Cost of investigation into suspended Green MP Darleen Tana reaches $43,000

Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana is currently under investigation.

The ongoing investigation into suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has cost the taxpayer $43,000 and is likely to increase.

A Green Party spokesman confirmed the independent investigation, launched on March 14 and led by barrister Rachel Burt, had used up $43,000 of Parliamentary Service funding available to the Greens’ leaders’ office.

Tana was suspended following allegations of migrant exploitation involving her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s bicycle company. Hoff-Nielsen denied all the exploitation allegations at the time and told the Herald: “This is not a news story, there is no news.”

The investigation has lasted nine weeks and it was unclear when it would conclude.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB this morning, Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick indicated she would have preferred the investigation finished by now. However, she said it was close to being resolved.

She wouldn’t give a specific date on when Burt would report back but said the matter had “progressed quite substantially”.

Swarbrick confirmed the money for the investigation had come from the party’s leaders’ office budget. She was not aware of the exact cost while speaking with Newstalk ZB and did not comment on the figure.

Asked why the investigation hadn’t yet concluded, Swarbrick noted how its terms of reference had been expanded following fresh allegations becoming public through media reporting.

Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick delivers her State of the Planet address in Auckland on Sunday. Photo / Alex Robertson

Swarbrick acknowledged conversations were being had within the party regarding its response to the possible outcomes of the investigation but she wouldn’t elaborate, saying natural justice was the priority.

She stressed Tana was innocent until proven guilty but she recognised the severity of the allegations. Migrant exploitation was a central issue for the Green Party and one its MPs strongly condemned.

“This goes to the core of who we are as Greens so we want to deal with it properly,” Swarbrick told Newstalk ZB.

Last week, Tana passed an unpleasant milestone of being absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year.

Parliament sat for 15 days before her suspension. The end of the most recent sitting block last Thursday marked 15 sitting days since her suspension.

Tana was on full pay while she was suspended and would benefit from a backdated pay increase recommended by the Remuneration Authority, like all other MPs.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.