The inside story of Labor's 'mean girls'

Before her death, Kimberley Kitching was 'bullied' by female colleagues.

Watch out for the Regina George in the twin set.

The sudden, tragic death of a female senator has sparked fresh gender drama in federal politics. 

I know. The timing if this coming exactly a year since the March for Justice in Canberra is not lost on me either.

However last week, Victorian Labor MP Kimberley Kitching died from a sudden and suspected heart attack at 52.

Since then her friends, like former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, have come out lamenting Ms Kitching's treatment within her own party as we gear up for a federal election.

"I'm not a coroner, I can't tell you why this woman of 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," Mr Shorten said.

The fall out, has been uncomfortable and a touch grotesque, given a woman has died.

But this tragedy has unmasked how brutal and bruising politics is. Kitching, was a darling of Labor's right, a tough player in a faction renowned for nurturing blokes who know how to land blows and bring down prime ministers. She was no wallflower and played hard in her former life in the union movement and when she got to Canberra.

Just recently she ruffled many, many feathers at home and abroad by suggesting to our top spy - the ASIO boss - that a cashed up Australian-Chinese property developer was behind a foreign interference plot to get political candidates elected to parliament.

She had a persona which didn't make her many friends on the other side of the party. The left faction, where we now lay our scene.

Everything in politics, is political. Even, it seems, in death. 

An investigation by The Australian has uncovered a long pattern of hostility and being frozen out by members of her own team, the ALP including senior women Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally.

The Oz has also learned an opinion piece written by Ms Kitching in March 2021 following a valedictory speech by Liberal MP Nicolle Flint calling for the Labor party to condemn the sexist abuse she received from left-aligned groups, was kiboshed by leader Anthony Albanese's office. Requests for comment regarding why the 900-word piece was not approved went unanswered this week.

When asked about the story on Wednesday morning, Mr Albanese argued that it was "unbecoming" to go into "disagreements" within politics shortly after her death, and said he was proud of all members within his leadership team.

"I think the idea that people go into who might have had a disagreement here or there is totally unbecoming," Mr Albanese told Today. "She made a contribution for too short a time to the Labor Party and to the Labor cause. Her family and friends are really hurting today."

"I'm proud of all of the people in the leadership team of the Labor Party, be it Penny Wong, be it Kimberley Kitching who made a contribution while she was there. But Kristina Keneally, Katie Gallagher, Michelle Roland, Tanya Plibersek, Amanda Richworth, we have an extraordinary group of talented women."

When asked more broadly if he was aware of culture problems within the ranks of senior ALP women Mr Albanese replied with a flat "no".

The inside story

New revelations reported on Wednesday suggest Ms Kitching's relationship within her own party soured in 2018 when she petitioned for new laws that would allow Australia to sanction individual human rights abusers instead of entire countries. 

Senior MPs, like Ms Wong, reportedly did not support the legislation, until she did in 2020.

The legislation follows the Magnitsky Act which passed the US congress in 2021. Ms Kitching's campaigning and work with Liberal MPs got the tick of approval here. The laws have already been invoked since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Kitching was awarded international recognition for her work, she even got human rights barrister Amal Clooney on board. 

However, Lake Como is a long was from Lake Burley Griffin. Back home in Canberra, Ms Kitching was not making any friends when it came to another hot button topic - the treatment of women inside Parliament House.

The Australian has since revealed Kitching was even hauled into a closed-door meeting with Labor’s Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Ms Keneally, where she was wrongly accused of disloyalty and siding with Liberal minister Linda Reynolds over the Brittany Higgins allegations.

Here's how it played out:

But the sympathy Kitching ­offered Reynolds backfired.

The matter blew up during an estimates hearing in June 2021.

Under questioning from Labor senators Wong and Katy Gallagher, Reynolds publicly accused the ALP of hounding her to the point she ended up in hospital over the Higgins matter.

Gallagher responded by saying: “You just alleged that we put you in hospital, that I put you in hospital.”

A heated exchange continued for some time before Reynolds levelled accusations at them of deliberately coming for her in a political attack.

“I know where this started,” Reynolds said.

Wong said: “I beg your pardon? Chair, she’s just made an imputation on the Hansard.

“We’d like to understand what she’s just asserted.”

Both Wong and Gallagher questioned Reynolds over what she meant when she said “I know where this started”.

Reynolds replied: “I really don’t think we should be doing this here, but if you want me to do that …” to which Wong replied “Yes”.

Reynolds said: “I was told by one of your senators two weeks before about what you were intending to do with the story in my office. Two weeks before.”

Following that blow up with all the Spiderman's pointing the finger at each other, Ms Kitching was accused of leaking and siding with the Liberals in a tense meeting with Ms Keneally.

Where, according to reports, she was blindsided by the "chat" before being removed from the Labor tactics committee - a team which gets together during sitting weeks in Canberra to prepare for question time - that time in parliament where it sounds like everyone is yelling at each other. 

She was never returned to it.

Ms Kitching will be buried at a private funeral in Melbourne on Monday.