Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Darleen Tana launching legal action against their former party

A Green Party meeting's still planned this weekend, despite former MP Darleen Tana taking out an injunction hoping to prevent it.

The meeting was to consider using waka-jumping legislation to expel Tana from Parliament, because they're refusing to resign, despite quitting the Party.

Tana's challenge against the Party will be heard in the Auckland High Court tomorrow.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says it's looking more likely that the Greens will utilise the waka-jumping legislation and boot them out of Parliament. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:03):
Certainty, very so about seeing your political correspondence with us.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Barry, Hello, good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yes, So would you rate the chances of Darlien being
able to stop this with a judicial review in court?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Well, well, she may be able to stop initially the
meeting that's going to take place this weekend. What they
want is a review of the Green's decision. Now that
could take some considerable time if they have to go
through it line by line. But I doubt whether the
court will choose that because it's easy to facilitate the

(00:37):
walker jumping legislation, which is what this weekend meeting was
all about, to give the go ahead to do that
or otherwise.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
But I'll tell you what Chloe's Forbrick was quite.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Clear that it's a proportionality issue and Darlene Tana has
no place in parliament polism.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
What we are talking about is somebody who currently occupies
a seat in our part that was earned by the
three hundred and thirty thousand New Zealanders who voted for
the Green Party at this most recent election. Those New
Zealanders voted for our principles and our values and our policies,
and we very strongly are of the view and our
caucus has taken the unprecedented stance of requesting unanimously the

(01:19):
resignation of Darling Tana on the basis that they have
completely demonstrated and undermining of those very values and principles.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
And my view here, what Darlingana has done by taking
this legal action is ensured that once this is cleared
out of the way, then that walker jumping legislation will
be invoked and she'll be out of parliament.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Barry this little this issue of Chris Luxen saying that
Maori that Ewe leaders did seed sovereignty when they signed
the Treaty of White Thing, he's becoming a bit of
a problem for Remain.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, look, it's been a debate.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's been debated for many years, of course, whether they
did seed sovereignty.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
And I remember them.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
In parliament last week it was under a number of
questions that were asked to them about whether the crown
was sovereign and what he said was that Maori seeded
sovereignty when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi. And if
you look up the meaning of sovereignty, it's the authority
for a state to govern itself. And you know, it's

(02:23):
arguable that the Maldi would argue, and through the Waitangi
Tribunal that they're citing their finding. The Maldi would argue, well,
that's that's the English interpretation, but it's not the Maldi interpretation.
And I think personally, if you go back to eighteen forty,
I think Maori were probably fairly clear that they were

(02:46):
happy enough for the crown to govern the country whilst
they had their own rights of course, to govern their
own territories.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, okay, I mean the difficulty is whether what it
brings us to as a debate about where the parliament
is sovereign right now? And I don't think, I mean,
nobody in Parliament is going to say parliament is not
sovereign right Oh?

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Absolutely, And that is the big issue, isn't it really?

Speaker 1 (03:11):
That you know, he was forced into it and he
reluctantly I remember him saying it that they did seed sovereignty.
And if you look at the interpretation literally, of course
they seeded sovereignty. But that's an argument and it's one
that was proffered by the White Tangy Tribunal because they

(03:32):
said the Irangutara who signed the treaty didn't seed sovereignty.
But don't forget the White Tangi Tribunal is simply an
independent commission of inquiry.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
What DoD He'll be an easy say to Rembooker at
this of parlance forum.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Well, it was quite extraordinary actually because Chris Luxon, as
we know, he's pretty good at engaging with people. He
had gone around all the other Pacific leaders and when
it came to he essentially there was a bit of
banter going on between the two and Albanese said to Luxeen,

(04:09):
are getting into trouble and he said, yeah, getting into trouble.
Responded he responded to that before don't put him into tention.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Pleasant. I don't quite know what Luxan was meaning by that,
but it was.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
The clinch or the clanger that was committed by Albanesi
in a jovial mood. He came up behind the seated
Fiji in prime in the sicific set of any Rambuka
and grabbed him by the shoulders and proclaimed, you're under arrest. Lord,
you're arrest or what on earthy was meaning? God only knows.

(04:43):
I mean at the bee has to city of any
Ramboka because I was there and I was one of
those who was arrested in the first coup.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
I don't know whether that joke should have been made
to a man like Ramboka.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
No, not at all, especially given that all that the
stuff has floated around abound him. Hey, Barry, thank you. You
appreciate it. Very sober, senior political correspondent. For more from
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