The party she hitched a ride with doesn’t want her there any more. Nor do other MPs in other parties, judging by Winston Peters and Chris Hipkins both tellingher to quit.
If many others in Parliament feel like them, then turning up to work for the next couple of years could be very bloody awkward for her.
A fair chunk of the voting public probably don’t want her hanging around either, now that they’ve learned of allegations that she repeatedly misled her party, was way more involved in her husband’s business than she claimed and had a confrontation with a former worker that led to police being called.
But if, for whatever reason, Tana decides to stay in Parliament (probably the pay cheque), the Greens should let that be.
They are a party born of defecting MPs. Both Fitzsimons and Donald waka-jumped from the Alliance to form the Greens.
The reason those two legends of the Greens opposed the waka-jumping law is because they did not think it was right for parties to be able to punish MPs simply because those MPs stopped following party orders and became inconvenient.
The modern Greens can hardly then do exactly that: kick Tana out of Parliament for becoming inconvenient to them.
Because that is exactly what she has become. By going independent, she takes away from the Greens some of their parliamentary budget and questions.
It would be much more convenient to them if she just quit, was replaced by the next Green candidate on the list and they got all their goodies back.
It is also very inconvenient to have Tana hanging around like a bad smell, reminding voters of the kinds of characters the Greens drag into the place. Tana the alleged fibber, with the husband accused of migrant exploitation. Golriz Ghahraman the shoplifter. Elizabeth Kerekere the alleged bully. Julie Anne Genter the shouter. Much more convenient for Tana to quit and be forgotten.
Co-leader Chloe Swarbrick and the Greens have the power to kick Darleen Tana out of Parliament - but if they use it, they will be hypocrites, says Heather du Plessis-Allan. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Actually, the Greens were always right to oppose the waka-jumping legislation. We have become so used to the modern way that parliamentary parties whip their MPs into doing exactly what they’re told – especially in New Zealand with its small and controllable Parliament – that we’ve forgotten our history.
That’s not how Westminster democracy started. It used to be that Parliament was made up of elected MPs who were all independents and loyal only to the towns, suburbs and regions that voted them in. As time went on, they grouped themselves into parties but, even then, those arrangements were loose and independent thought was tolerated.
That is gone now. Instead, we pretend that every single MP in a party agrees with every single decision on every single issue and, if they don’t, they swallow their concerns for the good of the party. Somewhere along the line, the good of the party became more important than the good of the voter.
MMP, with its list MPs, made that worse. The waka-jumping legislation – which can be used to punish free thought and dissent – embedded it further.
The Greens were right to oppose that law. It would be a pity for them to use it and give it their blessing.
Tana is not a hero of free and independent thought. She’s just another badly behaved MP we could do without. But whether she leaves is her call.
