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Serious bullying allegations have ‘rocked Labor’ following Kimberley Kitching’s death
Serious allegations of bullying following Kimberley Kitching’s death have “rocked Labor” in the lead-up to the federal election, says Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton. The late-Senator - who passed away last week from a suspected heart attack - was allegedly bullied by three colleagues, Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher. The trio were claimed to have been described by Ms Kitching as the “mean girls" within the Labor Party. “Now it has to be said that Senators Wong, Gallagher and Keneally have denied any wrongdoing in a joint statement,” Mr Houghton said. “Fair enough, and they do deserve objectivity from the media when we look at allegations which are being strongly denied.” Mr Houghton said, however, he was “absolutely stunned” by Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s response to the issue – given how serious the allegations are and how critical Labor has been on the Coalition for cultural issues. Mr Albanese – at a recent media conference - had said he finds it “extraordinarily disrespectful” the term “mean girls” was used to describe Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher. “Labor and many in the media have been flinging mud with venom at the Coalition for a very long time now, and the moment the spotlight turns on Labor, it is suddenly the media that's out of line,” Mr Houghton said. “But the thing that's even more disturbing about Albo's comments is that the term ‘mean girls’ was used by Kitching herself to describe how she felt being bullied and ostracised from the party she loved - it wasn't the media that coined the words.”
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