Unclear when Green MP Benjamin Doyle will return to Parliament

Sunday, 6 April 2025

Greens Co-Leader Marama Davidson says the Green Party have been receiving an 'immense' number of death threats and abuse against Green MP Benjamin Doyle.

The Green Party won’t say when MP Benjamin Doyle will return to work, having spent last week away from Parliament after facing death threats over deleted social media posts.

Parliamentary security said it had been working closely with police over the threats, which came after figures, including deputy prime minister Winston Peters, shared posts that Doyle ‒ who uses they/them pronouns ‒ made on an Instagram account called “biblebeltbussy” prior to becoming an MP.

Peters raised the prospect of a police investigation over the posts, some of which featured Doyle’s child, while Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick called for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to step in and censure Peters.

Green MP Benjamin Doyle was not at Parliament this week. (File photo)

The House is sitting for the last of a three-week block before breaking until early May, but the Greens did not want to to publicise Doyle’s whereabouts days in advance, given the threats.

The breakdown

Doyle has only been an MP since October, when they replaced Darleen Tana, who was kicked out of Parliament after falling out the Greens following Stuff revealing her links with allegations of migrant worker exploitation at her husband’s e-bike shop.

Even though Doyle stood for Hamilton West in the 2023 general election, they were also ranked 18th on the Green Party list, so unlikely to enter Parliament this far into the term.

Greens co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick on Monday, issuing a statement regarding internet conspiracies and death threats against fellow Green MP Benjamin Doyle.

They have not spoken out about the posts, or the effect of the scrutiny arising from them.

Police would not confirm if they had made any arrests related to the threats, or give any update on its investigation. A spokesperson said this was for privacy reasons.

Doyle has an professional Instagram account, @benjamin4Kirikiriroa, but prior to becoming an MP used the account @biblebeltbussy. Bussy is reported to be a portmanteau of “boy” and “pussy” used within the LGBTQI+ community. A post showing images including Doyle’s child had the caption “bussy galore”.

Swarbrick said last week Peters had “decided to double down on disinformation, fanning the flames of hatred towards the rainbow community that we have recently seen can lead to real world violence”.