagher, Keneally and Wong – as “the mean girls”.

The Australian

When Kitching won the Sergei Magnitsky Human Rights Award in 2021, her Labor colleagues refused to fund an economy flight to London to accept it. Kitching also came under attack from some of her Labor colleagues for her staunch opposition to Chinese Communist Party influence in Australian society.

Then Labor leader Anthony Albanese demoted Kitching from the role as assistant spokeswoman for government accountability. She was replaced by none other than one of the “mean girls”: Keneally.

Remember, these are the same people finger-wagging everyone else about “bullying” and “a toxic culture” in politics. The beam is in your own eyes.