Senator Linda White has died following a health battle, prompting a chorus of tributes from her colleagues led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
White was elected as an ALP Senator for Victoria at the 2022 election.
She announced on February 2 this year she would take leave from the Senate to “deal with some health issues”.
“For the next while I will be focusing on getting well again so I can return to my full duties representing the people of Victoria,” the statement read.
However, the prime minister today confirmed her death as he led a wave of tributes.
”All of our hearts in the Labor family are broken at the passing of Senator Linda White last evening,” Albanese said.
“Linda was formidable. A beloved friend, a valued colleague, a dedicated parliamentarian and, through all her efforts in the wider labour movement, a devout supporter of working Australians.”
He praised Linda’s pre-politics career as a lawyer, saying she had helped confront corruption in the police force and child sex abuse in the clergy.
“Linda believed in a better, fairer and more compassionate Australia,” Albanese said.
“A belief that was always backed by her energy and action.”
Labor MP Tony Burke also praised Linda’s achievements.
“Linda campaigned for years in the union movement for paid family and domestic violence leave,” he said.
“As a senator she helped make it law so no one would have to choose between safety and pay.”
Fellow senator and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said White had modelled “integrity, persistence, and skill”.
“Linda fought the illness that has now claimed her life privately, but with all the tenacity and determination that has marked not just her short time in the Senate, but her decades of commitment to the Labor movement and Australian workers,” she said.
Before her election to the senate, White had a long career in law and as a trade union official.
She served as vice president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions for 10 years, and was assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union from 1995 to 2020.
