The Labour caucus has voted to expel Gaurav Sharma in a meeting he described as tense, but respectful.
After the meeting, Sharma said the topic was solely his suspension and expulsion, not the events leading up to it.
"When we were in the room nobody wanted to talk about how we arrived at that point.
"I wouldn't say I was treated fairly. It was respectful, respectful on both sides."
He said nobody wanted to talk about an investigation he wanted.
"When I tried to present the facts … the specifics, I was told I can't talk about it."
"In some ways it was expected."
Sharma said he will think about whether to stay on as an independent MP.
"It's not something I'm going to rush either way."
He said his Hamilton West constituents would also want to have a say.
He would continue to push for an investigation, despite the PM saying she had seen no grounds for it
He said other MPs said "all sorts of things" and maintained that they had messaged him privately in support "but in that environment they did not speak".
He said his release of information over days was not the original plan - he had expected his initial public comment to trigger an investigation.
Asked how he felt about it he said he still believed in the values he stood for initially. "That includes the right to a fair trial."
He claimed at least one MP had voted not to expel him and one had abstained but he did not know who they were.
"It's not easy walking into a situation like this. But at the end of the day I don't have anything to hide. I wanted to put my point forward."
Asked about the mood in the meeting he said "it was tense."
He said the PM had chaired the meeting and asked if he wanted to speak first. He had spoken first and then again after other MPs had spoken.
Asked if he had apologised at any point, he said if he had broken people's trust he apologised for that but that it was a result of what he felt he had been put through.
He said other MPs had made their points respectfully. Kieran McAnulty had not spoken.
The Labour Caucus has voted to expel Dr Gaurav Sharma from caucus, effectively immediately.
The Caucus also voted to refer the matter to the New Zealand Council of the Labour Party for them to consider any further disciplinary action.
The decision means Dr Sharma will no longer receive support from the parliamentary party or have access to or participate in caucus in any way. He will have the right to attend any select committee, but will not be a member of one.
"Gaurav Sharma has been expelled for his repeated and calculated breaches of caucus rules over the past 12 days," Labour Party Leader Jacinda Ardern said.
"When Gaurav went public about his staffing issues 12 days ago our response was one of concern. We attempted to offer support and find a way to resolve his concerns. We offered mediation and a pathway back for him.
"Despite providing an opportunity to resolve his issues and to rebuild trust he has repeatedly demonstrated that he no longer wishes to be a member of the caucus. His consistent and ongoing breach of the caucus rules has resulted in the complete loss of trust by his fellow Labour MPs.
"It's worth remembering the root cause of this fallout was multiple members of Gaurav's staff raising issues with his management.
"For over a year the Labour Whips and the Parliamentary Service have sought to resolve these concerns with Gaurav. Rather than accept the issues raised or the need to take steps to address them he has consistently contested the process.
"Labour and the Parliamentary Service would have been negligent if we had failed to act on the concerns that were raised by staff, but this example does highlight how difficult improving the situation for staff can be if an MP does not fully engage. We also believe the process was protracted.
"As a Labour team we remain committed to ensuring that Parliament is a positive place for our staff. We have however highlighted to the Speaker areas where we believe that the new procedures under the Francis Review could be improved, and asked that he consider whether these recent events could be a case study to help improve these processes.
"There are definitely things to be learned from this episode, but none of it justifies the recent behaviour of Gaurav.
"From Labour's perspective, this decision now concludes this matter. Our focus remains on the significant issues New Zealanders are grappling with and our responsibility to serve them – not the interests of an individual MP," Jacinda Ardern said.
Ahead of it, Kieran McAnulty – who Sharma alleged had bullied him when McAnulty was dealing with staffing issues in his office – spoke to media, saying "the last 13 days have been incredibly tough."
"It's really awful to be accused of something that isn't true in any instance, but then to have that play out in the public – it's been really, really tough."
McAnulty said he did not believe there were grounds to claim he was a bully, saying it had been rejected by the Prime Minister as well as multiple other MPs arriving ahead of the caucus meeting.
"Ultimately at the core of this is concerns that were raised by staff an we brought in a process, a fair process, to deal with those."
Asked if Sharma was the bully, McAnulty said he wasn't going to start throwing around labels. "I know what I've been accused of isn't true and I stand by my record on that."
Asked if he had been defamed he said he was not a lawyer "but I know what I've been accused of isn't true." He said if there was an investigation he would participate in it.
He said he had taken "meticulous notes" while handling Sharma, whom he put on a staffing freeze after multiple complaints about Sharma from staff. Those had been given to the Prime Minister's office and the Prime Minister has said she saw nothing in them that she believed warranted investigating.
Ahead of the meeting, Ardern said she was not concerned that Sharma's case pointed to wider discontent on the backbench, or that the MPs were "scared" to speak out.
"To say they're scared would imply they are scared of me. I don't think many would argue that is the case." She would discuss what the next steps were after the meeting. "He is by rights able to speak. Then there is a full ballot in which to confirm a decision."
Labour MPs arriving at Parliament had little sympathy for Sharma with many saying they did not trust him – including those in his 2020 intake.
Minister David Parker said Sharma's behaviour was disappointing and there were no grounds for the investigation Sharma had sought, and he did not not believe the allegations the whips bullied MPs.
"Absolutely not. It's attention-seeking behaviour. I know of Kieran McAnulty he is trustworthy, mature and I believe him."
List MP Helen White said she had been in regular contact with Sharma to check on his welfare, as one of his fellow 2020 intake MPs and believed he was going into the meeting "with his eyes open."
"He's made his own choices, I think he is going into this with his eyes open. I think he's been offered good, fair treatment with the mediation offer and suspension."
A former employment lawyer, she said the mediation that was offered to Sharma would have been a good way to rebuild trust but it was not taken up. "So I'm really sad."
"I'm really sad about it. I'm really proud of the process we've taken, it's really conciliatory."
Asked if she was concerned he would release recordings of her conversations with him, White said she didn't think it mattered. "But I think it's unhelpful in this situation that people would be second guessing themselves."
Asked if she would vote to expel him, Camilla Belich said he had lost her trust.
"He has lost my trust through his behaviour, so it's very upsetting and disappointing."
She said he had been given a fair process and it was a shame he did not take up the offer of mediation.
"I think that's the process most New Zealand workers would have their issues resolved."
Both White and Belich said they had not experienced any bullying of the type Sharma was claiming, and had found the whips very supportive.
Asked if she still trusted Sharma, Northland MP Willow Jean Prime said "no."
"He's got an opportunity to come to caucus this morning and talk through it with us, I'm hoping he may attend."
She said it would be a decision for caucus whether to expel him.
Labour's President Claire Szabo said she would not comment ahead of the caucus meeting.
If Sharma is expelled, Szabo and Labour's NZ Council will likely start the process to expel him from the wider party as well – a process that takes some time and requires investigation ahead of any move.
Maungakiekie MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan said Sharma was suspended for breaching caucus rules, and had continued to breach them. "I'm going to see what happens at caucus. We haven't heard his side, have we, because he didn't turn up to caucus."
She said she didn't think anybody had been impressed by his behaviour, and she did not trust him "not at the moment, no."
A selection of cartoons from Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson over the past year