Anthony Albanese said last week Kimberley Kitching could have raised her concerns at being frozen out by Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher in any of “a number of one-on-one meetings” he had held with her since becoming Labor leader. “And my door is open to everyone.” This is the scenario he paints to justify taking no action after Kitching complained about bullying to deputy Labor leader Richard Marles as well as external workplace consultants. But it is pure fantasy.
Multiple sources close to Kitching only recall a single one-on-one meeting with Albanese in his office during the 46th parliament and that took place shortly after he became leader. Albanese’s office did not respond to questions about the times and dates of their numerous meetings.
His “open office” was not the sort of warm, supportive place the Victorian senator could turn to for help. From the moment Kitching announced her entry into federal politics, she received a hostile reception from Albanese. The headline of an October 2016 article in The Guardian sets the scene: “Albanese criticises Shorten for parachuting Kimberley Kitching into Senate”.
Albanese repeatedly failed to support Kitching throughout her parliamentary career. Instead, he demoted her, failed to acknowledge her achievements and refused to act to secure her political future.
The Labor leader removed Kitching from her portfolio as assistant spokeswoman for government accountability in January 2021, replacing her with Keneally. Kitching had shone in that role but Albanese didn’t so much as do her the courtesy of calling to let her know she would be dumped. She found out when the announcement was made.
Albanese didn’t congratulate Kitching when she won a prestigious London human rights award in November. Federal Labor had not agreed to her request to fund an economy fare to accept this award, which is unusual. One wonders whether the answer would have been different. had Keneally or Wong made such a request.
Albanese’s office has also been accused of withholding Labor talking points from Kitching and her staff for a time – bizarre behaviour toward someone on the same side of politics.
And when the ABC reported a senior figure of the left, whom we later found out was Wong, claimed Kitching wouldn’t understand the climate emergency because she didn’t have children, Albanese did not call Kitching to check whether she was OK or to ask who had made the remark.
Most recently, Albanese, as leader, could have reassured Kitching her political future was safe. The national executive had refused to settle Kitching’s preselection, leaving the Victorian Senate spots unconfirmed despite endorsing all Victorian sitting members of the House of Representatives.
Kitching did not believe she had Albanese’s support, as evidenced by a comment she made to a colleague after The Saturday Paper’s Karen Middleton wrote that Kitching’s “own preselection had not yet been confirmed”. Kitching remarked: “This is very bad news. Karen was Albo’s biographer so this is likely to be well sourced.”
With this pattern of hostility from the top, is it any wonder Albanese is resisting holding an inquiry into how Kitching was treated? Kitching was ostracised at the hands of the trio she dubbed the “mean girls”, and Albanese, as leader, was responsible for setting the tone that allowed senior figures to behave in this way.
Albanese’s defence that there’s no need for an inquiry because Kitching did not lodge a formal complaint is laughable. She complained to anyone who would listen, as evidenced by the number of people, mainly women, across the political spectrum who have, since Kitching’s death from a suspected heart attack on March 10, spoken about their confidential conversations with Kitching.
That’s aside from the formal meeting with Marles on June 22, 2021 where she presented her case, as outlined in a seven-page letter obtained by The Australian where she called for fairer, transparent processes for dealing with matters such as hers. Kitching met fortnightly with Marles, either in person or over the phone, and she often raised complaints with him about her treatment.
It’s absurd to suggest Kitching could have waltzed through Albanese’s door to speak to him about how she was being treated when he had failed to support her at every turn. As Health Workers Union secretary Diane Asmar distressingly recalled, Kitching’s “hands started shaking uncontrollably in meetings, and her upper lip would quiver at the mention of Anthony Albanese or Penny Wong”.
There are female Labor politicians who can’t speak publicly for fear of career suicide this close to an election, but they, too, whisper of bullying in Labor circles. One senator described the “rotten” culture in Labor’s Senate team and said it is “not a nice place to be working”.
They are deeply disappointed – even furious – at Albanese’s disregard for Kitching’s treatment and his lack of interest in having an inquiry. Albanese’s failure to address seriously the allegations that have surfaced about Kitching’s treatment has exposed him to accusations of hypocrisy, double standards and a fraudulent commitment to believing all women.
The real reason he won’t call an inquiry is not because his door was always open or because Kitching never complained to anyone – it’s because there is an election in two months and Albanese’s ambition trumps justice for one of Labor’s brightest senators.
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