Dr Guarav Sharma has been suspended from the Labour Party caucus. He will continue as the Labour MP for Hamilton West, but won't participate in caucus events.
The Hamilton West MP has accused parliamentarians of gaslighting him and claimed other MPs have also faced bullying. So far, the backbencher is yet to provide any evidence to substantiate his allegations.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has rejected Dr Sharma's allegations and said the situation with the MP was sparked by issues raised by staff in his office about his management style. Ardern said Dr Sharma disagreed with interventions made by the Whips and Parliamentary Service when trying to sort out the situation.
On Monday, Ardern confirmed Labour would meet for a caucus meeting to resolve the issues. She wouldn't say what the potential outcomes of the meeting could be.
What you need to know:
- Dr Sharma has been suspended from the Labour Party caucus. He will continue as the Labour MP for Hamilton West, but won't participate in caucus events.
- Dr Sharma has made a number of bullying allegations in recent days against Labour MPs. He claims this was facilitated by the Whips and Parliamentary Service, and ignored by the Prime Minister's Office
- Labour says Dr Sharma has had issues with staff in his office and not welcomed interventions made by the Whips and Parliamentary Service to deal with them. The Prime Minister says she's seen no evidence of bullying as Dr Sharma has alleged
- Dr Sharma claims the Labour caucus met on Monday night without him to decide his fate. Newshub has been told there was a meeting, but no decision was made about his future.
These live updates have now finished:
4:55pm - Ardern says the party hasn't looked into who sent the messages shared by Dr Sharma on Monday as they were sent in confidence. She doesn't want to breach anyone's privacy and wants to create a culture where people can speak to others about their issues. She doubts Dr Sharma received permission to share the messages.
4:50pm - Ardern wouldn't say if Dr Sharma has gone "rogue", but says she expects reasonable engagement on these matters. Only Dr Sharma didn't attend the meeting, with other MPs rearranging their diaries so they could join, she says.
She can't say if Dr Sharma was aware the caucus meeting was happening on Monday night.
The screenshot of Davis from the meeting on Monday night was taken when an MP was trying to screenshot something else on their phone. The Zoom meeting was in the corner of the individual's phone screen. She is aware of who accidentally sent the image to Dr Sharma. It wasn't deliberate and the MP is "somewhat embarrassed".
Ardern says there were grounds for expulsion, but MPs wants to send a message that while Dr Sharma's actions were serious, they also want to give second chances.
4:45pm - Ardern says this ordeal is "frustrating" and "disappointing". She says it distracts from other issues the Government is trying to deal with. Labour MPs are "very hurt and upset" by what has happened, but want to leave a path for him to return to caucus. The breaches constitute "serious misconduct" and further breaches won't be acceptable, Ardern says.
With Sharma publicly releasing the content of some meetings, Ardern says some MPs didn't feel they could raise questions or discuss issues with colleague openly. That led to the meeting on Monday night without Dr Sharma. But the meeting on Monday night was not a formal meeting, she said, and she was clear there would be no pre-determined outcome. Ardern attended, but some MPs were absent.
Ardern says Dr Sharma was advised of the time of the meeting as he selected it. There were repeated attempts at contacting him so he could join, she says.
The press conference was delayed while the PM tried to contact Dr Sharma. She was unable to speak to him directly.
4:40pm - The Prime Minister is summarising recent events.
She says last year the Labour Whips office and Parliamentary Service began working with Dr Sharma regarding concerns with his staff management. Before new staff were brought on board, he was asked to work with a mentor to remedy this issue, but he objected. An agreement was reached at the end of last year, but further issues were raised by other staff. This resulted in another hiring pause and offers of mentoring. Dr Sharma again objected to this.
Ardern says Parliamentary Service and the Labour Whips have a duty of care to staff. But she understands the protracted nature of the interventions frustrated Dr Sharma and this could be improved. But Ardern says she has seen nothing to back up Dr Sharma's bullying claims.
The Prime Minister says support provided to new MPs wasn't provided years ago when she began in Parliament.
4:35pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirms Dr Gaurav Sharma has been suspended from the Labour Party caucus. He did not attend the meeting. He will continue as the Labour MP for Hamilton West, but won't participate in caucus events.
Ardern says trust in Dr Sharma has been breached by his actions in recent days. His suspension will be reviewed in December, to allow a chance for a return to caucus if trust can be restored. But the caucus can review the decision at any time if Dr Sharma continues to break rules.
4:30pm - The livestream is in the video above. We are yet to receive any statement about the caucus meeting outcome.
4:20pm - We are awaiting the press conference from the Prime Minister. There is still no word on the outcome of the caucus meeting. You can watch the press conference when it begins above.
3:55pm - Speaking to media on Monday, Ardern wouldn't say what potential outcomes there could be to Tuesday's caucus meeting.
"So what will occur is that caucus will convene over the course of this week. I cannot predetermine what they will decide as a team in terms of their response, but I do think it’s in the best interests of all parties if they are able to do that this week so that we can bring some resolution to the situation."
She said it would not constitute a full caucus if Dr Sharma was not present.
"Of course, for natural justice, of course Gaurav Sharma would be a part of that meeting. But, essentially, it’s an opportunity then for the team to discuss what the next steps would be."
3:35pm - The Prime Minister's press conference has been delayed until 4:30pm.
3:15pm - Earlier on Tuesday, National leader Christopher Luxon was asked whether he could work with Dr Sharma should the MP be booted from Labour and continue on in Parliament as an independent MP.
"It's all completely speculative. They are all issues for the Labor Party and for Jacinda Ardern to deal with," he replied.
He wouldn't speak about how the Dr Sharma situation compared with the Jami-Lee Ross saga, which saw that then-National MP kicked out of the party in 2018 after making corruption allegations against the party leader. Ross stayed on as the MP for Botany in Parliament but wasn't re-elected at the 2020 election.
"It was before my time. I wasn't in Parliament. So the bottom line is they're all speculative. We'll let the Labour Party deal with what it needs to deal with and Jacinda Ardern to deal with that as well."
3pm - It's unclear if Dr Sharma is participating in the caucus meeting, which is occurring currently via Zoom. He told NZHerald that he was wanting to attend, but he had prior commitments and the meeting was organised at very short notice. If he did take part, he would ask for a "fair trial" and that an investigation took place into complaints made about himself as well as those he made about other MPs.
2:50pm - Dr Sharma is claiming the Labour caucus met on Monday night without him. Dr Sharma has shared a screenshot of what appears to be deputy Labour leader Kelvin Davis in a Zoom meeting, but it is unclear whether it was from Monday night.
Newshub has been told there was a meeting, but the outcome of Tuesday afternoon's caucus meeting was not predetermined as Dr Sharma is claiming.
2:45pm - Kia ora, good afternoon, and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the unfolding Dr Gaurav Sharma situation. The Labour Party caucus is currently meeting via Zoom (it's a recess week at Parliament so MPs are spread out across the country). The Prime Minister will front a press conference following the meeting at roughly 4pm. Newshub will livestream that event.
