Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Australian Greens and on behalf of Senator Waters, who is unable to be with us today, I rise to reflect on the contribution of Senator Kimberley Kitching to us here in the Senate, to the Australian parliament, to our country and to the globe, and to offer our heartfelt sympathy and love to her family, her friends, her staff and her colleagues, particularly her colleagues from the Australian Labor Party.

What can one say when one of your colleagues suddenly passes away at the age of 52? Life is not fair, is it? Fifty-two is far too young. If life were fair, Kimberley would be here with us this week. She'd be having discussions with people about the war in Ukraine, the draft agreement between the Chinese and the Solomon Islands governments, what more Australia could be doing to apply pressure to the junta in Myanmar 13 months after their coup. I imagined her being here now, as we were all walking in, being cheery, chatty, effusive, connecting with folks. She'd be doing the rounds of the crossbench, of her Labor colleagues and of government senators. She'd be ready to rip into tomorrow's budget. She'd be checking in with folks on where they are at, less than two months out from the election. She would be ready to speak this week to the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee inquiry into Afghanistan, which she initiated and chaired.

During the last day of hearings of this committee's inquiry, when I last worked directly with Kimberley, I had to leave early, so I didn't get to ask all my questions and I left them with Kimberley to ask. This was often how the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee worked on issues of human rights. We didn't agree on everything but there was a lot where we did, and we worked collaboratively and cooperatively, and we used the resources of the committee to do our best to shine a spotlight on issues of human rights injustice around the world and to inquire into where Australia could and should be doing more to engage on these issues.

I learnt at Kimberley's funeral last week that Kimberley had personally advocated successfully for 30 people to leave Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul and to seek asylum in Australia. Good on her! This is a massive part of her legacy. I know for me, having done the same for 11 people, that I've got a sense that, no matter what else I manage to achieve in the Senate, advocating for and being a critical part of getting people to safety here in Australia is something I feel really proud of. And I know those 30 people that Kimberley advocated for will feel that they owe their lives and their new lives in Australia to Kimberley, and they'll feel her loss immensely.

Kimberley's role in getting Magnitsky legislation in place for Australia for targeted sanctions on individuals who are responsible for serious human rights abuses was huge, as Senator Wong and Senator Birmingham have already spoken about. I think it's really notable that Magnitsky legislation was something that was achieved with cross-party support, which is what Kimberley excelled at. The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Human Rights Subcommittee inquiry resulted in the unanimous report, and then there were the negotiations through the final passage of the bill through the Senate. The committee inquiry report, Criminality, corruption and impunity: Should Australia join the Global Magnitsky movement?An inquiry into targeted sanctions to address human rights abuses, was tabled in December 2020. It recommended, as I said, unanimously, the enactment of a standalone Magnitsky-style targeted sanctions act. Kimberley, who along with others had been involved in the committee's report, continued, after that report was tabled, the advocacy for and the pressure on the government to introduce legislation to implement this recommendation. She introduced her own private senator's bill in August last year, and she was very supportive of the private senator's bill that I also introduced at much the same time.

As we know, our Magnitsky legislation was debated and passed through the Senate in the last sitting week of last year. I recall, after the vote when the legislation passed, the hugs across the chamber. It truly was one of those rare moments in the Senate when we came together to achieve something very significant that will impact upon the lives of millions of people across the globe, with Australia joining with other countries, with the US, the UK, Canada, the European Union, to sanction people who are responsible for war crimes, for attempted genocide and for brutal and violent attacks on democracy and freedom and people's lives and wellbeing.

Kimberley's role in championing the Magnitsky legislation from the opposition benches was recognised by her being awarded the Magnitsky Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Global Magnitsky Movement in November last year, just weeks before the legislation passed through the Senate. The founder of the Magnitsky movement, Bill Browder, noted at the time how momentum to adopt Magnitsky legislation in Australia had stalled until Kimberley took up the cause following a Zoom meeting with him. He told the award ceremony:

Australia's a country that's completely on the other side of the world and for years I'd been trying to get things going, and I couldn't get any traction at all. And the moment I met Kimberley on Zoom, everything started to happen.

Kimberley also had a role in another significant committee process which I was a part of, in 2016-17, which was the Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill, that also ended up with a unanimous recommendation—to legislate for marriage equality. This was just after she took up her seat here in the Senate. I remember Kimberley in that committee process being deep in all the legal technicalities, actively engaging in the discussion around the room about the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and how marriage equality intersected with international human rights law and the issue of protecting people of faith from discrimination and protecting the rights of same-sex attracted and gender diverse folk—these discussions, of course, which were continuing until her passing. Her speech on marriage equality, when the legislation passed through the Senate, ended by quoting Shelley Argent from the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, calling for the parliament to allow people to 'finally marry the person they love, to have the same opportunities and privileges that marriage provides'. And Kimberley finished her speech by saying, 'So let us legislate and let the bills ring.'

Sadly, now, the bells are silent for Kimberley. So, on behalf of the Greens, I extend our love and our best wishes to her husband, Andrew. And I particularly know the pain and the grief on the sudden loss of a life partner, and so my heart really goes out to Andrew. It's not something that you wish anyone to have to go through, and I know the pain and grief that you are currently suffering. We express our love and our best wishes to her parents, William and Leigh; her brother, Ben; her staff, friends and colleagues, as I said, particularly those in the Labor Party. I know it's hard that we're going through now, but Kimberley's love and her legacy will live on.