Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Labour MP Anna Lorck accused of being bully working 'to be better MP'

Michael  Neilson
By Michael Neilson
Senior political reporter, NZ Herald·NZ Herald·
19 Sep, 2022 11:19 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Labour MP Anna Lorck. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour MP Anna Lorck. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour MP Anna Lorck says she is working on "how I can work to be a better MP" after two separate allegations that she bullied staff.

Last month, a senior staffer claimed her former boss was "demanding" and "erratic" and gave her menial tasks while she was working as her executive assistant.

Another staffer then told Stuff he was allegedly "publicly scolded" and denigrated on other occasions by Lorck during a six-month stint working for the MP before quitting.

Speaking to media today, Lorck said she was now working with a "professional leadership coach".

"Together we are working on how I can work to be a better MP.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Everyone is different. And we all have strengths. And one of my strengths is I am a hard worker.

"I'm making sure that I do the work that's needed on me to be best MP I can possibly be."

Lorck refused to answer any further questions about the allegations nor her handling of them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She previously said she was "devastated" to hear how the staffer felt after he finished working for her "and I hope he's doing better now".

"I hand on heart feel I went out of my way to support him as I was concerned about his wellbeing during what was a difficult period of his employment.

"During his time working at Parliament, the Parliamentary Service, Labour whips and I were all involved in extensive support to help him in his job, alongside his union."

She claimed he did not raise a complaint during his employment.

Acting Prime Minister Grant Robertson said Lorck's leadership support came about not through an "investigation" but "conversations" between her and party whips.

"She's identified herself that she needs to work on her management style.

"It occurred in conversations between the lead party whips and it was important that she was able to address some of the issues that had been raised.

"This is a high-pressure work environment, but that never excuses poor behaviour.

"In the case of Anna... she's recognised she's got a particular management style that she knows she needs to work on.

"She's a person who's very energetic, very enthusiastic, and perhaps sometimes that comes across poorly, isn't always appreciated, but she's working on that."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The ex-staffer behind the latest allegation said he was offered support by Parliamentary Service, including counselling and professional development.

Parliamentary Service has said it does not comment on the details of employment matters.

Lorck has been the Tukituki MP since the 2020 election, where she defeated National's Lawrence Yule by 1590 votes.

It comes just weeks after the Labour caucus voted to expel Dr Gaurav Sharma, who will now sit in Parliament as an independent MP.

Sharma had alleged bullying within his own party, before being accused of it himself by a former staffer. He continued to publicly criticise the Labour Party until he was expelled.

National MP Sam Uffindell was also stood down last month after allegations of his past behaviour - including violence - surfaced.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Yesterday he was reinstated as a MP after the party said an independent investigation found allegations levelled against him in his university years were not as reported in media.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after CHB crash

Hawkes Bay Today

'Adverse outcome': Woman ends up in wheelchair after surgery goes wrong

Hawkes Bay Today

Whitebait season kicks off under sunny skies in Hawke's Bay


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after CHB crash
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after CHB crash

A single-vehicle crash happened near Tikokino soon after midday on Sunday.

01 Sep 05:13 AM
'Adverse outcome': Woman ends up in wheelchair after surgery goes wrong
Hawkes Bay Today

'Adverse outcome': Woman ends up in wheelchair after surgery goes wrong

01 Sep 04:00 AM
Whitebait season kicks off under sunny skies in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Whitebait season kicks off under sunny skies in Hawke's Bay

01 Sep 01:10 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP