Labour MP for Hamilton West Gaurav Sharma wrote an oped on the eleventh where he alleged that there was widespread bullying in Parliament, by the party leadership, party whips and the Parliamentary Service.
1 The day after his op-ed was released to the public, he made a detailed Facebook post about why he has written the article and I think it is important to read if you want to understand more about his grievences.
2 Following this, an ex-staffer of Sharma accused him of engaging in the same practices as the other MPs, beliving him to be "controlling".
3 Additionally, Parliamentary Service said that one allegation raised by Sharma about mispending taxpayers money was normal practice.
4 On the fifteenth, the Labour parliamentary caucus held a secret meeting regarding Sharma's future, and following him finding out about the secret meeting, he refused to attend a public meeting regarding his future in the party, saying that it was pre-determined. Additionally, he wrote another Facebook post regarding workplace bullying in the Labour Party.
5 Following this, twenty members of Hamilton West electorate committee sent letters in support of Sharma and calling for a independent investigation into bullying, with the Prime Minister rejecting calls for an independent investigation. The New Zealand Hearld reported that three of his staffers resigned during his first year, which led to Parliamentary Service suspending hiring of staff for Sharma's parliamentary office and they rebutted an allegation raised by Sharma about a Labour MP mispsending tax money.
On the sixteenth, he weas suspended from the party caucus until December, with the Prime Minister alleging that he had breached trust repeatedly and that Sharma had rejected the party's offers to help him throughout the past eighteen months.
6 Following this, Sharma accused Labour of ignoring his concerns and accused Ardern of lying. Noticably after the ruling by the Labour caucus, Sharma went quiet on social media with there being no response to the caucus's ruling and with Sharma not returning the calls from the Prime Minister. But on the eighteenth, Sharma had an interview with Newshub, and provided Newshub with a secret recording of a Labour MP saying that his fate was predetermined and that he would be "whacked" by the Labour Party. Sharma alleged that the Prime Minister is a bully and that the Labour MP was coaching MPs on how to avoid the Official Information Act and Sharma called for an independent investigation against himself.
7 The day after, he participated in interviews with other media outlets. Labour Minister Michael Wood said Sharma should take part in meditation.
On Tuesday, it is very likely that Sharma will be expelled from the Labour caucus and following his likely expulsion, he has two options, resign or become an independent MP. Alternatively, the Prime Minister could write to the Speaker asking for Sharma to be removed from the parliament under the
waka-jumping legislation. If the legislation was triggered or if Sharma resigned, a by-election would happen, something risky for Labour because of bad polling for Labour in recent months. Sharma hasn't considered his future plans yet, saying that he wants a fair trial for himself as the MP for Hamilton West.