Last week, we published a story detailing how a Kiwi-Indian candidate from the ruling Labour Party in Hamilton West, Dr Gaurav Sharma, has faced racism as soon as campaigning started. We asked the Prime Minister to respond to the specific questions as below:

While it is indeed appreciable that Labour Party this time, has released a list of candidate “reflecting New Zealand’s diversity”, as noted by Kiwi-Indian Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan earlier, such candidates often are subject to racism while campaigning. The latest case is of Dr Gaurav Sharma who is the Labour candidate from Hamilton West, and was called a “curry candidate” last week. His Labour supporters were told to take down his signs as well.

Q1) Here, what’s the Prime Minister’s message to her candidates who face such racism while campaigning this election season?

Q2) What’s her message to Labour supporters who face such abuse when they support and campaign for candidates from multicultural communities?

Q3) What’s her message to other political parties, as regards to keeping this election free from any racist discourse?

To the above, the PM says, “There is no room for racism either in this election or in New Zealand. New Zealand is a nation of over 200 ethnicities and 160 languages and it’s essential our next Parliament truly represents the diversity of New Zealand as we are.”

“I’m proud Labour has candidates like Dr Gaurav Sharma who is prepared to put his hand up to represent his constituency.”

“As I said at the beginning of the year Labour is focused on running a positive and inclusive campaign. We have fantastic Indian candidates such as Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Baljit Kaur and Dr Sharma who I am hopeful will join our team in Parliament after the election,” she added.

-Gaurav Sharma