Gaurav Sharma sat at the back of Parliament behind ACT after his expulsion from Labour's caucus on Tuesday morning.
Speaking on her way into the Debating Chamber, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said from Labour's perspective, "this matter is now concluded and resolved".
"The overwhelming sentiment from our caucus was one of sadness, but still, I was humbled by the fact the team still wished him all the best for the future.
Sharma has been expelled from the Labour Party caucus. (Source: 1News)
"We need to be able to trust one another, it was very clear from this decision that trust had been lost."
"I hope now he can focus solely on working with constituents of Hamilton West."
Earlier, 61 MPs voted in favour of expelling Sharma, while one abstained and one voted against.
Ardern noted that Sharma was present and able to vote.
The renegade MP says there were 61 votes in favour of expelling him, one abstention and one vote against. (Source: 1News)
Sharma then left the caucus meeting, informing media of the outcome. During this time, the Labour caucus unanimously voted to refer the matter to the Labour Council "to consider any further disciplinary action".
Ardern said they have not totally ruled out using the electoral integrity law to kick him out of Parliament, "but its not something now that we have had a large focus on".
"There's been other examples in parliament where of course individuals have remained on the cross benches."
As he represents Hamilton West electorate, if he were to leave Parliament it would trigger a by-election.
"I think where possible it's best to avoid [by-elections] because it does cause unnecessary disruption and focus of resource into contest outside of an election cycle, and does come at a cost."
Ardern said a 'buddy MP' from Labour will be assigned to Hamilton West "if there are those who do not feel comfortable approaching Gaurav Sharma".
Sharma said he needed time to think about whether he wanted to stay on as an independent MP.
"The difficult bit was when we were in the room no one really wanted to talk about how we were arrived at that point.
"All want is an independent investigation. Nothing more, nothing less. I haven't said anyone should get fired or heads should roll, all I'm saying is let's look at the facts, black and white."
Labour President Claire Szabó confirmed the matter had been referred and they would be "using Labour’s Procedure for Investigating Alleged Misconduct".
"The first step in our process is for Labour’s New Zealand Council to meet and decide whether or not to investigate this complaint. I will be calling the meeting shortly," Szabó said.
"The sanctions available under Labour's Constitution range from a censure up to expulsion from the party."
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