Sharma talks on his exit from Labour. Video / NZ Herald
Former Labour MP Dr Gaurav Sharma chose not to accept a $20,000 donation from a wealthy donor for his failed Hamilton West byelection campaign because he feared there could be strings attached and he also didn’t want to rule out a larger donation in the future.
It comes as the Electoral Commission publishes the donations and expenses of all the candidates who contested the byelection, prompted by Sharma’s resignation from the Hamilton West seat.
Sharma made the decision to resign after being expelled from the party following accusations of bullying levelled at his Labour colleagues - claims that were disputed.
In October following Sharma’s resignation and confirmation he would contest the byelection, it was reported by Newshub that one of New Zealand’s richest Indian businessmen, Roshan Nauhria, would bankroll his campaign and seek donations on his behalf.
However, Nauhira told the Herald today that when he spoke with Sharma last year, the doctor-by-trade reportedly said he didn’t need the money.
“I would have helped him [with] whatever he needed and I went to him and we had a good chat but it’s alright.”
Wealthy businessman and former political party leader Roshan Nauhria. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Nauhira, former leader of the People’s Party, said he would have offered as much as $20,000 to Sharma, who ran under the Momentum Party which he created after leaving Labour.
Sharma, who won the electorate in 2020 by 6000 votes, only attracted 8 per cent of the vote - also finishing behind Labour’s Georgie Dansey and Act’s James McDowall.
Despite Sharma’s refusal, Nauhira said he would still support Sharma if he chose to run in the general election, saying he would donate as much as $100,000 if Sharma wanted it, but he suspected the former MP would not run.
Nauhira, who had donated to the National Party and its candidates in the past, said he liked Sharma for how he opposed the alleged bullying in Parliament. Nauhira also knew Sharma’s parents quite well.
Sharma’s donations and expenses published yesterday showed he received one donation over $1500 - the threshold for donations to be declared - from fellow GP Dr Firdaus Aziz worth $2500.
His advertising expenses totalled $44,857.31. Sharma told the Herald he received about $20,000 in small donations and paid for the rest out of his own pocket.
Asked why he did not accept Nauhira’s offer given the spending cap was $61,100, Sharma said he was generally concerned about the potential strings attached to large donations, not that he expected Nauhira to have any.
“We didn’t want to fall into that ... I think with bigger donations, you know, that would be a problem.”
Dr Gaurav Sharma was booted from the Labour Party last year for publishing messages sent by colleagues. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He also made the decision with one eye on the General Election.
“One of the things was, you know, we were thinking about if we would run in October, we might need a bigger donation then.”
Sharma said he hadn’t decided whether to contest the election.
He said he was happy with his effort in the byelection, citing the difficulty of setting up a new party in a short time.
For the other candidates, National’s Tama Potaka - who won the byelection by more than 2000 votes - appeared to receive far more support than other candidates, declaring $148,956.91 in donations above $1500, which was well above the next highest of $4412 given to McDowall.
However, that sum was drip-fed by the National Party and did not differentiate between such things as donations given to the party instead of Potaka directly, staff accommodation, travel costs and the election night event. Potaka spent $54,175.64 in advertising expenses.
Potaka said he didn’t handle matters involving people who had wanted to donate to his campaign, saying that it was largely dealt with by the party.
Dansey didn’t receive any donations above the $1500 threshold but was able to spend $46,481.66 on advertising through a plea for support from Labour members around the country that attracted smaller donations. She was also financially assisted by the party.
