Read about Gaurav Sharma net worth, wife, children, age, height, family, parents, salary, education, party as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Gaurav Sharma is a New Zealand doctor and politician. He has a Bachelor of Medicine, a Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Auckland and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. Elected in 2020, Sharma was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party, representing Hamilton West, but is now an independent. He previously contested the seat in 2017.
Early life
| Name | Gaurav Sharma |
| Net Worth | $1.5 million |
| Occupation | Politician, Doctor |
| Age | 35 years |
| Height | 1.73m |
Gaurav Mrinal Sharma was born in 1987 (age 35 years) in Himachal Pradesh, India. His parents moved to New Zealand when he was 12 years old. Sharma went to Auckland Grammar School where he was the Proxime Accessit (runner-up Dux) in his final year of high school. 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.
Medical career
Gaurav Sharma volunteered as a caregiver in a rest home when he was in high school inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Sharma qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Auckland’s School of Medicine in 2011 where he was also involved with the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association. Sharma undertook an internship with the World Health Organisation in 2012, working within the Non-Communicable Diseases unit.
Sharma returned from Geneva when he practiced medicine in different hospitals across Auckland until 2015. Sharma is registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand under a general scope requiring he practice under supervision in the GPEP training programme. His certificate to practice expired on 31 August 2022.
In 2015, Dr. Gaurav Sharma received the Fulbright Scholarship to complete an MBA at George Washington University in Washington DC, with a specific focus on business, politics and public health. During this time, Sharma was involved on campus in Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the United States Presidency in 2016. He was also a Senator on the George Washington University’s Student Senate during his time there as a student.
Political career
Dr Gaurav Sharma was attracted to the New Zealand Labour Party before joining Phil Goff’s campaign for parliament in 2014. 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 70 on Labour’s party list. He was not successful in winning the seat against the incumbent but increased the Labour Party vote share from 25.57% to 36.61% (an increase of 11.04%) compared to the 2014 results. Following his loss, Sharma practiced as a GP in Hamilton for two years.
Sharma again stood for the Hamilton West electorate in the 2022 election, beating the incumbent National candidate Tim Macindoe by 6,267 votes. Sharma was the first MP to take the Oath of Allegiance in Sanskrit, after first completing it in te Reo Māori. Sharma is also the first MP of Indian origin to represent an electorate for the Labour Party.
Allegations and removal
Dr. Gaurav Sharma wrote an op-ed on August 11, 2022, for The New Zealand Herald newspaper where he alleged widespread bullying within parliament, with specific allegations aimed at party whips, party leadership, and the Parliamentary Service. The following day, Sharma doubled down on these allegations with a lengthy Facebook post detailing specific grievances against Labour Whip Duncan Webb, former Whip Kieran McAnulty, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office.
In response, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero disputed Sharma’s allegations and defended his organization’s work on countering bullying within parliament. Gonzalez-Montero, Webb, and Ardern confirmed that their offices were working with Sharma to resolve an employment dispute in his parliamentary office. The employment matter centered on a former staffer who felt bullied by Sharma; that they were being isolated from other staffers by him and subsequently sought therapy after it. Sharma, however, said that their contract was not extended because of poor employee performance.
Labour Party MPs, including Damien O’Connor, Chris Hipkins, and Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki, questioned Sharma’s claims. However, National Party MPs Matt Doocey, Chris Bishop, and Chris Penk claimed that Sharma’s allegations raised questions about alleged bullying and victimizing within the Labour Party. Following Sharma’s claims, a senior staffer for Labour MP Anna Lorck claimed that she was the victim of bullying.
On 15 August, Ardern confirmed that the Labour Party parliamentary caucus would be holding a special meeting that week to discuss Sharma’s bullying allegations. That same day, Sharma posted further allegations on Facebook about workplace bullying within the Labour Party. Sharma also claimed that he was being silenced after Labour leaders ordered him to raise his concerns with party whips and leaders and to avoid speaking with the media.
In addition, 20 members of Sharma’s Hamilton West electorate committee sent a letter to the Labour Party and Labour parliamentary caucus defending Sharma and calling for an independent investigation into his bullying allegations. Ardern rejected calls by the Hamilton West electorate committee for an independent investigation. The New Zealand Herald also reported that three of Sharma’s staff members had resigned during his first year after raising concerns about him; which allegedly prompted the Parliamentary Service to suspend the hiring of new staff for Sharma’s parliamentary office.
