Gaurav Sharma reveals fresh details of letter he sent to Prime Minister's chief of staff

  • 20/08/2022

Newshub Nation can reveal new details of a letter sent by backbench Labour MP Gaurav Sharma to the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

It's been wall-to-wall with Dr Sharma for more than a week now, with the Hamilton West MP making unproven claims of bullying by his colleagues and lying by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - then doubling down.

And the allegations just keep coming, with a letter sent to the Prime Minister's chief of staff in December spelling out multiple allegations.

"I was called day after day to the chief whip Kieran McAnulty's office on a short notice without any support person and told that I was a terrible MP," Dr Sharma wrote. "I felt like I was at the headmaster's office every day and had no control over my own life and my work."   

He accused the Labour whips of "systematic bullying… to overburden me and ruin my reputation".

"I am deeply concerned about the culture within the caucus… fuelled by Kieran and his team," the letter goes on to say.

McAnulty has rejected the allegations Dr Sharma has made against him.

In an interview with Newshub Nation on Saturday, Dr Sharma claimed he was called by the PM's chief of staff after sending the letter.

"There was no written reply to it," he told co-host Conor Whitten.

Dr Sharma repeated his calls for the matter to be investigated.

"That's repeatedly what I've asked for - an independent investigation... that is literally the gist of this whole conversation of this whole saga," he said.

"If there's nothing to see here, why not call an independent investigation?"

Ardern and McAnulty were both invited to appear on Newshub Nation but declined while Labour Party president Claire Szabo did not respond to requests.

A statement sent to Newshub Nation by the Prime Minister's office said it had been known from the start Dr Sharma met with and wrote to the PM's chief of staff and "the allegations in this email have been aired and refuted previously".

The allegations also "misrepresent the meeting", the Prime Minister's office said.

"Following the meeting, an email agreement was reached that Gaurav could start advertising and recruiting for roles with priority on electorate office staff. Gaurav agreed to choose a mentor before appointments were made.

"It was also agreed that this represented moving on from the issues discussed and putting it behind them."

Labour's caucus will meet on Tuesday to consider expelling Dr Sharma from the party.

This interview has been edited to remove an unsubstantiated statement about Neale Jones.

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