Darleen Tana is back, vowing to stay at Parliament

Tuesday, 23 July 2024

Darleen Tana returned to Parliament after quitting the Green Party. Despite calls for her resignation, she plans to stay. The Greens consider using Waka Jumping legislation to remove her.

MP Darleen Tana, who was pushed from the Green Party, is back and vowing to stay at Parliament.

The Green Party still has not heard from Tana, or decided whether to force them from Parliament.

Tana has set up a new office at Parliament.

Ex-Green Darleen Tana is back and vowing to stay at Parliament, while ghosting former colleagues and eschewing blame over migrant worker exploitation allegations.

Tana returned to the debating chamber for the first time since early March on Tuesday, taking their new seat at the back of the House. But Tana, speaking to reporters after leaving the debating chamber, said they did not feel lonely as a lone independent MP.

“My pronouns are they/them, I never walk alone, in fact,” Tana told reporters.

(This was the first time Tana has publicly used the pronoun they/them. During the campaign, Tana was introduced by the Green Party with the pronoun she/her. Stuff asked Tana for clarity if it was best to use the they/them pronoun, Tana responded: “Because I never walk alone. Thank you.”)

Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.

Tana said they were “pleased to be back” and vowed to stay on, for as long as they were able to. They confirmed they had not spoken to the Green Party.

Former Green MP Darleen Tana now sits behind the Green Party in Parliament.

Asked if they had been involved in migrant exploitation, Tana told Stuff: “What I can categorically say is that we have spent so much money, wasting taxpayers hard earned money, to find out I am married to my husband for better or for worse. Thank you very much.”

As Tana took their new seat at the back of the House, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer greeted them with a hongi - but there were no pleasantries between the newly-independent MP and their former party.

Tana has spent the majority of their parliamentary career out of Parliament, first suspended from the Green Party and then laying low amid questions over whether they should resign as an MP.

Tana was suspended from the Green Party in March, when Stuff revealed links with migrant worker exploitation allegations at their husband's bike shop.

The party commissioned an investigation into what Tana knew, and whether they failed the party’s transparency expectations. When that investigation concluded in early July, Tana was pushed from the Green Party - but they remain an MP.

Parliament has Tana listed as an independent MP. On Monday, the office of Speaker Gerry Brownlee said it had not heard any update from Tana.

Stuff understands Tana has moved their office out of the Green Party caucus corridor, and has set up a new office at the Parliamentary Library.

After Tana spoke to reporters, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the party needed time to consider the comments.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer greets Darleen Tana, on return to Parliament.

“We have only just heard through the media that Darleen Tana intends to stay on. Our caucus and party will be taking next steps with this in mind and will have more to say in due course,” she said, in a statement.

Ngarewa-Packer said they hadn’t had any conversations about Tana joining Te Pāti Māori. NZ First leader Winston Peters speculated Tana may join Te Pāti Māori, after the independent MP changed their social media profile to a Toitū Te Tiriti logo - a brand used by Te Pāti Māori.

The Green Party confirmed on Tuesday morning that Tana had not replied to its questions about whether they intended to remain an MP.

Former Green MP Darleen Tana spoke to reporters after appearing in Parliament.

Green MP Lan Pham also said the caucus had not met to discuss whether to use the “waka jumping” rule to force Tana out of Parliament.

“Really, the decision is with Darleen at the moment about how she proceeds,” Pham said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the Green Party would be “justified” to use the waka jumping rule to force Tana out of Parliament.

“The make up of Parliament should reflect the proportion of votes cast at the election,” he said.

Peters also called for the Greens to use the waka jumping rule, a law he pushed for in 2018.

“Here’s the standard case, why there’s a need for the waka hopping legislation, right here, right now. And they’ve got no excuse at all to allow someone to get away with this,” he said.