Also in August 2022, the Parliamentary Service rebutted one of Dr Gaurav Sharma’s allegations that another Labour MP and a parliamentary staff member had misspent taxpayer money in August 2021. Gonzalez-Montero responded that the duo had traveled to the MP’s electorate for the purposes of team-building, which he described as a normal procedure for MPs who were establishing a new team within their electorates.
On the evening of 15 August 2022, the Labour Party parliamentary caucus, with the exception of Dr Gaurav Sharma, held a Zoom meeting to discuss his future within the party. Sharma found out about this meeting after “accidentally” receiving a message with a photo of fellow Labour MP Kelvin Davis on Zoom call. Prior to that, Sharma had agreed to attend a special caucus meeting on 16 August 2022 to discuss Sharma’s bullying allegations. After learning about the evening meeting on 15 August, Sharma refused to attend the 16 August meeting and claimed that his fate had been “pre-determined.”
During the special caucus meeting held on 16 August, Labour MPs voted unanimously to suspend Sharma from the party caucus effective immediately until December 2022. While Sharma would remain the Labour MP for Hamilton West, he was excluded from caucus events. Ardern defended Sharma’s suspension, claiming it was an appropriate response to what she described as his “repeated breaches of trust.” Ardern also claimed that Sharma had rejected the party’s offers of coaching, mentoring and temporary staff over the past 18 months. In return, Dr Gaurav Sharma had accused the Labour leadership of ignoring his concerns and gaslighting him.
In an interview with news broadcaster Newshub on 16 August 2022, Dr. Gaurav Sharma revealed a list of five questions he had for Ardern, whom he accused of creating a cover-up culture. In an interview with public broadcaster Radio New Zealand on 17 August, Sharma accused the Prime Minister of lying “every step of the way.” He also claimed he had recorded an hour-long phone conversation with a senior Labour MP, who called him after the 15 August meeting to warn him his fate was sealed and multiple times tell him the decision made by the Labour caucus on 16 August was pre-determined. Asked if he would stay in Parliament if he was expelled from the Labour caucus, Sharma admitted “I haven’t thought this through to that”.
On 19 August 2022, Newshub reported that the Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier had sent a letter to Ardern querying Sharma’s allegations that Labour MPs had been trained to circumvent the Official Information Act 1982. In mid-August, Ardern indicated that Sharma would face a motion to expel him from the Labour Party caucus for breaching party protocol. However, she ruled out using the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018 to expel Sharma from Parliament on the grounds that she did not want to impose an “unnecessary burden” on taxpayers by triggering a by-election. Ardern also refused Sharma’s appeal for an independent inquiry, claiming that his allegations were unfounded. Ardern also indicated that the Party would consider expelling him from the Labour Party.
On 23 August 2022, Ardern confirmed that the Labour caucus had voted to expel Dr. Gaurav Sharma. She added that the caucus had also voted to refer the matter to the New Zealand Council of the Labour Party for them to consider any further disciplinary action. On 24 August, during the election of the new Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe, Sharma used parliamentary privilege to accuse the outgoing Speaker Trevor Mallard of ignoring his concerns about bullying within Labour and reporting his complaint to the Labour Whips’ office. Sharma was halted during his speech by Rurawhe and told to sit down for going off-topic.
Wife
Is Dr. Gaurav Sharma married? The politician is single and not married. He has no ex-wife or children from a previous relationship. However, on 29 August 2022, Sharma published a 4,700-word social media post detailing his complaints about the work performance of three former staff members and accused the Parliamentary Service of fabricating information about him. Sharma also reiterated calls for an independent investigation into his claims. In response to the post, a former staff member accused Sharma of breaching confidentiality rules and bringing back past trauma. As of mid-2022, Dr. Gaurav Sharma is not married.
Gaurav Sharma net worth
How much is Gaurav Sharma worth? Gaurav Sharma’s net worth is estimated at around $1.5 million. His primary source of income is from his career as a politician and doctor. Gaurav Sharma’s salary per month with other career earnings is over $300,000 dollars annually. He is one of the richest and most influential politicians in New Zealand. His successful career has earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. Dr. Gaurav Sharma stands at an appealing height of 1.73m and has a good body weight which suits his personality.