The fallout following explosive bullying allegations from Labour backbencher Dr Gaurav Sharma continues with revelations he faced complaints against him from his own staff.
At lunchtime on Thursday, Dr Sharma accepted a petition at Parliament calling for the Russian Ambassador to New Zealand to be expelled.
"Thank you for the work you're doing in raising these concerns and voices," he told those who turned up for the handover.
But hours later. it was Dr Sharma raising concerns with bombshell bullying allegations against his own party in an opinion piece on the NZ Herald website.
He wrote that voters would be appalled if they saw even half of what MPs bear in terms of harassment inside Parliament and that the stories of MPs being bullied with zero consequences "would easily fill a book or two".
"I've never seen it. We're a great whanau," Labour minister Willie Jackson said on Thursday evening, while minister Andrew Little also denied there are bullies in Labour.
Newshub now understands it's Dr Sharma who's had complaints made against him by his own staff, though he hasn't responded to requests for comment.
"This relates to an employment matter within his office where we've sought to find resolution which hasn't always been welcomed," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday.
Labour chief whip Duncan Webb was called in to help manage the situation, including putting a hiring freeze in Dr Sharma's office.
But Newshub understands Dr Sharma maintains he's done nothing wrong - he instead claimed Webb threatened and gaslit him during the process.
In a statement, Webb said his office had become aware of issues between Dr Sharma and some of his staff a year ago and that his office acted in good faith to ensure he had support.
Webb revealed that he and Parliamentary staff had even met with Dr Sharma on Thursday.
That's the same day the Labour backbencher launched his attack.
"I've seen no evidence of what has been framed as bullying, but rather attempts to create a constructive, long-term solution to this problem," Ardern said.
Putting out fires within her own party is not the way the Prime Minister will have wanted to end this week.
It will be infuriating to the Labour caucus that Dr Sharma's somehow managed to steal the bullying spotlight from National on what should have been its nightmare week.
