Labour will hold a special caucus meeting this week to discuss MP Dr Gaurav Sharma's ongoing allegations of bullying within the party.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the meeting at her weekly media conference at the same time Dr Sharma was posting further allegations of bullying on Facebook.
There was no one home to chat at Dr Sharma's electorate office on Monday morning, but there was plenty being said at Beehive in the afternoon.
"My personal preference would be of to not have found ourselves in this situation," said Ardern.
At the same time as she was saying that, Dr Sharma was back on Facebook to air his bullying claims against party whips. He shared messages he says are from other bullied MPs.
One said they wanted to fake a cold to avoid going in, while another said they feared having "serious mental health" issues from being at Parliament. Another message said that every day they wake up they are wondering if they're going to be in trouble.
But Ardern said she's had no one claim to her "that they feel they have been bullied by our whips".
The Prime Minister reiterated Dr Sharma's claims of bullying all started when his staff complained about him.
"There've been interventions by the whips and Parliamentary Services on those issues," Ardern said. "He hasn't agreed with their perspective."
But someone involved at the time of those disputes told Newshub the complaints against Dr Sharma were never investigated. They said Dr Sharma goes above and beyond and they've never heard him raise his voice.
Asked whether those issues were investigated, Ardern said: "some of the interventions that existed here were based on early interventions, stopping the escalation of what were issues that were being raised".
One former parliamentary staffer turned employment advocate said the only way to sort out bullying claims is through an independent investigation.
"Without some kind of accountability, these people who have issues with empathy are really not going to be changing their ways," said David Buckingham.
That's something the Prime Minister would not commit to. She's leaving it to the Labour caucus, calling a last-minute meeting this week.
