Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to add to other speakers my sincere condolences to Kimberley's family—her parents, Bill and Leigh; her brother, Ben, and her husband, Andrew—her friends and her staff after her untimely passing recently. Since Kimberley's passing, we have seen many emotions on display: grief, sorrow, anger, reflection and many more. For me, on a personal level, my reaction was and remains overwhelmingly one of deep shock. This is no doubt in part because Kimberley was of a similar age to me and most of my friends now, and these sorts of things do make you think about life. But, more, my reaction was one of shock, because of how long Kimberley has been a part of my life.

I've known Kimberley Kitching for nearly 30 years, having first met her at the University of Queensland law school in the early 1990s. As other speakers have mentioned, Kimberley was a true child of the suburb of St Lucia in Brisbane's inner west. It's a leafy suburb, populated by families of academics, of whom Kimberley's was one. That upbringing, with the travel that it involved, gave Kimberley her love of languages, her curiosity and her deep and abiding interest in the world, and it was these experiences that Kimberley brought with her to the University of Queensland.

As best I recall, Kimberley and I first got to know each other as members of the University of Queensland law student society executive in the early 1990s. We went on to be members of the Law Revue, in which we poorly attempted acts of comedy. My recollection is that Kimberley tended to be typecast as flamboyant characters and I tended to be typecast as bogans from the Brisbane suburbs. Not much has changed in either regard. We got to know each other, though, as has been mentioned by Senator McAllister, through our shared experiences in student politics, particularly in the elections of the University of Queensland student union in 1993. That student union election launched many political careers. Kimberley ran as the presidential candidate for what was essentially the Labor Right ticket with her campaign manager, now the member for Oxley, Milton Dick. I ran as the presidential candidate for the Broad Left ticket, with my dear friend and comrade Senator McAllister. It's also worth noting that the presidential candidate for the conservative ticket in that election was Ted O'Brien, now the member for Fairfax, who says that politics is not a diverse bunch and that there are too many student politicians in politics today.

Kimberley and I running on different tickets wouldn't be the last time that we had different perspectives on Labor's direction, but Kimberley's involvement in that election certainly meant that we had a lot of fun while arguing against each other, because, as she continued to do throughout her life, Kimberley did like to do things differently. One of the things I remember from that election campaign was that many of Kimberley's slogans were based on songs by ABBA, a band that I think she continued to love for the rest of her life. I remember slogans about 'Mamma Mia' and many others like that, and I must admit: at the time I didn't quite understand the connection between ABBA songs and lyrics and the important issues of student politics, such as the price of student parking, the price of food in refectories and changes to HECS payments. The results of that election indicated that other students didn't understand the connection either. But it certainly did keep things interesting having Kimberley as a candidate for that election.

As often happens, Kimberley and I lost contact after university. She moved to Melbourne and forged wide networks in the Labor Party, in the business community, in the media and in other groups as well. As has been acknowledged, she went on to play a significant role in the Melbourne city council and the HSU, among other organisations. It was during that time that she forged a reputation as a strong political warrior, someone who knew how to flex political muscle—and, let's face it, none of us gets to be here in the Senate unless we understand and have those attributes.

Kimberley and I reconnected on her election to the Senate a few months after I was elected here in 2016. I was actually just thinking as I was walking outside today that it really is going to be hard to imagine not running into her here in the corridors deep in conversation with her political friends or foes. While she was here, Kimberley and I mixed in different circles and we sat on different committees. But her contribution was clear to me—and it has been remarked upon by pretty much every speaker here today—particularly in the fields of foreign affairs and national security, and her achievements in relation to the Magnitsky laws. Those contributions will forever be remembered.

Of course, as all of us remember, COVID also interfered and meant that we didn't see a lot of Kimberley and our other Victorian colleagues for a long period of time. What that meant was that my last extended conversation with Kimberley actually occurred over the Christmas holidays, at the end of 2020. She was back visiting family and we both happened to be holidaying at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast. I remember this clearly: there was one particularly wet Queensland January day when I took my kids out to salvage coffee for my wife and me, and we ran into Kimberley. Coming up from behind was this slightly wet, bedraggled-looking woman. And I, also being in holiday mode, was not looking my best—it was a far cry from how both of us tended to look when we were in the chamber. We actually sat down and had a coffee; it was probably the longest conversation I'd had with Kimberley since we both got here. We talked about politics, about our chances at the upcoming election and, most importantly, how our families were going. Probably it was that conversation that taught me exactly how much family mattered to Kimberley. I think it was that day that I was introduced to her brother, Ben, who passed us by, and we had a bit of a chat there as well.

What I'll remember Kimberley for, having known her for the best part of 30 years, is her intellect, her wit, her curiosity and her warmth to her friends. At her funeral, which I attended last week, it was clear that a very large number of people remember her the same way. Again, I wish my condolences to her family, her friends and her loyal and hardworking staff. We appreciate all of the efforts that you have put in and I cannot imagine the grief that many of you are suffering right now.