Waka-jumping the elephant in the Green Party room

Saturday, 27 July 2024

The Green Party is getting ready for “growing pains” and “deeply uncomfortable” conversations, co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick told members at Christchurch’s Ngā Hau e Wha Marae today, as the party launches into what could be a lengthy debate on how to handle ousted MP Darleen Tana.

While leadership push for a look to the future at the party’s annual conference this weekend, the real question is whether the Greens would use waka-jumping legislation it has fiercely opposed to expel Tana from Parliament. More details will be released on Sunday, but a decision is unlikely to be made this weekend.

At the conference’s outset, Swarbrick gave a rousing speech laying out her aim to get the party back into the Beehive and part of Government.

“I believe that we can and we will lead the government in the not too distant future,” she told party faithful, calling for membership drives.

“It's time to organise. Talk to the people in your family, your neighbours, your workplace, your university, your church, your knitting club, tree planting club and anti-natal class,” she joked.

“If our Green movement belongs to the people, let's really give it to the people. So Green Party, tell me, are you ready?”

The rousing speech wasn’t without acknowledgement the party might have some “growing pains” that might get “deeply uncomfortable”. The party has grappled this year with Golriz Ghahraman’s shoplifting crimes, the sudden death of Efeso Collins, co-leader Marama Davidson’s cancer diagnosis, and a party investigation into Tana.

Tana resigned from the party after an investigation that showed she likely knew her husband’s e-cycle business had been hit with migrant exploitation claims. The party has pleaded with her to resign from Parliament.

“But we need to challenge ourselves to make time and space for new, slow, potentially quite hard conversations, to reach outside of ourselves and to explore where we've never been before,” Swarbrick told the room, alluding to Tana’s break from the party.

“Trust is broken when someone doesn't come through with what they've promised.”

The members murmured in agreement, one saying, “hear, hear”.

“You don't have to be a psychologist to understand that this is why many communities across our country long ago gave up their trust in politics and politicians.

“If we believe that we are different from the other guys, we can't just say it. We've got to prove it.”

A letter was sent to Green Party members before the conference advising them the Tana situation would be discussed on Saturday.

Some believe it to be an opportunity to lay a road map of where the party sits on waka-jumping, following its complicated history with the law. Only years ago the Greens supported National in an unsuccessful attempt to repeal it. Many publicly spoke of concern in supporting a law by a party that sprouted from Alliance.

But others say the current situation will be about dealing with the issue at hand.

“Our membership want to deal with it, but they want to deal with it in the deliberative and participatory way the Green Party has long prided itself upon - so we'll start that process this afternoon,” Swarbrick told reporters afterward.

“I do think that our membership want to address it, and we want to work through it. But I think that it's not where all of our energy is going. Our energy is very much focused on what matters to us, what matters to New Zealanders and the change that we can make with our powers combined.”

Upbeat chatter near food tables laden with vegan spread (pumpkin soup, oat milk options) was intercepted by guarded, hushed conversations between members.

Sentiment coming through from some members highlighted the frustration that issues, such as the environment and poverty, had taken a backseat.

Asked her personal view of using the waka-jumping legislation, Swarbrick would only say, “our caucus has come to the unanimous position that we do not believe that Darleen Tana is fit to be a member of Parliament”.

“The logical consequence of that is a process that our party has to work through. Whether we take responsibility for that.”

On her personal view of the Greens’ values of largely being against the legislation, Swarbrick said, “If you were to really dig into what was said by our former party co leaders, what you'll find is that there was a substantive sense of distrust towards the potential concentration of power in political party leaders

“Were we to be in a situation where the Green Party would even entertain using that legislation, that would not be my decision alone. I'm not an island here. Neither is our caucus, that would only occur with the full endorsement of our party.”