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SENIOR STAFFER CLAIMS BULLYING BY LABOUR MP

Bridie Witton bridie.witton@stuff.co.nz

A senior parliamentary staffer says she was the victim of bullying while working for Labour MP Anna Lorck, including being forced to move furniture around the office for an hour, and sober drive her home outside work hours.

These are the latest allegations against an MP, after National’s moves to stand down and investigate Sam Uffindell over historical bullying and harassment claims sparked further allegations about Parliament’s workplace culture.

Little-known Labour backbencher Dr Gaurav Sharma on Thursday accused Parliamentary Services of failing in its duties and said it was complicit in the bullying of MPs by his own party, but yesterday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there were no widespread issues of bullying within the Labour caucus.

The woman, who Stuff agreed not to name, said what she experienced was not an isolated incident.

‘‘People shouldn’t get away with this behaviour, Parliament should be exemplary. The irony of these situations is just horrific. There is such a power imbalance as well, you feel like you can’t do anything.’’

Lorck, in a statement, did not respond to specific allegations but said she works as ‘‘as constructively and as supportively as possible to create a positive working environment for my team’’. ‘‘This includes having what I see as [a] good and open working relationship with the Parliamentary Service.’’

The woman, who worked in Parliament for more than a decade, said she was Lorck’s third executive assistant in about a year and a half. She started in October and resigned last Wednesday. Lorck entered Parliament in 2020 following Labour’s election landslide.

She said she and another staff member raised their concerns about Lorck with Parliamentary Service in February, but were only offered counselling. She then raised her concerns with the Labour whip’s office.

‘‘I said, look, her behaviour is erratic, it is really hard to work for her, she is being rude, demanding, she will ask you one thing and send you 15 emails in a day asking you to do all this stuff.’’

The woman described an incident where she and another staff member were asked to move furniture around the office, in what she believed was retaliation for not picking a coffee up for Lorck, and another where she was staying at Lorck’s house when the pair were travelling to Hawke’s Bay for work. ‘‘Because she didn’t like using her budget on staff things, one night I stayed at her house,‘‘ she said.

Lorck went to visit a senior public servant that night, and the woman went with her. ‘‘Anna just drank and drank and drank ... and she said now you will have to drive me home because I can’t drive.’’ After she complained, Parliamentary Service tried to move her into a different executive assistant role, but she said this was stopped by Labour chief whip Duncan Webb who thought the pair could resolve the problem. The woman said the relationship was beyond repair.

The woman’s allegations are the latest in a string of incidents at Parliament. A 2019 report into workplace culture found endemic bullying and harassment where MPs are ‘‘treated like gods’’ and there is a ‘‘master and servant’’ relationship.

Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael GonzalezMontero wouldn’t confirm how many executive assistants had worked for Lorck.

‘‘The service uses a range of processes to cordially resolve issues which may arise in political offices, which can include relocating staff to other MP offices, however this is not always possible,’’ he said.

Webb said the party took employment issues very seriously, and worked through them with the Parliamentary Service. He described the process generally as involving coaching and mentoring for the MP and support for the staff member.

National News

en-nz

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281792812806821

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