Kimberley Kitching | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kitching in 2019 | |
| Senator forVictoria | |
| In office 25 October 2016 – 10 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen Conroy |
| Succeeded by | Jana Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kimberley Jane Elizabeth Kitching (1970-02-16)16 February 1970 Brisbane,Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 10 March 2022(2022-03-10) (aged 52) Strathmore, Victoria, Australia |
| Party | Labor |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Bill Landeryou (father-in-law) |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland |
| Signature |  |
| Website | www |
Kimberley Jane Elizabeth Kitching[1] (16 February 1970 – 10 March 2022) was an Australian politician, lawyer, and trade unionist. A member of theLabor Party, she was aSenator forVictoria from October 2016 until her death.
Kitching was born inBrisbane, the daughter of Bill and Leigh Kitching. She grew up in the suburb ofSt Lucia, where she was a childhood friend ofChloe Shorten. Her father was a chemistry professor and during her youth the family spent time in England, Spain, France, Germany, and the United States as her father received academic postings. Kitching completed her schooling atBrisbane Girls Grammar School and then studied arts and law at theUniversity of Queensland. She joinedYoung Labor as a student.[2]
Kitching was admitted as a solicitor by theSupreme Court of Queensland. She moved to Melbourne in 1995.[2] In the private sector, she worked forLookSmart before it was listed on theNasdaq Stock Market, IQ Media (the company operated by her husbandAndrew Landeryou)[3] andDrake International, where she was the head of Government and Corporate Relations.[4]
From December 2012, Kitching worked as the General Manager of the Victorian No. 1 Branch of theHealth Services Union,[4][5] leaving after a few years.[6] In 2014, she was called to give evidence to theRoyal Commission into trade union governance and corruption relating to her time with the Health Services Union.[1][7]
In 2015 a vice president of theFair Work Commission found that Kitching had illegally completed testing on behalf of other union officials to gain right of entry permits.[8][9]
Kitching was involved in Victorian Labor politics for some time, including being vice-president of the party's Victorian Branch.[4] She was aMelbourne City Councillor in the early 2000s,[10][11] and was a senior adviser to several ministries in the government of LaborpremierSteve Bracks, as well as toJohn Lenders, thetreasurer in theBrumby government.[4][12][13]
In the2013 Australian federal election, Kitching made a bid for Labor pre-selection for the Victorian electorates ofLalor andGellibrand. Her bid was unsuccessful due to opposition from within the party, including from Stephen Conroy.[14][3]
On 13 October 2016, Kitching won pre-selection to fill the Victorian Senate seat vacated byStephen Conroy's resignation on 30 September.[3][15][16] Kitching's pre-selection was supported by her close friend, Opposition LeaderBill Shorten, and by theLabor Right.[7][17] Shorten's support for Kitching generated tension in the party with frontbencher and former Deputy Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese refusing to support her pre-selection,[18] and legal affairs spokespersonMark Dreyfus threatening to resign from his position in theshadow cabinet, although he did not carry out the threat.[19]
Kitching was formally chosen as a replacement Senator by a joint sitting of theParliament of Victoria on 25 October 2016, and sworn in on 7 November 2016.[20]
After the2019 election, Kitching was included inAnthony Albanese's shadow ministry as Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability. She was also made DeputyManager of Opposition Business in the Senate.[21]
In February 2022, one month before her death, Kitching usedparliamentary privilege to suggest to the head of theAustralian Security Intelligence Organisation thatChau Chak Wing was the wealthy businessman behind an alleged Chinese plot to interfere in Australian elections to install politicians sympathetic to theChinese Communist Party.[22]
Kitching criticised theVictorian state ALP government for its support of China's globalBelt and Road Initiative, saying it "should not have entered into an agreement with the Chinese government on the Belt and Road Initiative—it is bad policy and bad optics."[23] In June 2020 she was announced as a founding member of theInter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.[24] In an interview on ABC radio, she said the alliance of 13 democratic nations was to see that:
...our rules based order is protected. There’s a great desire amongst the group to examine human rights issues. I think Western liberal democracies probably hoped that China was heading down a more liberal and democratic path. But I think when President Xi became president in 2013, that became a fainter and fainter hope.[25]
As of 2022[update] Kitching was deputy chair of Parliamentary Friends of Israel. In February 2022, she and chairEric Abetz issued a joint statement rejecting anAmnesty International report's "attempts to equate Israel’s efforts to the abhorrent historical practice of apartheid in South Africa".[26]
Kitching was a proponent ofMagnitsky-style legislation in Australia.[27] She had introduced a private member's bill in August 2021 before the government introduced its own bill in November 2021.[28]
Kitching was married toAndrew Landeryou, previously a well-known political blogger; her father-in-lawBill Landeryou was a state government minister in Victoria. The couple married in 2000 after meeting at a Labor fundraising night in country New South Wales. In 2001, the couple purchasedWardlow, a heritage-listed mansion inParkville, Melbourne. The couple separated due to financial difficulties in the mid-2000s, and Kitching filed for bankruptcy in 2005, selling Wardlow to clear her debts; the bankruptcy was annulled in 2006. They did not divorce and later resumed their relationship.[2]
Kitching died from a suspected heart attack in the Melbourne suburb ofStrathmore, on 10 March 2022, at the age of 52.[27] Following her death, allegations emerged that Kitching had reportedly complained about bullying by Labor's Senate leadership team, consisting ofPenny Wong,Kristina Keneally andKaty Gallagher. The leadership team denied the allegations and all were present at Kitching's funeral. Labor leaderAnthony Albanese said Kitching had made no official complaint about the matter, and said he would not hold an inquiry into the claims.[29]
