Anthony Albanese has announced Labor MP Peta Murphy has died after a lengthy battle with cancer, aged 50.
The Prime Minister choked back tears as he told reporters of her passing at a snap press conference in Canberra.
“A short time ago Peta Murphy passed away at home. Which was her wish. Her husband of 24 years, Rod, was with her. Along with her parents, and her sisters,” he said.
“Every one of us in the Labor family is broken-hearted.”
Ms Murphy was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and was told her cancer had returned just days after she was sworn in as the member for Dunkley in 2019.
In her maiden speech to parliament, she said she was neither “unique, nor alone” in her cancer battle but vowed to use her platform to benefit others.
“Let’s be frank though, cancer sucks,” Ms Murphy said at the time.
“It changes the way your body feels and the way you feel about your body. The treatments can make you sick. Sometimes you are scared, sometimes you are angry. In my experience, often you are both at the same time.
“You worry about how your friends and family are coping. You value their support but resent the fact that you need it.”
Through tears, Mr Albanese spoke of the Victorian’s legacy, describing her as the “most inspiring of colleagues and the very best kind of friend”.
“To attend a community event with Peta was to bask in her glow,” he said.
“Like all of us who served alongside her, the people Peta represented admired her determination, they respected her passion, and they responded above all to her absolute authenticity.”
Ms Murphy led the charge for important reforms such as reducing the harm from online gambling and advocated for a national registry for metastatic cancer patients.
“From the squash court to the law courts, to the House of Representatives, everything that Peta Murphy did she did with her whole heart. And what a warm generous, strong and proud Labor heart she had,” Mr Albanese said.
The news of her passing came just a week after the late Victorian MP travelled to Canberra for the last sitting week of the year. Mr Albanese said she was “clearly very much not well”.
“But she travelled to Canberra last week to try to launch the (Breast Cancer Network Australia) national report,” he said.
“As ill as she was, she was again thinking of others. It was so true to Peta’s character she channelled her personal battle with breast cancer into public policy.”
More to come.