‘She’s a bully’: Details emerge of MP’s run-in with florist
A fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie Anne Genter has surfaced, with a claim she got into a heated exchange with a Wellington florist.
It comes after the Green Party began a disciplinary process into the behaviour of Genter following a confrontation in Parliament on Wednesday night, which has triggered multiple privileges complaints.
Speaking to Newshub last night, the owner of Four Seasons Florist in Wellington, Laura Newcombe, labelled Genter “a bully” after a confrontation last week.
A cycleway was recently installed outside the florist in Newtown, removing car parks outside Newcombe’s store. Genter allegedly stopped by the florist last week and the pair got into a heated exchange about Genter’s advocacy for cycleways, Newshub reported.
“She was very intimidating. She pulled out her phone, she put the phone camera right in my face and I was like, ‘Okay, you need to leave now’, and then she started yelling and screaming over me that I didn’t care about her kids cycling.
“I think that she should just be suspended because even if she says sorry, she’s not sorry because this is how she conducts herself.
“It’s just not acceptable, she doesn’t deserve to be in Parliament,” Newcombe told Newshub.
On the fresh complaint, Green Party co-leader Chlo¨ e Swarbrick told the Herald the party’s leadership had not known about the incident with the florist before yesterday.
She said they had spoken to Genter about it and would not be disputing the story. It would be dealt with as part of the disciplinary process the Greens have begun.
Asked if she had been surprised by it, Swarbrick paused and then said, “I was surprised by the actions of last night [in Parliament]. The position we are in is we have to deal with the facts that are in front of us and we are doing precisely that.”
Asked if Genter had raised the prospect of stepping down, Swarbrick said she would not comment on any private conversations.
She said she had not directly contacted the florist and did not have her contact details. “But I’d be more than willing to.”