Labour MP from Hamilton West Dr Gaurav Sharma, can take a pat on his back for putting ethnic minority MPs at the centre stage of New Zealand politics despite risking his own political annihilation.

Rarely would one have encountered an instance of an ethnic MP making a deafening noise by either raking an issue or advocating a cause or even being caught up in controversy in a manner that has forced the rest of the nation – which by default means the mainstream – to take notice of them, despite some having risen to become ministers in the government?

Ethnic MPs in the NZ parliament, for quite a long time, have been considered toothless, voiceless show ponies of political parties, especially those from Asian ethnicities, assumed to be lacking in intent and capabilities to leave any meaningful mark on politics.

Sadly, ethnic MPs are often relegated a notch below the normal backbencher MPs in parliament, as they seem to remain bereft of any powerful and meaningful voice in public life, even if when handpicked occasionally by seemingly cordial and favourably disposed party leadership, to be elevated as ministers in the government.

In this regard, Dr Gaurav Sharma’s latest tirade against the parliamentary services and his own party leadership demolishes that traditional stereotype about ethnic MPs – although not yet clear if this would be for his own betterment or decimation.

Another stereotype that is thrown out of the window in this latest saga is of an MP only being a perpetrator of bullying as it is large and conveniently assumed and not easily acknowledged as a victim of bullying.

Generally, as we all know, backbenchers are the most easily expendable commodities and the first to be thrown under the bus by the leaders of the political parties they represent if the latter’s own position becomes unsustainable.

Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been at her best in not showing the intent to throw Sharma under the bus yet, although refusing to concede any ground about the seemingly wild but not completely incomprehensible charges against the systems and processes within her own caucus, and office.

Sharma, to his credit, has not shown any signs of backing off yet and has instead doubled down on his charges against Labour Party whips and fellow MPs and explicitly laid out his intention to stand for the next election in 2023 and continue to represent his Hamilton West electorate.

In the absence of an investigation – something that Sharma has claimed to have asked for and denied repeatedly – it’s not easy to take sides and believe just one side of the story, even by the most ardent supporters of either Sharma or those in power within the Labour Party. It is also not easy to conclude if there is an element of political hara-kiri.

However, what can be safely concluded from the facts available to the public till now is the undeniable signs of the coming of age of ethnic MPs in the NZ parliament and wider political scene.

Ethnic MPs should not remain confined to the periphery of NZ politics with purely ornamental but no real value, and instead, evolve as real players in politics, even if it occasionally means being an ambitious political operator who is willing not to shy away from stirring the pot.

In that regard, Sharma can be credited with having ticked a few boxes that augur well for the future of ethnic MPs playing a more centre-stage role in NZ politics.

If Sharma fails and goes down unceremoniously, now or later just before the 2023 elections, by being punished and denied a candidacy at the Hamilton West electorate, at least he would be remembered for being someone who did not shy away from stirring the pot.

If he succeeds and successfully defends his case, both within investigations and in the public eye, he will carve a special niche for himself in NZ politics by claiming leadership on issues largely unaddressed and confined to the dark underbelly of the political system – bullying of rookie MPs by organisational structures created by spoken or unspoken collusion between the party bosses, whips, influential politicians and parliamentary services.

Never before a backbencher MP had been so audacious and ambitious in catapulting to the centre stage of politics, rather forcefully, than the more acceptable form of climbing political ladders of cajoling, networking and rubbing shoulders with the more influential political operators.

It remains to be seen if Sharma succeeds in that bold and seemingly outrageous  endeavour or just goes down with a whimper.

Till then, one can sit back and take some satisfaction from the fact of an ethnic MP being at the centre stage of NZ politics, boisterously, rather than timidly.