“She’s a very warm person,she could light up a room. She could sit down and talk to anyone from any walk in life,” he said,praising her ability to forge friendships with the likes of people with such political differences as Pauline Hanson.
“She was never guarded,she was very open.”
However,Mr Shorten acknowledged Senator Kitching was stressed while Victorian preselections were occurring for the upcoming federal election.
“She was under greater stress,preselections are never easy,” he said.
“I’m not a coroner,I can’t tell you why this woman at 52 was taken from us,but I have no doubt that the stress of politics and the machinations from the backrooms had its toll. She was a very strong person,she could give as good as she could get,but you take it all home with you,don’t you?”
Asked whether there had been a factional push against her,or whether there had been any internal party toxicity,Mr Shorten said,“I supported her interest in politics,and you can never dial forward and predict back what’s going to happen,but you do wonder if she would’ve been better off never going near politics.”
Senator Kitching’s sudden death has led to tributes from across the political divide,prompting Mr Shorten to say,“perhaps we all need to just put a zipper over our mouth when we want to say something mean about someone,and say the nice things to the person while they’re still alive.”
In a statement,Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Senator Kitching’s death as a “deep and terrible shock”.
“Senator Kitching was a serious parliamentarian who had a deep interest in Australia’s national security,” he said.
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“She had a passion about Australia’s national interest and argued for it. She demonstrated that her passion for her country was always greater than any partisan view. She clearly loved her country,and it genuinely showed,” he said,adding he had come to greatly respect her role in politics.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton said Senator Kitching was a “real hawk on national security,” and Parliament will miss her.
“Our country’s poorer for her passing,at 52,it’s devastating,obviously,for everyone who knew her,” he said.
CFMEU official John Setka also paid tribute to the late senator as a “solid unionist and friend of the CFMEU” whose office was always open to his members.
“She genuinely cared about the issues keeping construction workers up at night. Condolences to her loved ones. Vale sister – you’ll be missed,” he tweeted.
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