Former Elizabeth Kerekere staffer working for Darleen Tana

Former Green list MP Darleen Tana in their seat at the back of the debating chamber, known as Siberia. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A former staffer for ex-Green turned independent MP Elizabeth Kerekere has come to work for Darleen Tana, who entered Parliament on the Green list but now sits as an independent MP after dramatically quitting the party.

The move comes as the Green Party debates whether to use the waka-jumping rule to boot Tana from Parliament altogether. The staffing decision will do nothing to dispel concerns among some Green members that Kerekere is working behind the scenes to help Tana, who uses they/them pronouns, in their battle with the Greens. Kerekere dramatically fell out with the Greens and the MP who is now the party’s co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, last year.

The staffer stuck with Kerekere after she left the Greens and was thanked in Kerekere’s valedictory. Tana’s staff stand to benefit should the Greens use the waka jumping law. Parliament’s standard staff contract would entitle them to a payout equivalent to 12 weeks’ pay.

At the Greens’ AGM last month, Kerekere’s wife, Alofa Aiono, was among three members who dramatically quit the party, citing the way it had responded to the death of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins. A letter expressing the reasons for that falling out alleged Tana’s treatment by the Greens had been “appalling” and that the party had smeared “Darleen’s character, integrity and mana”.

“We cannot watch another wāhine Māori be cannibalised by this party without voicing our condemnation of the choices and decisions made by the party’s leadership,” the letter said.

Tana quit the party after an independent review found they had been aware of allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business and not told the Greens, as they are required to do under the party’s candidate code of conduct. It also found that at times Tana had a deep level of involvement in the business.

At the party’s AGM, members decided to debate using the waka-jumping law to boot Tana from Parliament, allowing the Greens to take on an additional MP.

The Greens have been tight-lipped when asked whether the debate over waka-jumping Tana is being used as a proxy for unresolved feelings over Kerekere. On September 1, party delegates will come together to decide whether or not to trigger the law. A consensus of those delegates or 75 per cent support is required for the motion to pass. Green Party branches are currently selecting their delegates and deciding how to vote.

Tana, and the staffer, declined to comment for this story. Kerekere did not respond to requests for comment.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.