Wellington: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has denied a bullying culture in New Zealand’s Labour Party as a rogue MP continues to make destructive claims about senior party figures.
Dr Gaurav Sharma, Labour’s Hamilton West MP, has gone public with claims of bullying, misspending of taxpayer funds, and wrongdoing by staffing and standards agency Parliamentary Service.
However, it has since been revealed that a number of Sharma’s former staff quit within months of taking jobs in his office, citing serious misgivings over his management style.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.Credit:Getty Images
Sharma could face sanction by Labour’s caucus after piling on to former and current whips Kieran McAnulty and Duncan Webb in an explosive 2624-word Facebook post.
The first-term MP alleges McAnulty, a favourite of Ardern’s and now emergency management minister, “kept gaslighting me, shouting at me, degrading me in front of caucus members … and telling me that I was a terrible MP”.
In one episode, Sharma said he was left waiting by McAnulty for two hours while the whip was drinking and watching an America’s Cup sailing race.
Neither Ardern nor McAnulty have addressed the claims.
NZ Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty.Credit:Getty Images
Sharma, a GP before entering parliament in 2020 after Labour’s landslide win, fell out with his own party after being blocked from hiring staff.
In the Facebook post, he said he fell into a “cycle of stress, depression and lack of hope” and considered self-harm due to what he called “harassment” from both Labour whips and the Parliamentary Service.
Ardern confirmed the block on Sharma being able to hire staff was due to “more than” employment matters in his office made by staff.
The NZ Herald has revealed three staff members quit inside a year of working for Sharma, one describing their former boss as “controlling”, which triggered Parliamentary Service concerns.
“We identified – because staff raised it – issues with his management within his office, and interventions were made,” Ardern said.
“I place great priority on making sure we look after the people who work for us.
“If an MP doesn’t take kindly to those interventions we will seek to work those through but that’s very different from being able to substantiate that you have been bullied.”
Ardern said Sharma’s claim of misspending of taxpayer money had been investigated and cleared.
Sharma’s public statements run contrary to Labour rules.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said Sharma’s conduct could be looked at by caucus, which meets next Tuesday.
“All MPs are subject to the same rules,” he told Newstalk ZB.
“What we come into parliament to do is to represent the people we are elected by, the manifesto and the platform that we’ve got. That should be our focus.
“You can look at whether somebody has upheld the values of the party, the conduct that is expected of MPs, they’re matters for the caucus to work through.”
Following Sharma’s outbursts, another disgruntled staffer has come forward with claims of mistreatment by another Labour MP elected in 2020.
The staffer alleges inappropriate behaviour by Tukituki MP Anna Lorck, including that she asked for a lift home after a drinking session.
Ardern said that case was being dealt with by Parliamentary Service.
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