Labour’s Kieran McAnulty, who has been at the centre of allegations by rogue MP Gaurav Sharma, says bullying claims are "absolutely" not true, describing it as a "sad, sad situation".
When questioned by 1News reporter Sam Kelway in Taupō, Emergency Management Minister and former Chief Whip McAnulty said the claims "have been pretty widely rejected, and I stand by that too".
"At the heart of this is an employment matter and when you're a Whip, you've got staff raising concerns about an MP, you've got to step in."
“These claims have been pretty widely rejected, and I stand by that too,” McAnulty told 1News of Gaurav Sharma’s comments. (Source: 1News)
Sharma has repeatedly accused McAnulty of being a bully. A special caucus meeting is being held by Labour this afternoon.
When asked if the allegations were true, McAnulty said, "not they’re not".
"I think it's become pretty clear over the last few days that that is the case. It is pretty upsetting to be accused of these things, but it's not stacking up.
"I've got the backing of the Prime Minister and the caucus; they recognise that I take claims about the treatment of staff pretty seriously.
"I'm confident I acted entirely appropriately and so too did [now Chief Whip, former Junior Whip] Duncan Webb.
"We've rejected this throughout."
McAnulty said he stands by the way he acted.
"I believe I acted entirely appropriately. I take the issue of staff management incredibly seriously.
He said support is offered to the MP and structures are put in place to look after staff.
"That's all I was doing as Chief Whip."
"The whole thing is just a sad, sad situation."
On Thursday last week, the first-term MP for Hamilton West launched a broadside against what he alleged was a bullying and gaslighting culture within Parliament.
On Friday, the MP published a 2600-word Facebook post detailing more grievances and other allegations about his time in Parliament.
Sharma yesterday posted new allegations on Facebook at the time Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was holding her weekly media conference.
The Labour Party has repeatedly disputed and rejected the allegations levelled by Sharma.
SHARE ME