Crikey readers have commended Guy Rundle for his article “The true story of Kimberley Kitching and the Labor gang”. We asked if you believed Kitching had been bullied to death by Labor, or whether you agreed with Rundle that her death was being politicised. Most of you believe the latter:
John Enright: My thoughts are that she was trying to run her own race outside party guidelines which does not work in the Labor Party. Ask former PM Kevin Rudd. It’s unfortunate that she had an unknown heart condition which caused her death. The LNP of course was at the funeral with all its misogynists … to try to milk some political mileage out of the senator’s death for the coming election. Hypocrisy on display at its finest.
Leonora Ritter: Kimberly Kitching was not “bullied to death by Labor” and the hyperbolic language adds nothing to the debate. She died of natural causes. Bullying is a regrettable aspect of our political culture that affects both sides and needs to be tackled at a generic level rather than case by case. Linking it to this particular case is a way of avoiding the broader issue. If Morrison wants it to be thoroughly investigated he could lead by example.
Carolyn Collon: I don’t know if Kitching was bullied to death, but the Labor Party, by not having an inquiry, is giving the wrong message to every school child and adult who has ever been bullied, and empowering every bully, by saying it is not going to do anything about it. Kitching obviously perceived that she was bullied, and is now not here any more. The stress must have been enormous.
Joan Faull: Congratulations to Guy Rundle and Bernard Keane, the only journalists who have been prepared to speak the truth about Kitching. She was no better or worse than the many factional warriors that populate our Parliament. It’s important she isn’t elevated to sainthood — which mainstream and often very experienced political journalists are doing. The many Health Services Union members were the real victims in the power games and suffered because of the warring factions. Keep up the good work.
Lucille Rogers: I don’t believe Kitching was bullied to death. Politics is a contest of ideas, some you win and some you lose. It is this argy-bargy of views which at times can be brutal and unreconciled undoubtedly creates tensions. Kitching was from the hard right of Labor which has largely disappeared; nonetheless she was an unapologetic acclaimed fierce warrior and no shrinking violet.
It’s time the gutter press understood the meaning of bullying and used it to call out the real offenders in Parliament and not carelessly use the word incorrectly for political purposes and damn honourable men and women.
Tina King: I so appreciate the articles written by Guy Rundle and Bernard Keane. As soon as news broke that Kimberley Kitching had died and Bill Shorten spoke so quickly and from a place of grief and shock, I could tell that a narrative was being spun — not by Shorten necessarily — but the undignified manner in which she was spoken about by people immediately.
I had never heard of Kitching before this happened but it was apparent to me that something was wrong in the reporting of her death and of her from the start, and so it was a relief to read your articles through all the rubbish being written.
May Kimberley Kitching — another flawed, but no doubt loved and to her friends and family a wonderful human being — rest in peace and not be a salve to egos out there who have momentarily lost themselves and are looking to make sense of this death in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways.
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