Chloe Swarbrick: Green Party co-leader on the Darleen Tana investigation

Chloe Swarbrick says they'll continue asking Darlene Tana to resign from Parliament.  

The request was made yesterday after the party received the investigation into alleged migrant exploitation at her husband's business.  

Tana's been suspended on full pay for 115-days.  

She doesn't accept the findings, claiming it substantially misrepresents her level of involvement in her husband's business. 

Tana's resigned from the party but not yet parliament.  

Swarbrick told Andrew Dickens that if Tana believes in the principles the party was elected on, she needs to recognise the bigger picture.  

She says New Zealand voters expect the Green Party to be entitled to the 15 seats it won at the election.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Darling, Tana. The Green Party has asked Darlene to resign
from Parliament following their report into allegations of migrant exploitation
at her husband's E Byke company. Neither the report or
the summary has been released. Darlene has resigned from the
Green Party but remains an MP and does not accept
the findings of the report. She thinks a predetermined view

(00:21):
have been formed before her opportunity to speak. So I'm
joined now by Green Party co leader Choe Swarbrick. Good morning, Chloe.
Have you heard from Darlene? Haven't I not?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Overnight? No, But again we would continue to push that
very clear request to her to please resign. There is,
I think in everybody's interest here a very clear outcome
which looks like minimizing any more harm or collateral damage
or unnecessary tip for tat in the public arena, which
looks like a partway of the escalation, and effectively her

(00:56):
accepting the unanimous decision.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Of our caucus while saying anything.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Look, I understand that media have been asking her to engage,
and she issued a press release as of about five
thirty or so last night. But again, look, you know
we have also as the Green Party been clear that
our preference is for as quickly as possible fulsome release
forever as much information in that report as is possible.

(01:24):
And given that she's now in a position where she
is stating publicly that she rejects that, well, she can
potentially offer her consent for the release of that report.
Being one of the named.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Parties, we asked her to talk to us. She said no,
now here's a question for you. Why will you not
reveal the total cost of this investigation.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
It's actually not a decision for me. That Sits was
effectively the party executive, what we call our cony head.
So as I believe the party has advised the media
last night, of course, there is a lot of internal
discussion that has to happen off the back of this report,
so it will kind of you know, all details will
bear reviewed and due course. But the further point that
I'd make as well is that for all Green Party

(02:04):
members who may be tuned into news storkseed bit here otherwise,
that we of course will have the opportunity to folsomly
discuss this and I remain available to all party members
for our AHM and christ Church.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
We found the Green Party spokesperson in charge of actually
this issue all over the place last night who told
us that the party has obligations to report financial statements
to members at the end of the financial year. So
was that spokesperson basically saying to us that we're not
going to find this out until March they first next year.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, i'd say that, Look, we've been really transparent about
the payment of this report when it came from the
Green Leader's office, ie from parliamentary funds, which is we've
also discussed and I've discussed on the show when it
was Mike is something which of course is of due
public scrutiny for immediate release. But what we're talking about
now is when the burden of the cost of that

(02:54):
investigation transferred onto the parliament, onto the political party, not
to be confused with the parliament Tree Party, then you
know it kind of entered into a realm whereby there
was that accountability directly to members because that's where the
payment is coming from, the general funds of the political party.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Well, that's how we know that you'd spend forty three
thousand dollars, because that was six weeks ago, and that's
because you told Mike you are the leader of the party,
co leader of the party. You must know the number.
You must be able to make the decision to know
that it would be in your and your benefit to
actually reveal it.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, I start with the exact same premise pay out
to that last question was, which is as this investigation
was initiated, it sat within our parliamentary office. And therefore,
as I said on the show with Mike, I absolutely
hold accountability for transparent release of that information as soon
and as humanly possible. But at the point at which

(03:47):
the burdens for paying the cost of that investigation transfers
to the political party, and therefore the responsibility is to
our members in terms of the use of our funds
of that party. Then those conversations this internally within the
party because it is no longer public funds being used.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
All right, So we'll wait for match thirty first. Now, look,
you use the phrase that Darlene Tana was not forthright
with you or the party. Are you saying she lied
to you?

Speaker 2 (04:13):
I'm review people's chams.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Yes, good, Well, if she didn't lie to you, of
course you could have saved your party in all of
us one hundred and fourteen days of bad headlines. But
she did, and now here we how we now and
now here we are? But why don't you release a
report so we can find out how she lied to you.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Well as as the city drew. I'm completely keen to
release the report and have given my consent as far
as i am. Potentially one of those named parties is
other people involved with in the Greens. So look, we
have said that our immediate preference is for release of
that report, but we have to continue following good process here,
which means upholding privacy law and consulting with all of

(04:52):
the named parties, which, by the way, and not just
those to the subject to allegations, even if.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
The delays, even if the delays damaged the party's reputation
amongst the public.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
This is why I'm talking to you on the show
right now. I'm giving you absolutely everything that I've got.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Andrew Okay on our bizarre electoral system. Surely, as a
list MP representing the proportionality of the Green vote, she's
lost her mandate as soon as she withdrew the party's support.
Do you agree?

Speaker 2 (05:20):
It would absolutely be our argument. We had thousands of
Green Party volunteers who poured their hearts and souls into
our campaign over between twenty three election and managed to
convince over three hundred thousand New Zealanders to put their
faith in their trusts and our policies, our values and
our principles, which we've been clear we believe Darlene Tana
has betrayed. So to that effect, I think New Zealand

(05:41):
voters can expect that the Green Party is entitled to
those fifteen seats that we won at the election. And
as I kind of said at the stand up yesterday,
you know, the Green Party has long held that no
one person can change the world. Of the opposite of
that is that no one person is more important than
the co pupper then the projects that we're all involved
in here to try and make the world a better place.

(06:01):
So that's why we continue to make it really clear
to Darling Tanner the best thing that she can possibly
do here if she says that she believes in the
principles that all of us campaigned on and we're elected upon,
then it's time to recognize the bigger picture here.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, she swore her allegiance to you and her party.
She also swore her allegiance to the Speaker of the
House and that's what she's holding on to. Does that
therefore mean that our electoral system needs to change.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
I'm sure that there will be a fast night of
people for myself, constitutional lawyers and others who can offer
more technical reckons on this in the days and the
weeks to come. But yeah, look, we've been clear. That's
as far as we can kind of see and is
where we stand, crystal clear in the findings of that report.
Darling Tanma is not to be a Green padding MP,
but more so than that, a member of Parliament. And look,

(06:49):
I take absolutely no pleasure and no joy in that.
And as I just said Beforety Andrew, I am not
interested in this tip ftat all. Things continuing to play
out in the media. Everybody's best interested to escalate here
and for Darlining to resign.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
And she is a liar.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
But I've said that she was not upfront with myself
and Madama and as many in the media have kind
of put it back to me, does that constitute lying?
I've told you, Yes, it does.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yes, it does. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,
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