GREENS REELING
Third scandal in a year amid questions over what MP told party about worker’s claims
It has been less than a year since former Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere resigned from the party in the middle of bullying allegations, which she denied.
And it has barely been three months since Golriz Ghahraman quit Parliament over allegations of shoplifting, which she pleaded guilty to this week.
Now a third Green MP has a big question mark hanging over her future — Darleen Tana, after migrant exploitation allegations were levelled at her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s e-bike business.
Hoff-Nielsen denied all allegations, which involve unpaid wages, when approached by the Herald yesterday.
He said he had not spoken to the worker at the centre of the allegations, Santiago Latour Palma, “at all”.
Hoff-Nielsen said Palma had worked for him for “mere months”.
“He’s just pumping it up,” he said, insinuating the claims are a cash grab.
The Greens have commissioned an independent review of the allegations and Tana’s management of them from lawyer Rachel Burt. It has no set report-back date but it is likely to take weeks, if not months.
Tana broke her silence yesterday afternoon, saying: “I welcome an investigation and intend to co-operate fully, and I will not be commenting further”.
The Greens have questions to answer beyond Tana. The issue, coming off the back of several scandals involving MPs, has raised questions about the quality of the party’s vetting of potential candidates. There are also questions around whether the caucus needs to be read the riot act over the importance of fronting up to the party hierarchy as soon as an
MP becomes aware of a potential problem.
The worker has complained to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
The Greens first became aware of the allegations on February 1 when Tana told the then-coleaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw about a complaint laid against her husband’s e-bike business with the ERA. Tana once owned the business with her husband but transferred full ownership of it to him in
2019.
She was quietly suspended from her small business portfolio that day, though this was kept secret from the wider caucus and media. On February 9, the Greens discovered a second complaint had been laid with the ERA. This time, they found out from another party, not Tana.
While there has been no decision yet on the truth of the allegations, Tana’s decision to be less than forthcoming about the second allegation was enough of a political transgression for the co-leaders to decide it was right to strip her of the small business portfolio permanently.
In other parties, this might have been notified publicly. The Greens chose not to announce it, but it was incorporated into a reshuffle to reallocate Ghahraman’s portfolios.
There was an expectation Shaw’s impending departure from Parliament would lead to another reshuffle and it might have been easier to allow the new co-leadership team to announce the new, permanent line-up all at once.
Just days after this, on February 14, Tana waxed lyrical about the business in her maiden speech. At this point, the rest of the caucus was aware Tana had been moved out of the small business portfolio but had no idea why.
A month later, on March 14, Stuff approached the Greens with further details about one of the complaints. As a result of those details, Tana was suspended and an investigation began.
The fact she was stood down after this suggests the allegations that went to the Greens yesterday were different, or more serious than whatever went to the party on February 1 and 9. It also raises the question of whether Tana was completely forthcoming with the party last month.
If the ERA inquiry or an independent review of the allegations, and Tana’s management of them, from lawyer Rachel Burt find serious wrongdoing on Tana’s part, she will likely be asked to resign by the party.
The Greens, as they were at pains to point out yesterday, take a hard line on migrant exploitation and have done for years. A party that argues for tougher labour regulation, and higher taxes, cannot be associated with migrant exploitation and the non-payment or underpayment of staff. Should Tana decide to stay on despite the wishes of her party, she could be expelled from caucus, and wait out the next two and a bit years as an independent MP.
With strong denials coming from both Tana and her husband, this may not come to pass, and Tana would be returned to caucus, but damaged.
If it is found she was not forthcoming with the party, her future in the Greens is likely to be irrevocably damaged.
The small mercy for the party is that Chloe Swarbrick seems to have survived her first real test as the new co-leader well: Having a tough conversation with Tana when the allegations emerged on Thursday and deciding to act swiftly with a suspension and an independent review.