Greens agree to push Darleen Tana out of Parliament
Thursday, 17 October 2024
The Green Party have voted to enact the waka jumping law to oust former Green MP Darleen Tana from Parliament.
It would be the first time the waka jumping law has been used.
The decision to remove Tana from Parliament now rests with the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee.
Darleen Tana’s days as an MP look to be coming to an end, with her former party - the Greens - agreeing to try and push her out of Parliament.
Tana has been an independent MP since July, after she spent three months suspended from the Green party - following a Stuff investigation revealing links between herself and allegations of migrant worker exploitation.
Since July, the Green Party has agonised and battled over whether to invoke the waka jumping law, a controversial legal power to expel independent MPs who have absconded from their parties.
On Thursday, after a meeting which lasted about two hours, Green Party delegates - who are members of the political group but not MPs - agreed unanimously to use that power.
It is a remarkable decision from the Green Party, given its vocal opposition to the so-called waka jumping law. It also marks the first time, since the law’s creation in 2018, that a party has attempted to use it oust an MP from Parliament.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it was not a decision her party took lightly. She said the delegates, about 185 of them, came to the unanimous agreement after hearing from respected former MPs, including ex co-leader Metiria Turei and MP Kevin Hague.
“We have done our best to act in a principled manner and to weigh everything up and come to the conclusion that we have, and we feel very comfortable with that,” Swarbrick told reporters, gathered at Parliament late on Thursday.
She urged Tana, one last time, resign.
“Finally do the right thing, and resign,” Swarbrick said.
She said there would be an opportunity for Tana to resign, but confirmed she and Marama Davidson - who remains on leave - had written to the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, to start the process of removing Tana.
“She absolutely could choose to do the right thing and preserve some sense of honour in all of this,” Swarbrick said.
But Tana, speaking to Stuff before the meeting, indicated she planned to stay and fight.
Tana said she was heartbroken that her former party was forging ahead with its plan to make her leave Parliament.
“I have done nothing wrong,” she said on Thursday, ahead of the meeting.
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 then launched its own inquiry, which concluded in July and led to Tana leaving the Green Party. Since then, she has remained in Parliament as an independent MP.
Under a law passed in 2018, known as the waka jumping law, political parties can force their ex-members to leave Parliament if they break away from the caucus. It is a controversial power, given fears about quashing dissent and free speech in Parliament. The Green Party had vocally opposed any such law.
The Greens’ use this law will be the first time it has ever been put into action.
Labour chose not to use it against its two rogue MPs, Gaurav Sharma and Meka Whaitiri, last term.
All through the process, Tana has fought to remain an MP. This included writing to members, arguing her case to remain, and launching a challenge at the High Court. When that legal bid failed, she appealed it - going to the Court of Appeal at the start of this week.
She told Stuff she wanted to “clear” her name.
“I am saddened that Green Party members are brought into a situation that asks them to go hard against long-standing policy position on the party hopping legislation,” she said.
She said it was “heart breaking, frankly”, that the party was contemplating using that waka jumping rule against her.