Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick on ‘probably’ the party’s toughest year

“Forged in fire” has become something of a catchphrase for Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick in 2024.

The well-worn response betrays Swarbrick’s stubborn optimism as she fields variations of the same question: “How tough has 2024 been for the Greens?”

She uses it again as she sits down with the Herald for her end-of-year interview inside the party’s caucus room at Parliament after what has been a torrid and tragic 12 months.

“It’s forged in fire, mate,” Swarbrick says with a defiant grin.

The party was barely afforded any summer break ahead of Parliament’s restart this year when, in January, it was revealed MP Golriz Ghahraman had been caught shoplifting. She later resigned.

In February, tragedy struck with the sudden death of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, triggering a flood of tributes from across the political spectrum.

A tribute to Efeso Collins was arranged on his seat in the House soon after his death. Photo / Hagen Hopkins

In March, MP Darleen Tana was suspended amid an investigation into claims of migrant exploitation at her husband’s bike business – the same month Swarbrick ascended to party co-leader alongside Marama Davidson, replacing James Shaw.

While her ties to the alleged exploitation remained murky, it prompted Tana to split from the party before being kicked out of Parliament after the Greens used the waka-jumping legislation it had previously opposed.

The party lost a wealth of experience when Shaw announced his retirement from politics in May but the Greens’ celebrations of his career were cut short after MP Julie Anne Genter was referred to Parliament’s privileges committee for displaying intimidatory behaviour towards Government minister Matt Doocey in the House that same week.

Finally, in June, Davidson revealed she was beginning treatment for breast cancer and would be stepping back from politics to focus on her recovery.

It left the party’s 15-person caucus with four new MPs joining what was an already refreshed line-up, largely led by the least experienced of the co-leadership pairing in Swarbrick.

She is careful to draw a distinction between misbehaving MPs and the “grief” of losing Collins and Davidson’s cancer diagnosis, but she maintains the party has faced the challenges head-on with its values in mind, not “individual egos”.

“Look, we’ve been confronted with those things, we’ve been confronted with a range of other things and I can tell you, hand on heart, that we have dealt with all of it as best as we humanly and possibly can with our values as our guiding star.”

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick believes the party has learned from its challenges this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Today marks the 25th year of the Green Party in Parliament. Swarbrick doubts the party has ever suffered so much adversity in such a short timeframe.

“All in one year? Probably not. Has any political party?

“I feel really, really good about where our caucus is at.”

While she claims she’s devoid of regrets, Swarbrick says she’s reflected on her party’s trials. As far as political challenges go, Tana’s dismissal and the party’s reversal of its position on the waka-jumping power present as among the most complex.

However, Swarbrick backs the approach she took.

“I was deeply gutted by that situation ... I thought that I knew someone and then it turns out you didn’t and I think that people get that.

“I learned a lot from that experience, but I wouldn’t call it a regret because I think that we did the best that we could with all of the information in front of us.”

Despite Davidson’s diagnosis, Swarbrick said, her co-leader was “always at the end of the phone” and retained an essential role in the functioning of the party.

Swarbrick wasn’t able to speculate when Davidson might return to Parliament, promising an update “in due course”.

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson announcing her breast cancer diagnosis in June. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Looking back at 2024 more broadly, Swarbrick believes the “people power”, exemplified by last month’s nationwide hīkoi that culminated in Parliament’s largest-ever protest, is a central and ongoing theme.

“I think that was the starting point for a tide of change that I think that we’re going to see filter through in 2025.

“I think people are realising that you can’t leave politics to the politicians ... and I think that we’re seeing other manifestations of that in terms of record numbers of select committee submissions.

“This is kind of core to everything that we at the Greens do, is have people realise that politics doesn’t just happen every three years with the general election, it happens every single day with decisions that are made with or without our input.”

Swarbrick, also the Auckland Central MP, cites conversations with her constituents who tell her they voted for the parties within the coalition Government to address the high cost of living, but now opposed policies related to “culture wars”.

“That’s really where it’s fundamentally important that politicians check themselves, a mandate that you get given at the election doesn’t give you the ability to then turn into a mini-dictator and do whatever the hell you want for the next three years.”

Upon her confirmation as co-leader in March, the self-professed “well-researched radical” pledged to lead the Greens to overtake Labour to become the largest left-leaning party, ultimately forming “the nation’s first Green-led Government”.

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick will announce the party's alternative emissions plan on Sunday. Photo / Joe Allison

Polling since March suggested the Greens weren’t eating into Labour’s dominance in any significant way. The party’s support has varied between 9% and 14%.

“Look, there’s a reason that whenever I’m asked about polls, I say that it feels like reading the tea leaves,” Swarbrick begins.

She talks of her own campaign in Auckland Central overcoming the odds in 2020 to win amid Labour’s so-called red wave. Swarbrick also claims there’s plenty of time before the 2026 election.

“I think what you’ll see in 2025 is a Green Party that is actively working with and building trust in communities, including those that are historically, potentially those that people might not assume that we would have those relationships with and you will see us slowly start to build power.”

Swarbrick’s references her efforts to speak to coal miners in the West Coast as the Government reverses the oil and gas ban, a policy the Green Party has spent much of its focus on opposing.

The party is set to release its alternative emissions reduction plan tomorrow, which Swarbrick promises will outline sector by sector how she would address the country’s emissions.

“I think the New Zealand public will continue to see from the Green Party that we’re the guys who have the clear plan for how we can transform this economy into something that works for people and planet.”

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.