Dr Gaurav Sharma meeting with people at Frankton Market in his Hamilton electorate. Photo / Supplied
Dr Gaurav Sharma meeting with people at Frankton Market in his Hamilton electorate. Photo / Supplied
The Labour MP who unloaded on his own party with accusations of bullying has called for an independent and public inquiry into his allegations.
In an interview with the Herald, Hamilton West's MP Gaurav Sharma also said he would like to run for the Labour Party again in next year's election.
The interview followed Sharma's visit to Hamilton's Frankton Market with 14 Labour Party members wearing party T-shirts in what was a clear show the MP was not alone.
It marked two days since Sharma's explosive column printed by the NZ Herald, in which he wrote of "rampant" bullying of MPs in Parliament by other politicians and the parties to which they belong.
Dr Gaurav Sharma meeting with people at Frankton Market in his Hamilton electorate. Photo / Supplied
The astonishing broadside claimed such bullying was "promoted and facilitated" by Parliamentary Service, which runs the administration and support functions of Parliament, and accused it of working "behind the scenes" with caucus organisers and even leaders of parties.
Sharma's column blasted the top of his own party structure and a subsequent social media post doubled-down, saying he had taken his complaints about being bullied to the Prime Minister's office and nothing was done.
Dr Gaurav Sharma with PM Jacinda Ardern, Clarke Gayford and deputy PM Grant Robertson and Marama Davidson. Photo / Supplied
Sharma's comments prompted one of his former staff to tell the Herald that the MP was the bully.
It also saw Jacinda Ardern deny a widespread bullying problem at Parliament, saying instead that there were employment issues in Sharma's office.
She also said: "My primary concern at the moment is Gaurav's wellbeing. I've reached out to assure him that we will reach out with the support he feels he needs. Members of our team are in contact with him to make sure that he is okay."
Sharma told the Herald he had no idea why people had expressed concern for his wellbeing. He said he was more relaxed and comfortable now after going public with issues he had kept contained for a "very stressful" 18 months with "no support".
Dr Gaurav Sharma with supporters at Frankton Market in his Hamilton electorate. Photo / Supplied
"I'm doing very well. I don't know why people are concerned about me. I have a very good support system."
He said those Labour Party volunteers who had joined him at Frankton Market were part of that support network.
Sharma marked the visit with a social media post in which he posted photographs of himself with volunteers in red Labour Party shirts.
He posted: "Many of you know that my favourite thing to do on (most) Saturdays is to catch up with our local community at the Frankton Market. Rain, hail or shine our mahi continues."
Dr Gaurav Sharma meeting with people at Frankton Market in his Hamilton electorate. Photo / Supplied
He wrote with thanks to the volunteers and "constituents who came to talk about their issues", saying discussions included housing intensification, public transport infrastructure, tertiary education and disability access.
It was Sharma's second post since his explosive 2600-word social media assault, in which he named a senior MP as having bullied him and detailed how the Prime Minister's office told him to put nothing in writing for fear it might be released through the Official Information Act.
Sharma's other social media post on Friday evening also emphasised him carrying out an MP's work in the electorate. It recorded him holding a prearranged constituent clinic from 7pm to 9pm discussing housing and infrastructure, mobility scooter funding, immigration and crime.
Dr Gaurav Sharma arriving at a Labour caucus meeting in Parliament after being elected in 2020. Photo / File
In it he wrote: "I take my role seriously and as long as I am the MP for Hamilton West I will continue to work for my constituents."
Sharma told the Herald: "I'm just getting on with work." That included the morning visit to the market at which he and the volunteers spent 3-4 hours speaking with people.
He said he hoped to stand again for Labour in next year's election, but "that's Labour's call". He said he would want to again be MP for Hamilton West if voters wanted him to continue.
Sharma said he had solid support from the local Labour Party organisers.
"Labour Party Hamilton West has known about all the issues from the get-go."
He said the emails he had sent and efforts he had made over the last 18 months had consistently sought out external inquiry into his claims. He said he had asked Parliamentary Services and those in the Labour Party to resolve claims he made - and claims about him - by investigating.
An inquiry was needed, and making it public "would be even better", he said.
He said he had been blocked and obstructed in his efforts to be heard - until he turned up with the lawyer.
"If for one-and-a-half years I've been the problem, how is it that once I take my lawyer into the room that everything is forgotten?"
It was then, Sharma had written, that two managers at Parliamentary Services told him "everything would be resolved and we were moving forward" and he was free to hire new staff.
