The co-leaders said they would not use the waka jumping provision to eject Kerekere from Parliament in keeping with the party’s position when the law was passed.
“We have been informed that Dr Kerekere made a number of statements whilst addressing party members tonight that we consider to be untrue.
“We do not intend to address these tonight but will do so over the coming days.”
The development comes after Kerekere spoke to party members in a conference call last night and accused Davidson and Shaw of dragging out an investigation into her behaviour.
In a roughly 10-minute address, Kerekere criticised the weeks-long process and said the co-leaders were making it difficult for her to continue working in the party.
She claimed a fellow MP had purposely leaked the group chat messages and said the Greens’ processes were not well-suited to “bad-faith actors”.
Kerekere told members she had apologised unreservedly to Swarbrick for her remarks and admitted she had been envious of her colleague when she wrote: “Sucks that her bill goes through during list ranking!”
But she said her follow-up comment — “omg what a crybaby” — had been misinterpreted and was meant in a self-deprecatory manner towards herself.
RNZ has been leaked a new screengrab of the group chat conversation which shows one of Kerekere’s initial responses on the night: “I am sorry I wrote down crybaby.”
The comment goes on: “I am jealous Chloe (sic) has a bill going up during list ranking because it’s great timing and I genuinely hope my bill gets pulled tomorrow.”
Speaking last night, Kerekere told members she categorically denied any allegations of bullying.
Kerekere said no one had gone on the record to back their claims and she described that as a breach of natural justice.
Kerekere said she had not been approached by any other party to join them — seemingly a reference to the recent defection of former Labour MP Meka Whaitiri to Te Pāti Māori.
Members were not given the opportunity to ask questions. Kerekere had been invited to speak by the party’s co-convenors Aroha Lowe and Rōpata Moore.
In their Friday night statement, Davidson and Shaw said they had been committed to overseeing an internal review which was fair “to everyone involved”.
“Our first priority as co-leaders of the Green Party is to our kaupapa, values, members, and our caucus.
“On 5 April 2023, Dr Kerekere sent messages to a group of Green Party MPs and staff that appeared to fall short of these values. We were concerned that these messages were not isolated but part of a pattern of behaviour towards staff and caucus colleagues. We requested that a formal caucus process be carried out to consider the matter.
“Before that process could conclude, Dr Kerekere resigned as a Green Party MP and Green Party member.”
RNZ understands Kerekere had engaged the services of employment lawyer Steph Dyhrberg.
Dyhrberg declined to speak to RNZ yesterday. Kerekere has not responded to RNZ’s request for comment.
Members are voting on the final ranking of the Green Party list which will help determine which MPs and candidates make it into Parliament this election.
Kerekere’s supporters last week sought to delay voting, arguing members deserved to know all the facts, but they were unable to garner sufficient support from the membership during a last-minute conference call.
A draft list, devised by delegates, had ranked Kerekere in fourth spot, one place below Swarbrick, but above other senior MPs.
The final list was expected to be published at the end of May.
Kerekere ran for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti Maori electorate at the 2020 general election. It was won by Labour’s Meka Whaitiri with 13,642 votes, with Kerekere third with 2080 votes.
