MP Sharma unloads on Labour

Labour Party MP Gaurav Sharma has posted an excoriating social media post detailing grievances with the Labour Party, its former senior whip Kieran McAnulty, current whip Duncan Webb, the Prime Minister’s Office and Parliamentary Service.

In an extraordinary tirade, he said that bullying and harassment of him started on ‘‘day 0’’ at Parliament.

Sharma, MP for Hamilton West, claims that he has ‘‘hundreds of pages’’ of documents that show bullying and harassment at the hands of the Labour Party.

At the centre of his claims are accusations of an inability to dismiss underperforming staff, waste of taxpayer money, and bullying.

When Stuff fronted up to ask questions after an electorate clinic in Hamilton late last night, Sharma looked deflated. ‘‘As I said in my post this didn’t happen overnight.’’

When asked for proof of these bullying allegations, Sharma said he couldn’t make anything public right now but was working with his lawyer. ‘‘There’s a process that I have to go through, I have given a lot of that to the party and Parliament.’’

He said he had been trying to follow the process for the past 11⁄2 years.

As with his opinion piece in the NZ Herald on Thursday, he has produced no evidence, so far, to back up the claims. He said last night his opinion piece came out of frustration for not being heard. ‘‘It was . . . for not being heard and that’s what I said in my text to the prime minister as well. I just haven’t felt heard.’’

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office, McAnulty and Parliamentary Service have been approached for comment.

In response to the MP’s social media post yesterday, a Labour spokesperson reiterated that the party disputed the allegations.

‘‘... There have been ongoing issues between Gaurav and some of his staff that his post provides further confirmation of,’’ the spokesperson said. ‘‘We believe we’ve handled this matter appropriately and in accordance with the normal processes when staffing issues are raised.’’

When asked how he felt about a former staffer speaking out about an alleged culture of bullying in his office, and comments by other Labour Party members, Sharma cut questions short. ‘‘I don’t have time to read. I’ve been so busy. Thank you so much.’’

Earlier in the day, Ardern said she had ‘‘reached out’’ to first-term MP Sharma to make sure he was all right after it emerged there had been ‘‘employment issues’’ being worked through by the Labour whips with Parliamentary Service.

She disputed the allegations Sharma made in the media on Thursday, saying she had not seen any bullying.

Ardern, Webb and Parliamentary Service all said they had been ‘‘working constructively’’ with Sharma for more than a year regarding issues in his office.

The Parliamentary Service recently paused hiring staff for Sharma’s office, with the intention of providing further mentoring and coaching for the MP.

Last night, Sharma was holding his regular constituency clinics at a Hamilton pharmacy. He was fully booked till closing time at 9pm.

Sharma’s public allegations come during the same week the National Party has faced a bullying scandal, in relation to new Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell.

In his social media post, Sharma said the timing of his statements had nothing to do with what was happening in the National Party, but were in response to an employment meeting on Thursday that he believed was an attempt to silence him.