Independent MP Darleen Tana during Question Time. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Green Party delegates have overwhelmingly decided to use the Waka-Jumping law to eject Darleen Tana from Parliament if she decides not to quit first.
The former Green MP, who currently sits as an independent, had her future decided by party delegates in a late night “Special General Meeting” Zoom 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, Green co-leader Chlöe 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.
Turei carries immense weight in the party and her intervention in favour of using the legislation against Tana appears to have been significant, particularly given she stayed relatively absent from these types of party debates since leaving the co-leadership.
“It’s huge,” Swarbrick said, when asked if Turei’s presence on the call was significant.
“I didn’t know Metiria would be one of those who would choose to speak and that was huge for her to offer those reflections,” Swarbrick said.
Speaking in support of the motion, Turei is understood to have said there were times when an MP needed to be removed based on their behaviour - and not because they had fallen out with the party on a matter of political principle - and that this was one of those times.
“From the outset, we have done all we can to navigate the situation in front of us with our values as the guiding star. I am proud of how we have held true to these throughout this process,” Swarbrick said.
Speaking to media tonight at Parliament following the vote, Swarbrick said she and party members “implored” Darleen Tana to resign.
Swarbrick said she was “incredibly encouraged” the party came to an 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. The meeting took some time to get underway as everyone was admitted to the Zoom call. 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.
The issue is controversial in the Greens, largely because the party has a longstanding history of opposing waka-jumping laws and their use. The dispute has also opened a wound relating to former Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere who also quit the party in exacting circumstances, following a falling out with caucus that divided the wider membership. Kerekere was close to members of the party’s Pacific wing who dramatically quit the party in July.
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.