The full cost of the Green Party’s Darleen Tana investigation

Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Green Party MP Darleen Tana has been suspended after Stuff asked questions about her links to alleged migrant exploitation at her husband’s company.

It’s been more than two months since the Green Party suspended Darleen Tana, sending her into political purgatory while a barrister investigates what connection she had to concerns of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business.

Including her purgatory pay and the cost of hiring a barrister, the investigation process has cost almost $75,000.

The breakdown

Tana was suspended in March, after a Stuff investigation raised connections between the MP and migrant exploitation allegations at her husband’s bike shop.

Green co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson moved promptly to suspend the MP, and announced an “independent investigation” to assess what Tana knew of the allegations.

The party said she would remain suspended until the investigation, which barrister Rachel Burt is conducting, is completed.

By the numbers

Tana hasn’t been at Parliament for 68 days.

During that time, she has not been at Parliament - but has been collecting her full pay as an MP.

On Monday, the Green Party confirmed the cost of the nine-week investigation had reached $43,000. That cost could rise, with Burt continuing to investigate the issue.

That money came from the Green Party’s office budget, provided by the Parliamentary Service.

As of Friday, it will have been 10 weeks since Tana was suspended. A backbencher’s fortnightly pay, before tax, is $6306.

As of Friday, Tana’s gross pay would be $31,503.

The Electoral Commission is looking into an election ad placed by Green MP Darleen Tana.

But as well as paying tax, Green MPs tithe at least 10% of their salaries to the Green Party. After tax and tithing, Tana would have received about $20,190.69, assuming she made the minimum 10% donation to the Greens.

In other news

Another issue arose for Tana on Tuesday, with the Electoral Commission and Green Party being alerted to a campaign ad that didn’t carry the required authorisation statement.

Political advertising is required to carry a disclaimer saying who paid for the ad.

The Green Party co-leaders say they want the investigation completed as soon as possible.

The commission confirmed it was looking into the advert, which Tana bought in the Auckland magazine Verve during the 2023 campaign.

“We have received an enquiry, and the Green Party has contacted us, about an election advertisement declared in Darleen Tana’s 2023 candidate return and whether it included a promoter statement as required by the Electoral Act,” Kristina Temel, the commission’s legal and policy manager, said.

What next?

At the start of May, Swarbrick said she was expecting to have the Tana investigation back this month. There is just over a week left until June.

Davidson said the Green Party had been “quite clear” the party wanted the investigation done as soon as possible. However, she said that needed to be balanced with “natural justice processes”.