The Green Party has voted to eject Darleen Tana from parliament under the waka jumping legislation it earlier opposed.
Tana quit the party in July as allegations of migrant abuse at her husband’s bicycle business mounted, but remained in parliament as an independent MP.
In a last-minute press conference at 9:30 pm on Thursday night, Green Party Co-Leader Chlöe Swarbrick confirmed the legislation would be invoked and said she and fellow co-leader Marama Davidson had written to Tana to advise her.
The unanimous vote by 185 Green Party delegates comes in spite of a last-minute attempt by Tana to appeal the process in the courts.
Thursday night‘s decision represents a shift in tone from the party’s position on the legislation, which it teamed up with National in 2020 to attempt to repeal.
Swarbrick said she has written to Speaker Gerry Brownlee and the final decision remains with him.