![]() ![]() The Parliamentary Service rebutted one of Sharma's allegations that another Labour MP and a parliamentary staff member had misspent taxpayer money in August 2021. ![]() Labour Party MPs, including Damien O'Connor, Chris Hipkins, and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki, questioned Sharma's claims. Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero disputed Sharma's allegations and defended his organisation's work on countering bullying within parliament. Responses to allegations Government responses Īs of late October 2022, Sharma had presented little in the way of evidence to back his allegations of bullying and harassment. In the following days and weeks, Sharma continued to publish allegations, such as another Facebook post on 15 August, and a further post of 29 August, in which Sharma published a 4,700 word social media post detailing his complaints with the work performance of three former staff members and accused the Parliamentary Service of fabricating information about him. The next day, he expanded on these allegations with a Facebook post detailing specific grievances against Labour Whip Duncan Webb, former Whip Kieran McAnulty, and the office of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The piece included specific allegations aimed at party whips, party leadership, and the Parliamentary Service. On 11 August 2022, Sharma wrote an opinion piece for The New Zealand Herald newspaper in which he alleged widespread bullying within Parliament. Allegations of bullying within Parliament Roles in parliament Īs well as representing his electorate, Sharma was a member of the Health Select Committee. Sharma was the first MP of Indian origin to represent an electorate for the Labour Party. Sharma was the first MP to take the Oath of Allegiance in Sanskrit, after first completing it in te reo Māori. This time, Sharma won the seat, receiving 52% of the electorate vote. In the 2020 election Sharma again stood for the Hamilton West electorate. Following his loss, Sharma practised as a GP in Hamilton for two years. He did not win a seat he received 31% of the electorate vote compared to the incumbent's 52%. Upon returning from the United States after his MBA, Sharma stood for the Labour Party in the Hamilton West electorate in the 2017 election and was placed 70th on Labour's party list. Sharma worked for Phil Goff's campaign in the 2014 election. Political career Start of career and election to parliament New Zealand Parliament Years He was also a Senator on the George Washington University's Student Senate during his time there as a student. During this time, Sharma was involved on campus in Hillary Clinton's campaign for the United States Presidency in 2016. In 2015, Sharma received the Fulbright Scholarship to complete a MBA at George Washington University in Washington DC, with a specific focus on business, politics and public health. His certificate to practise expired on 31 August 2022. Sharma has been registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand under a general scope requiring he practise under supervision in the GPEP training programme. When he returned from Geneva, Sharma practised medicine in different hospitals across Auckland until 2015. Sharma undertook an internship with the World Health Organization in 2012, working within the Non-Communicable Diseases unit. Sharma qualified as a medical doctor from University of Auckland's School of Medicine in 2011 where he was also involved with the New Zealand Medical Students' Association. Volunteer work as a caregiver in a rest home when he was in high school inspired Sharma to pursue a career in medicine. He has a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Auckland and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. In 2005, The New Zealand Herald named him as one of the top six students in the country as per Sir John Graham's NZ Education and Scholarship Trust. Sharma went to Auckland Grammar School where he was the proxime accessit to the dux in his final year of high school. Sharma was born in Himachal Pradesh, India, and his family moved to New Zealand when he was 12 years old. In December, Sharma contested and lost the 2022 Hamilton West by-election. He announced the formation of the New Zealand Momentum Party, an unregistered political party, in November 2022. He briefly served as an independent, before resigning from Parliament in October 2022. In August 2022, he made allegations of bullying within the Labour Party, and was expelled from its caucus in the same month. Elected in 2020, Sharma was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party, representing the electorate of Hamilton West. Gaurav Mrinal Sharma (born 1987) is a New Zealand doctor and former Member of Parliament. ![]()
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