‘They all play hard’: what happened when Kimberley Kitching came to Canberra?

When Bill Shorten parachuted Kimberley Kitching into parliament in 2016, she was no darling of conservatives.

Kitching's selection was derided by the then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, as a "captain's call". The Liberal senator Eric Abetz labelled her "unfit for public office" over adverse findings made by the Fair Work Commission and trade union royal commission.

But over her six-year Senate career, Kitching won respect from conservatives for her advocacy on human rights, hawkish stance on China and a successful push for Australia to adopt Magnitsky-style sanctions laws.

Kitching's sudden death of a suspected heart attack aged 52 prompted an outpouring of grief but also political backbiting, fuelled by Shorten's observation that "the stress of politics and the machinations in the back rooms had its toll" on her.

Now the recriminations for alleged bullying and lack of action to prevent it are being weaponised by the Morrison government ahead of the May election and within Labor.

Shorten's insinuation - that a back-room push to replace Kitching may have played a part in her death - was amplified by long-time ally and Health Workers Union secretary, Diana Asmar, who noted in the News Corp tabloids last weekend that three right-faction figures had failed to back her in a meeting the day before her death.

On one view, these are just the genuine expressions of grief from those closest to "Kimba".