Peta Murphy dies: Anthony Albanese breaks down as he announces her death

Labor MP Peta Murphy has died at the age of 50 after a battle with breast cancer.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was overcome with emotion while announcing her death on Monday afternoon.

'She was here last week in Canberra. She was clearly, very much not well,' he said. 

'We will always carry her glow in our hearts.'

Ms Murphy had been the member for Dunkley, southeast of Melbourne.

'The whole way through her contribution, while going through what was very difficult treatment, she never once, never once talked about herself or asked for anything special,' Mr Albanese said.

'She would apologise if she missed a day of Parliament.

'This Parliament was a better place for Peta Murphy being elected to the House of Representatives. This country was a better nation for her contribution.

'May Peta Murphy rest in peace.'

In a tweet, the prime minister said the Labor family was 'broken hearted' by her death.

'Peta Murphy was the strongest of local members, the most inspiring of colleagues and the very best kind of friend,' he said.  

'To attend a community event with Peta was to bask in her glow. Like all of us who served alongside her, the people Peta represented admired her determination.' 

Ms Murphy was just 37 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, where she then underwent a double mastectomy.

She had just been elected as the federal member for Dunkley when the cancer returned eight years later in 2019. 

'I have this unique platform of being in the Federal Parliament and, having metastatic breast cancer, I should use it to try to make life better for other people,' Ms Murphy told the Today show earlier this year.

'Not everyone can keep working and do what I'm doing, but I want people to see that they're not alone, which is why I've made the decision to be so open and public about it.'

Her family shared a heartfelt statement on Ms Murphy's passing on Monday.

She'd been sitting in Parliament House for Question Time last Tuesday before being hospitalised a day later. 

'Peta left us this afternoon, having had her final days surrounded by family at home - just as she wanted it,' her family said.

'We loved her deeply and are so, so proud of her achievements, her character and her courage. She was indeed the strongest girl of all.

'Still giving sassy advice until the very end - she died the way she lived - with dignity and strength and a touch of sarcasm to boot.'

She has been remembered as a 'wonderful' wife, daughter and sister.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers also paid tribute to Ms Murphy.

'It’s hard to convey just how wonderful Peta Murphy was, an absolute gem of a person, so kind and so compassionate, so fun and so real,' he tweeted.

'Such immense sadness now comes with her passing. Heart goes out to (husband) Rod and her loved ones, and her community.' 

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Ms Murphy was 'one of the bravest' people he knew.

'She was asking questions in Question time just last week. Her time in the parliament has been an inspiration to us all,' he said.

Ms Murphy gave an emotional maiden speech to parliament in 2019, and ended it with quoting children's book character Pippi Longstocking.

She found out her breast cancer had returned two weeks earlier.

'Pippi's friend Annika had just told her that she couldn't beat the strong man at the show because he's the strongest man in the world,' she said.

'"Man, yes," said Pippi, "but I'm the strongest girl in the world, remember that".'

Ms Murphy was born in the regional NSW town of Goulburn and went on to study psychology and law at the Australian National University.

She practiced law after moving to Melbourne and went on to become a senior public defender at Victorian Legal Aid in 2012 for two years.

 Metastatic breast cancer is an incurable condition that spreads to other parts of the body.

Australian singer Olivia Newtown-John had an off-and-on battle with metastatic breast cancer spanning three decades before she died last August aged 73.

According to statistics, the five-year survival rate for women with metastatic breast cancer is 29 per cent.