Willie Jackson, the co-chair of the Labour Māori caucus of which Kiri Allan was a member, doesn't believe the East Coast MP should return to stand for the party at this year's election.
"I think she needs to have a time out and come back another day," Jackson said.
He said he spoke with Allan on Sunday night before the crash happened.
"She wasn't good… If I'd been in Wellington it might not have happened," Jackson told reporters. "She rang me about 6pm, four hours before it all went wrong."
He added Allan was a "beautiful person" but was "sick and... she needs that support".
Allan stepped down from all her portfolios on Monday after being charged with reckless driving and refusing to accompany a police officer following a car crash in Wellington.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Monday Allan was "in a very distressed state" and had appropriate support around her.
He said he wasn't providing details about Allan's mental health to "diminish her actions, they were indefensible, but to provide context for the distressed circumstances she found herself in" when the crash happened.
During his regular Tuesday interview with AM, the Prime Minister said Labour was doing everything it could to support Allan and look forward to the election.
Hipkins said the East Coast MP was apologetic and extremely remorseful.
It was only just more than a fortnight ago Hipkins announced Allan would return to work and resume her full duties after accusations surfaced about mistreatment of staff in her office. Allan had previously rejected the allegations, saying no formal complaints had been made.
The accusations came to light while Allan was on a week of leave for mental health reasons.
Fallout from Cabinet reshuffle
Meanwhile, Labour's David Parker says it was "untenable" for him to remain the Revenue Minister given his position on Hipkins' decision to kill off a proposed tax switch.
The Prime Minister was forced to make another Cabinet reshuffle on Monday after Allan's resignation.
During the reshuffle, it was also revealed Parker would relinquish the Revenue portfolio - less than two weeks after Hipkins ruled out introducing a proposed wealth tax and tax-free threshold that was secretly being worked on by the Government. Parker had earlier admitted being "disappointed" by Hipkins' decision.
Parker, who had previously said he had the courage to fix the tax system he believed was unfair, said on Tuesday it was "untenable" he remained as Revenue Minister.
"You know my views on those things, I thought it was untenable for me to continue so I suggested to Chris [Hipkins] that it's in the best interests of him and the party that someone else takes that role," Parker told reporters.
"I've tried to do this in a way that makes it as smooth as possible for Chris Hipkins."
Parker said he was still "a loyal member of the Labour Party".
"I don't want to cause disturbances but I just thought it was untenable to continue."
Asked how he'd describe his relationship with Hipkins, Parker replied: "Very good."
Parker went on to say he was "an agent for change" and "I've still got lots of energy" - something he believed he'd shown so far in the Transport role, a portfolio he recently took over from another under-fire now-former minister Michael Wood.
Labour was expected to announce its tax policy soon, with Barbara Edmonds taking over as the Revenue Minister.
