Anthony Albanese has ruled out an investigation into reports former Labor senator Kimberley Kitching had been chastised and ostracised by some of her senior female colleagues.
Senator Kitching's sudden death last week, at the age of 52, has prompted accusations that an internal push to dump her from preselection contributed to her stress in the days leading up to her suspected heart attack.
Former Labor MP and close friend Michael Danby said Senator Kitching "felt the stress" of having her preselection "dangled over her head" by the ALP's Victorian Right faction, and claimed she was subjected to bullying.
"What a disgrace that these people were able to cause her such stress," he told Sky News.
"Her treatment was beyond fair treatment and differences of opinions.
"It was nothing short of bullying".
The Australian newspaper has reported Senator Kitching's relationship with senior Labor figures had soured during her time in parliament and that she had been "isolated" and frozen out by the party's Senate leadership team Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher.
Senator Kitching had been dumped from Labor's tactics committee, given fewer opportunities to ask questions in Question Time and was last year demoted from the frontbench.
Senator Wong declined to comment when asked about the claims, but hinted at differences between the late senator's account of her treatment and her own.
"I'm not going to engage in political commentary, even in relation to assertions with which I disagree and which are hurtful," she said.
Senator Gallagher said a "number of assertions" published in The Australian were not true.
"Senator Kitching's death was a huge shock and deeply distressing to everyone who knew her," she said.
"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."
Claims will not be investigated
Asked directly if he would look into the claims outlined in The Australian, Mr Albanese responded "no".
"Out of respect for Kimberley, I think the idea that people go into who might have had a disagreement here or there is totally unbecoming," he told Channel Nine.
"I'll be attending Kimberley Kitching's funeral on Monday. It's important we respect her."
Mr Albanese denied there was a cultural problem within his party and took particular issue with the use of the phrase "mean girls", in the The Australian, when referring to senators Wong, Keneally and Gallagher.
Standing alongside two male colleagues, Mr Albanese suggested the term was outdated and sexist.
"We've never been described as 'mean boys'. Simple as that. We have never been described as 'mean boys', and people should think about that," he said.
It was no secret that Senator Kitching and some of her colleagues had their differences.
The ABC revealed in 2019 that during a Labor tactics committee meeting, Senator Kitching was told by a senior member of the Left: "Well if you had children, you might understand why there is a climate emergency."
At the time, Senator Kitching was arguing that Labor should not support a Greens motion expressing support for school children engaging in "civil disobedience", saying it would be an exercise in futile "virtue signalling", given some parents might want their kids in school during school hours.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Labor leader needed to address the issue.
"These are very distressing claims and I don't think they can be just dismissed," Mr Morrison said.
"They need to be addressed and I'll leave that to the leader of the Labor party to address."
Kitching a controversial figure
Senator Kitching entered the Senate in 2016 and was considered a controversial captain's pick by then-Labor leader and close friend Bill Shorten because of her time as an official at the disgraced Health Services Union and reputation as a Right faction warrior.
But she quickly made an impression on national security issues as an early critic of China, and strongly advocated the adoption of Magnitsky-style laws in Australia.
The laws allow the Australian government to sanction individuals and entities responsible for "egregious" behaviour, like threatening international peace and serious human rights violations, instead of only being able to sanction entire countries.
The push for the laws faced resistance within Labor and was not supported by Senator Wong, the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, who according to The Australian, told Senator Kitching in 2018 that Labor would back the laws "over my dead body".
Two years later, Senator Wong apparently had a change of heart and in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, publicly called for Australia to adopt Magnitsky-style laws.
Senator Kitching was reportedly furious.
"When I saw the article, that was the first I knew about it," she told The Australian.
"The story went up quite late in the day. I was going to yoga and I was so angry she hadn't told me or even sent a text saying 'Oh by the way' … It took me half the yoga class to relax."
In that interview, Senator Kitching said Senator Wong "realised she was going to be left behind" and backed the laws because "she didn't want to be seen in a bad light".
The bill passed parliament with bipartisan support late last year and the government has since used the powers to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Danby said Senator Kitching was a "patriot" who would be sorely missed.
