SUBJECTS: Passing of Senator Kimberley Kitching.
 
DAVID KOCH, HOST: Anthony Albanese, good morning. The PM says you are gutless and hiding from tough questions about Kimberley Kitching. Is he right?
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: It is rather bizarre, Kochie. I have done ten media appearances in the last week. I am always available. And indeed, I lobby regularly to be on the Sunrise program. I am always happy to discuss things with the media. But I won't be taking lectures from a Prime Minister who visited Lismore and had streets shutoff so that victims of floods could not get near him. I won't take lectures by a Prime Minister who will not debate issues in Parliament and who gags debate. And I will not take lectures from a Prime Minister who establishes enquiries into a range of incidents including those related to what his office knew about Brittany Higgins that never report.
 
NATALIE BARR, HOST: Anthony, I guess what a lot of people are confused about in all those interviews, why a woman who complained to the Deputy Leader of your party and a PwC consultant investigating safe workplaces about bullying, why an investigation is not being called into the problem she had with your party?
 
ALBANESE: Natalie, the meeting between Richard Marles and Kimberley Kitching was about her not being able to continue as a member of the Senate Tactics Committee. From time to time, in politics, people go on committees and off committees. They go up positions of Cabinet, in Outer Ministries and Committees, Assistant Minister positions. That happens. That is the normal thrust of politics, whereby there are more positions for a range of areas.
 
BARR: She asked the PwC consultant, ‘What are you going to do about the bullying?’
 
ALBANESE: With respect, those processes that all of us went through as part of the compulsory process that we all had about how to deal with these issues arising from what had occurred in Parliament House and the report of the Sex Discrimination Commission, they were confidential discussions that people had. I do not know what happened in that room. And I have not seen anything from the PwC consultant. And they are private discussions that were held. And I think that what I got out of the funeral on Monday, which was just a sad occasion, this is a tragedy, a 52-year-old woman has died. And one of the things that her husband said at the funeral was very much that she loved being a Senator, it was the best time of her life, it was a positive experience for Kimberley. That was my experience with her. And at no stage did Kimberley Kitching, at any stage, raise complaints with myself, as Leader. We have structures in place to deal with complaints. If any improvements can be made, just as we made improvements in 2021 that were unanimously adopted by the Caucus and the Party, I am up for any positive suggestions.
 
KOCH: Nat interviewed Emma Husar yesterday. And she said your organisation is an unsafe workplace, it is unsafe particularly for women.
 
ALBANESE: I disagree with Emma's assessment. I think that it is a real pity Emma's experience, she was not given a support that she needed as a new member. And that was before I became the Leader.
 
KOCH: You are part of the Party, though. You are a senior member.
 
ALBANESE: Of course, I was. There are a range of issues that Emma Husar and her office went through, a whole process of a review. I will not talk about enquiry. There was an independent enquiry conducted into those issues relating to Emma and the experience of her staff.
 
KOCH: Have you spoken to the mean girls, Kristina Keneally and Penny Wong in the last week or so since Kimberley Kitching's death about the allegations of bullying?
 
ALBANESE: I think that term is really unfortunate,
 
BARR: Apparently, she used it. It is not just us.
 
ALBANESE: There are a lot of people speaking on other people's behalf at the moment. I think that in politics, there are a range of people who are involved in party politics who play it pretty hard. One of those was Kimberly Kitching. She was somebody who engaged in politics and was passionate about her belief. And from time to time, that could produce some conflict. But it needs to be done in a way that is respectful, in a way that is understanding, and attempts to reach consensus.
 
KOCH: So, are you saying that Kimberley Kitching was part of the bullying?
 
ALBANESE: No, I am not saying that at all. I am saying that Kimberley Kitching, like other senators and members of the Labor party, put forward ideas in a robust fashion in debate. I have engaged in robust debates as well in the Labor party. No one has called me a mean boy.
 
BARR: If this was happening on the other side. People have said that the Coalition has a women's problem. If the exact scenario was happening on the other side and you have people like Jenny George, all sorts of people, calling for an investigation just to find out what happened, wouldn't you be saying, ‘Call it’?
 
ALBANESE: Natalie, we have a process in place that has been unanimously agreed to by a party. It is constantly under review, looking for improvements. This is tragic death and Kimberley Kitching is missed by all of us in the Labor party. We are grieving. In particular, my heart goes out to those who are really close to Kimberly, her husband, her parents, who I got to meet on Monday, for what was a fine farewell for an outstanding Australian.
 
KOCH: Anthony Albanese, we will leave it there, thank you for your time.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks, Kochie
 
ENDS