'Sense of trust broken' - Ardern on MP's Gaurav Sharma's suspension following 'serious misconduct'

Labour MP Gaurav Sharma has been suspended from caucus effective immediately, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.

It is the "most appropriate" repsonse to "repeated breaches of trust" committed by the MP, Ardern said after a special party caucus meeting today.

Sharma did not attend this afternoon's meeting.

Sharma will continue as MP for Hamilton West but not take part in caucus decisions unless invited, Ardern said.

He was not at the caucus meeting this afternoon.

"I note that he did find the time to talk to media," Ardern said.

"Caucus has determined suspension is the most appropriate response to the repeated breaches of trust from Gaurav over recent days. This means Gaurav will continue as the MP for Hamilton West and be expected to be present Parliament, however he will no longer participate in any caucus events or activities unless caucus' permission is granted."

She said the decision was unanimous, and the team was clear that to function as a political party in a place where open debate and dialogue was key, you needed to be able to trust your colleagues.

"You need to feel you can speak openly and freely. That sense of trust has been broken by repeated breaches of our caucus rules over the last five days and that made the decision very clear."

Ardern and party leadership have continued to refer to the allegations - which in particular accuse former whip Kieran McAnulty of bullying and gaslighting - as an employment concern between Sharma and the staff in his office.

RNZ has sought comment from McAnulty repeatedly but he has not responded.

Ardern said, based on the documents she has reviewed, the Labour whip's office and Parliamentary Service began working with Sharma to address concerns raised about his staff management. He was then asked to work with a mentor, which he objected to.

"Finally agreement was reached at the end of last year. Further issues were later raised by additional staff members including those in his direct employment, This resulted in another pause on hirinig and again coaching, mentoring and temporary staff in the meantime.

"Gaurav again objected to this intervention and the need for his future hiring of staff or undertakings on his part. A protracted process ensued."

She has consistently refused suggestions that bullying is a widespread problem within the party.

She said Sharma's status would be reviewed in December, to allow a chance for a return to caucus if trust with him was able to be restored.

"But in making the decision to suspend, caucus were clear that the team retains the right to revisit the decision at any time if the rules continue to be broken. To be clear, the caucus' decision was squarely focused on actions over the last few days. What gave rise to those actions also deserves some reflection."

Informal caucus meeting last night

As the meeting started this afternoon, Dr Sharma contacted RNZ claiming an earlier meeting involving some Labour MPs was held last night, without his knowledge.

Ardern said the outcome today was not predetermined at a meeting last night. She said one of the issues of misconduct was that Sharma had been sharing the contents of meetings publicly, which meant people felt they were unable to raise questions or discuss issues.

The reason Sharma was not informed of the meeting last night was "because people did not feel they could have an open conversation with him".

The meeting last night was not a formal caucus meeting, she said, and she was also clear there would not be a predetermined outcome.

"Natural justice is very important to our team."

She said she was present at the meeting, which was convened because those present had questions and issues they wished to discuss without the risk of the discussions being shared.

It was not a full caucus meeting because Sharma, for one, was not invited; not all other Labour MPs were present; and the wider Labour party was not present.

"It was an informal opportunity for issues and concerns to be raised in a safe space."

She said there was one other member overseas and the speaker also attended, which was not usual.

"There was only essentially one individual who was unable to make the meeting today. We had everyone else rearrange their diaries for what they considered an important discussion. It is disappointing the member in question did not."

At this stage, the caucus has not referred the matter to the wider party, but the party may choose to address it in a separate process.

Mediation process offers way back in for Gaurav Sharma, Ardern says

She said it was clear that following the Francis review, Parliamentary Service and the Labour whip's team have a duty of care "to the people we engage to support us in Parliament".

"Had the interventions not been made, I believe there could be the chance we would be facing very different accusations and that could include negligence on behalf of staff."

The process was quite long, she admitted, and said she believed it was something that should be improved and was something that had been a cause of frustration for Sharma.

However, she said she had seen nothing to substantiate his claims of bullying and mismanagement.

"It would be unfair to frame genuine efforts around performance management in this way."

The concerns of staff had been "obscured" in recent days but they remained important for her, she said.

"That is why the team were working with Gaurav in the first place. Gaurav has a very different view of what are essentially, though, the same and agreed facts. In my view that requires mediation rather than a determination."

She said caucus had also resolved to a mediation process which would give the opportunity for grievances on either side to be raised.

Full agreement from all parties will be sought on that before proceeding.

Ardern said as an MP who joined Parliament 14 years ago, this kind of support for new MPs had always not been available, although the expectation of MPs has "rightly shifted".

"Labour committed to doing things differently after that report, and we have and I'm proud of that. I expect our MPs to treat people well.

"From my perspective, the decisions taken today is our conclusion to this episode. We have said all we have to say and established a process to resolve past grievances while setting out a path for Gaurav to return to caucus should he wish to."

She said mediation provided him a process for him to continue litigating his concerns should he wish to.

Ardern says it has been frustrating but also disappointing to see MPs talking about themselves rather than focusing on the concerns of New Zealanders. She says caucus is a team, and feels upset by Sharma's actions.

"But they are also a very forgiving group of people. They want to give the opportunity for their team member to form a path back, but they are also very clear the breaches here do constitute serious misconduct.

"There are very real issues facing New Zealanders right now. As government MPs, our full attention should be on responding to those rather than talking about ourselves. That is the very clear view of our caucus and the basis of our decisions today."

More to come...

More to come...