Labor MP Peta Murphy has died at home surrounded by family after a battle with breast cancer.
She was 50.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Albanese leads emotional tributes for Victorian MP
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the death of the member for the Victorian seat of Dunkley at a media conference in Canberra on Monday.
“Every one of us in the Labor family is broken-hearted by the death of our beloved Peta Murphy,” he said.
“Peta Murphy was brave, she was courageous, and she was loved.”
In 2019, two weeks before being sworn in, she was told her breast cancer had returned.
In her first speech she vowed to use her public platform to help others.
“Ladies, check your breasts. Men, stop ignoring what your body is telling you.”
Murphy was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 just before she was due to move to San Francisco with her husband, Rod.
Before entering parliament, Murphy served as a barrister and Victorian public defender, before working as a chief of staff to now Labor minister Brendan O’Connor.
Albanese said the late MP was much admired and respected in parliament and among her electorate.
“The people Peta represented admired her determination, they respected her passion, and they responded, above all, to her absolute authenticity,” he said.
“It was always clear just how much Peta cared for her community, her colleagues and our country … right up until last week, she insisted on coming to parliament.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong paid tribute to Murphy on the floor of the Senate on Monday.
“She was loved, she was respected by all of us, greatly admired by her community that she represented with passion and determination even through all her illness,” she said.
“Peta’s strength was unmatched, and she will be greatly missed by us all.”
Labor MP Andrew Leigh, who worked alongside Murphy in the late 1990s, said she was passionate about social justice and curious about the world.
“The world needs more Peta Murphies (sic), and the whole parliament will miss her,” he tweeted.
Opposition foreign spokesman Simon Birmingham also expressed sympathies to the late MP’s family in parliament.
“Peta Murphy conducted herself as an exceptional member of parliament, but particularly showed such strength, such grace, such determination during her battle with cancer,” he said.
Housing Minister Julie Collins said Murphy was “an inspiration in so many ways”, while Treasurer Jim Chalmers said she was “an absolute gem of a person”.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said Murphy was much respected in Victoria. “We’re all poorer without her,” he said.
