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Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Chris Lynch: Green Party faces pressure to release investigation report on Darleen Tana


The Green Party has called for Darleen Tana’s resignation from Parliament following the conclusion of an independent investigation into her conduct.

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said, “Darleen’s conduct has fallen far short of the expectations Marama and I have of our caucus, and of the values the Green Party upholds.”

The request came after the Green Party Caucus reviewed the investigation report, received on Friday, 5 July. Swarbrick said,

“Following a careful reading of the report, it is clear to us that Darleen’s actions are completely at odds with our party’s values, policies, and kaupapa.”

Tana has been suspended on full pay since March, after a series of allegations of migrant exploitation against her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s bicycle company.

The claims include text messages Tana told a migrant worker he could continue working in her husband’s bike shop despite that being a breach of his visa conditions.

Other migrant workers complained of unpaid wages, with Tana still being involved in related decisions despite her resignation as a director and shareholder in 2019.

In line with the Party’s commitment to natural justice and collective decision-making, Darleen was invited to an urgent caucus meeting on Saturday, 6 July, to present her perspective alongside her lawyer and an additional support person.

“Darleen spoke to the Caucus and was given the opportunity to answer questions from MPs. She then left the meeting to allow her colleagues to consider the report’s findings.”

The Caucus was unanimous in agreeing to request her resignation from Parliament.

Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson expressed deep disappointment in Tana; “We are deeply disappointed that Darleen Tana has not been forthcoming about very serious breaches of Green Party kaupapa, and has not acknowledged nor taken accountability for the impact of her behaviour on others.”

Davidson added, “We have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the Green Party kaupapa. All our MPs agree to our collective values and standards, and Darleen has clearly fallen short of them.”

Swarbrick said “our preference as Co-Leaders has always been for full transparency and the release of the report, but we also recognize the need to follow good practice around privacy law.” The Party has contacted all parties named in the Executive Summary of the report regarding their privacy interests, with the intention of releasing the summary as soon as practicably possible.

Responding to a Green Party announcement that Darleen Tana has been asked to resign, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: “Public funds were used to pay for the report, and so the public have a right to see what’s in it. It’s as simple as that.

“Taxpayers have also been on the hook for Tana’s salary to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars as this investigation dragged on for month after month. The public need to know why the facts took so long to dig up, so taxpayers’ money won’t be wasted like this again.

“Ms Swarbrick claims the Greens punch well above their weight in holding the powerful to account. Now’s their chance to put their money where their mouth is and let the public hold them accountable.”

Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. Chris blogs at Chris Lynch Media - where this article was sourced.

4 comments:

Bill T said...

The report was paid for by tax payers. We know she committed or was party to tax fraud.

So send the report to the police and she will face a criminal sentence thus out of parliament.

Done and dusted. Luxon needs to get the speaker to demand this already admitted crime be brought to account.

Anonymous said...

The dissonance Swarbrick must feel....we really want to keep Tana, she is showing the perfect qualities for a green party candidate but the general public have found us out this time so I've been told to say that Tana is wrong and we need her to stand down!

Only a couple of months ago the greens were saying Tana was perfect to run for co leader......turns out she was!

Let's place bets as to who will snap her up first , Maori party or Labour? She's perfect for these parties also!

Valid Point said...

I agree with Mr Ross' reasonable request, but it won't happen. The Greens have proved time and time again that they are morally bankrupt. They also have form obfuscating and creating delays to make the dirty washing disappear. The irony of positioning your Party as beyond reproach, though, and yet being the Party with consistent criminal activity is amusing.

Tom Logan said...

And lets not forget that Marama Davidson made allegations of assault to the police earlier this year which depite hundreds of potential witnesses could not be substantiated.

Nor should we forget Mr Shaw's imaginative resume including academic qualifications and workplace experience he never had.

The Greens are just rotten to the core.

And since Green politics are now main stream thety are as politically relevant as the Suffragette movement or the Halt All Racist Tours movement.

Perhaps they can rebrand themselves as the NZ Socalist Party, which would be far more accurate.

Or the NZ branch of Hamas. They seem to like singing their songs and wearing their headgear so much.