Andrew Geddis: Otago University law professor on whether the Greens will use waka-jumping to expel Darleen Tana

THREE KEY FACTS:

• Former Green MP Darleen Tana will remain as an independent MP “as long as this place allows me”
• The Greens say Tana misled the party during an inquiry into claims of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business
• The Green Party will now consider whether to use the waka-jumping law to try to expel her.

The Green Party will consider this weekend whether to try to force former Green MP Darleen Tana out of Parliament after Tana rejected co-leader Chloe Swarbrick’s request to resign and confirmed she would stay in Parliament as an independent MP.

Tana returned to Parliament on Tuesday and was declared an independent MP by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, later telling media she intended to stay on.

“I’m here now and doing the mahi ... as long as this place allows me.”

As she finished speaking to reporters, Tana said she needed to get back to the House because she was the “only person there and I don’t have anybody backing me up”.

While the Green Party will decide at its annual conference this weekend whether to invoke the waka jumping law to kick Tana out of Parliament, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have not ruled out taking Tana into their party if she wants it.

Swarbrick – who had publicly urged Tana to resign as an MP after a report on alleged migrant exploitation at Tana’s husband’s business – said on Tuesday afternoon she had only heard through the media that Tana intended 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.”

Earlier, Swarbrick had said the party would consider whether to use the waka-jumping law at its annual conference this weekend.

If they did use the waka-jumping law, she said it would not be without sign-off from the wider party.

Swarbrick said a number of party members had expressed frustration about the situation. She said the best option would have been for Tana to resign.

Swarbrick said if the party was “in a situation where we have to explore other options, then we will have those sensitive conversations at our AGM this coming weekend”.

“I can be pretty clear with you that there are a number of members across the country who have reached out to me, incredibly frustrated about the situations and about Darleen Tana’s unwillingness to take responsibility for what’s happened here.”

Former Green list MP Darleen Tana speaking to media at Parliament in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer said they had not yet had any discussions with Tana about joining Te Pāti Māori.

Asked if they would take Tana if she asked, Ngarewa-Packer said that was “a discussion that needs to still happen”.

“We never leave Māori behind. We’ve always been open about that. It’s a treacherous place.”

When spoken to by the Herald yesterday, Ngarewa-Packer said they had just seen Tana for the first time that day “and mihi to her because there was a camera in her face the whole time. We know what it’s like to be unwanted in that place so we acknowledged her in that place”.

Tana is now seated right at the back of Parliament’s debating chamber – the area is dubbed “Siberia” – and her office has been moved out of the Greens’ wing to the Parliamentary Library. She was suspended in March after allegations of migrant exploitation involving her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s bicycle company.

NZ First leader Winston Peters said the Green Party was reluctant to use the waka-jumping law because it had originally got into Parl

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The dialing town of Circus, of course, rolled back into
the Capitol yesterday, the question being whether the Greens will
stop moaning about and not resigning and actually pull the
trigger on the Walker jumping law. University of a Tiger
law professor Andrew Getters with us on this Andrew morning to.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
You, Yeah, good morning, mind.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Is the law itself clean, clear and usable if you
wanted to?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yeah, that pretty much is. Because she's down an independent MP.
That means the Greens have lost a member of Parliament.
That's distorted proportionality, which is the trigger for the party
hopping law. So if the Greens wanted to use the
power they could. There's a process they'd have to follow
within caucus, like caucus would have to agree to the
leader using the law. But it's clear that they can

(00:38):
do it if they want to.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
What's their objection, Well, their objection.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Is a political one, right. They even though they sort
of voted to bring this in, they only did so
because You'll first basically forced them to in the previous coalition.
They really don't like the law. They've spoken against it,
they said it's bad law. They've actually said in the
Select Committee report they will never use it. So if
they do use it now they're open to, you know,
claims of hypocrisy.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well I understand, yeah, that's the political argument. But from
Lee what I mean, Seymour argues the same thing, and
I just don't understand it. What if you lose somebody
from your party because they're a fraud or a corner
or whatever, what's to object about?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Well, I mean that's why the law was brought in.
There's thing is, every time someone's left their party since
it was brought in back in twenty eighteen, they've just
been allowed to stay there. So Labour allowed garrav Scheimer
to stay, National allowed Jamie Lee Ross to stay, The
Green's allowed Elizabeth Kerry Tree to stay. Because the perceived
political problem in using the law and drawing attention to
the you know this recalcitrant MP and so on, it's

(01:39):
considered greater than just leaving them there to belinger on
the backbenches.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Does it make any difference whether their list or electorate.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
No, the only difference would be that if an electorate
MP is party hopped out, they get to run again
in a by election. Will a list MP degree just
get another MP straight in?

Speaker 1 (01:55):
But as I mean, like my head's exploding. So she
wasn't voted for. She's on a list, somebody else selected her.
She doesn't represent anybody, and yet she can do what
she did and then just sit in the library for
two and a half years doing god knows what and
that's somehow normal or acceptable.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, it's not acceptable, it's wrong. She should resign. Yeah,
the Greens, I think if they use the power, I
mean I think this would be one of those situations
where the power is justified. The exactly problem is. The
problem is though they said this is a terrible law
that should ever be used.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
But it's not.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
They do use it, but it's not Oh no, well okay,
so sure, But from the Greens perspective, it is the
Greens would say that this is a bad law that
could be abused and shouldn't be on the statute books.
And even if in this case it would be okay
to use it, you shouldn't use a bad law. I mean, okay,
I'm putting word into their mouths now, that would be
the argument them. Even if this use is okay, the

(02:50):
law itself is so bad you shouldn't use it.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Would you use it? It strikes me as a very
simple piece of law that solves the problem potentially if
you have a problem.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, well, I see my problem is one of the
ones who said it probably shouldn't have been on the
sketchue books from the first place. I'd be in the same.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Populap But are you now proven wrong.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Putting hipocrisy aside? In this case? I see no reason
why Darling Towner should still be in Parliament.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Exactly all right, Nice to talk to you, Mite, Andrew Getnis,
University of a Tiger law professors. For more from the
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