An umbrella group of Green Party members has failed in their bid to delay members from voting on their party list while MP Elizabeth Kerekere is under investigation by the party. Voting will begin on Friday as planned.
Members of the Rainbow Greens, Young Greens, Aotearoa Greens Global, Pasifika Greens, and Inclusive Greens used a relatively new process to call an “urgent member assembly” to try to delay a vote on on the party’s list.
Kerekere’s supporters fear that if the vote begins before the investigation wraps up, it could be the end of her Parliamentary career.
The meeting, which was attended by about 80-90 members was held over Zoom on Thursday evening. The proposal to delay never went to a formal vote. Instead, the Zoom ended with no changes made to the rules after a series of straw polls suggested proposals would not get the 75 per cent support necessary to pass.
The groups proposed an amendment to party rules to delay the ranking of the party’s list of 2023 election candidates until after an investigation into the conduct of Kerekere was concluded.
Party delegates had ranked Kerekere fourth in an indicative party list, the highest placing of any of her colleagues who entered Parliament in 2020 and higher than many senior MPs.
But members, a much wider group then party delegates, have the final say on that list. If they wished, members could drop Kerekere down to a point on the list at which she would be unlikely to make it to Parliament after the election.
Supporters of the change argued that it was unfair to rank the list while a cloud hung over Kerekere, noting that the outcome of the investigation would have an impact on Kerekere’s ranking one way or another and it was unfair for members to vote until it was concluded.
The Party’s chief of staff Robin Campbell and musterer (the Greens’ preferred term for party whip), had been investigating after leaked screenshots of a group chat appeared to show Kerekere calling fellow MP Chlöe Swarbrick a crybaby. Kerekere denies the message was about Swarbrick.
The episode was sparked after Kerekere sent a message that appeared to call Swarbrick a "crybaby" Photo / Parliament TV
The episode started a briefing war with multiple staff telling RNZ that Kerekere could be a bully, whilst Stuff reported tweets from members of the Māori and Rainbow Greens groups saying the RNZ briefings supporting Kerekere and another source saying the affair was “dirty politics”. The Herald has heard from both camps.
Kerekere was not on the Zoom, but her partner Alofa Aiono was. Both Campbell and Logie were also on the Zoom, but left after members had finished asking them questions.
Kerekere’s supporters argued she had been unable to defend herself during the episode, as she had been asked to refrain from comment during the investigation.
Another problem is the fact that September 17, the deadline for submitting the party list to the Electoral Commission, was fast approaching.
Logie was asked to give an indication of the timeframe of her review so that it could be established whether she would wrap up in time for the list ranking vote to take place, however she could not give a timeframe.
Logie was also unable to say what part of the investigation would be shared, because anything that was shared would need the agreement of all parties.
This means that very little of the investigation may see the light of day regardless of whether or not Green members want to see it before voting on their list.
The call dragged on for more than two hours.
Beginning at 6.30, the representatives held a straw poll at about 7.15 to see where people stood.
This poll saw the motion fail - and fall well short of the required 75 per cent majority to pass.
The party used a new voting system where representatives from each province as well as the lived experience groups cast votes.
After the straw poll failed, members discussed possible ways to reach consensus, including a delay to voting opening and allowing some way for Kerekere to speak to membership ahead of the voting.
In the second hour of the Zoom, it emerged that Kerekere had actually been given the opportunity to speak to the party membership but declined because it was thought to be inappropriate.
A Green Party spokesperson clarified the meeting was told Kerekere was unavailable to join the call as she was at a campaign event. They also said Kerekere had not in fact been invited to speak to members as was said at the meeting, rather she was asked if she wanted to provide a statement to members before list ranking opened.
A proposal to delay voting for an unlimited amount of time failed a straw poll, as did a delay for a fortnight failed, as did a delay for a week.
The episode has not placated all concerns. There is frustration that some members did not know the Zoom was taking place, potentially because an email list including all members was not used.
