Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has labelled the move to use “waka jumping” legislation to oust Darleen Tana from Parliament as “deliberate democracy”.
Swarbrick has fronted media this morning after her party voted last night to use the controversial law to eject Tana.
Swarbrick told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking she could not say with certainty if her opinion on the waka jumping laws had changed.
Listen Live: Swarbrick will speak to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking at 7.05.
The Green Party have been historically vocal about their dislike for the same law they have now opted to use against Tana.
Swarbrick said they did not operate as “the law prescribed” and went “above and beyond” to get the votes of more delegates than what was required.
However, she said everyone should be open to changing their minds when faced with issues like this.
”Everybody should be open to changing their mind when they are presented with complexity or new evidence or new information… that’s humanity.”
She remained anxious the law would be used for MPs taking a principled stance but said this was absolutely not the case with Tana.
Swarbrick called the move to oust the former Green MP “deliberate democracy”.
Swarbrick said she would not speak on behalf of the Speaker, but she said he would “consider the legislation properly” and she was “feeling pretty confident”.
Tana, who currently sits as an independent, had her future decided by party delegates in a late-night “Special General Meeting” Zoom call on Thursday.
All 185 party delegates present at the meeting reached “consensus” to endorse using the legislation against Tana, suggesting the party is far more united on the issue than previously thought.
In a statement yesterday, Green co-leader Swarbrick confirmed the party had endorsed the “potential use of the Electoral Act to remove Darleen Tana as a Member of Parliament”.
However, she repeated a call to Tana to “finally do the right thing” and resign before being forced out.
In order to trigger the legislation, the Greens need to write to the Speaker saying they believe Tana’s defection from the Greens has distorted the proportionality of Parliament. Swarbrick did this shortly after the meeting concluded.
“We have... written to the Speaker outlining that we believe Darleen’s resignation from the party but not from Parliament has affected the proportionality of the House, triggering the next step of the legislation,” Swarbrick said, adding she had also written to Tana outlining the outcome of the meeting.
The meeting brought together several big name Greens, including co-leader Marama Davidson who is currently on leave battling cancer, former MP Kevin Hague, and perhaps most significantly, former co-leader Metiria Turei who has rarely intervened in politics since stepping down from the co-leadership during the 2017 election campaign following a wave of controversy involving benefit fraud.
Speaking to media last night at Parliament following the vote, Swarbrick said she and party members “implored” Tana to resign.
Swarbrick said she was “incredibly encouraged” the party came to a unanimous conclusion when it came to the vote to use the waka-jumping law.
She said there was still the option Tana could simply resign and “absolutely could still choose to do the right thing and preserve some sense of honour”.
“This is not a nice situation. It sucks,” Swarbrick said.
The decision draws to a close months of wrangling that began in March when allegations emerged that Tana was aware of allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business.
Tana quit the party after an investigation found the allegations had merit, but has so far managed to stay on as an MP. Swarbrick and the wider party caucus have called on Tana to resign since July, but to no avail.
At the party’s AGM in July, members resolved to allow members to decide Tana’s fate, however, that process was delayed by Tana taking the Greens to court.
Members decided Tana’s fate by discussing the matter in their branches up and down the country. Those branches then elected delegates who carried the will of each branch to the Special General Meeting on Thursday night. After a short discussion, it was clear that most Greens supported the use of the law to oust Tana.
The decision appears not to have been particularly divisive. A Zoom poll early on in the call suggested that a “consensus” to eject Tana would easily be reached.
From that point, all that was left was for some members to raise objections before the final, formal “consensus” was reached.
Tana has been trying to stop the Greens from ejecting her. She took the Greens to court over the way she was investigated, but the High Court ultimately sided with the Greens. The Greens say Tana has appealed that decision. Tana herself has refused to speak to media about it.
Were Tana to be removed as an MP, the Greens would benefit from a funding boost, which is calculated based on the side of each party’s representation.
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.
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