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THREE KEY FACTS:

• Former\xa0Green MP Darleen Tana\xa0will remain as an independent MP \u201cas long as this place allows me\u201d
• The Greens say Tana misled the party during an inquiry into\xa0claims of migrant exploitation\xa0at her husband\u2019s business
• The Green Party will now consider whether to use the waka-jumping law to try to expel her.

The Green Party will consider this weekend whether to try to force former Green MP Darleen Tana out of Parliament after Tana rejected co-leader Chloe Swarbrick\u2019s request\xa0to resign and confirmed she would stay in Parliament as an independent MP.

Tana returned to Parliament on Tuesday and was declared an independent MP by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, later telling media she intended to stay on.

\u201cI\u2019m here now and doing the mahi ... as long as this place allows me.\u201d

As she finished speaking to reporters, Tana said she needed to get back to the House because she was the \u201conly person there and I don\u2019t have anybody backing me up\u201d.

While the Green Party will decide at its annual conference this weekend whether to invoke the waka jumping law to kick Tana out of Parliament, Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have not ruled out taking Tana into their party if she wants it.

Swarbrick \u2013 who had publicly urged Tana to resign as an MP after a\xa0report on alleged migrant exploitation\xa0at Tana\u2019s husband\u2019s business \u2013 said on Tuesday afternoon she had only heard through the media that Tana intended to stay on.

\u201cOur caucus and party will be taking next steps with this in mind and will have more to say in due course.\u201d

Earlier, Swarbrick had said the party would consider whether to use the waka-jumping law at its annual conference this weekend.

If they did use the waka-jumping law, she said it would not be without sign-off from the wider party.

Swarbrick said a number of party members had expressed frustration about the situation. She said the best option would have been for Tana to resign.

Swarbrick said if the party was \u201cin a situation where we have to explore other options, then we will have those sensitive conversations at our AGM this coming weekend\u201d.

\u201cI can be pretty clear with you that there are a number of members across the country who have reached out to me, incredibly frustrated about the situations and about Darleen Tana\u2019s unwillingness to take responsibility for what\u2019s happened here.\u201d

Former Green list MP Darleen Tana speaking to media at Parliament in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer said they had not yet had any discussions with Tana about joining Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori.

Asked if they would take Tana if she asked, Ngarewa-Packer said that was \u201ca discussion that needs to still happen\u201d.

\u201cWe never leave M\u0101ori behind. We\u2019ve always been open about that. It\u2019s a treacherous place.\u201d

When spoken to by the\xa0Herald\xa0yesterday, Ngarewa-Packer said they had just seen Tana for the first time that day \u201cand mihi to her because there was a camera in her face the whole time. We know what it\u2019s like to be unwanted in that place so we acknowledged her in that place\u201d.

Tana is now seated right at the back of Parliament\u2019s debating chamber \u2013 the area is dubbed \u201cSiberia\u201d \u2013 and her office has been moved out of the Greens\u2019 wing to the Parliamentary Library. She was suspended in March after\xa0allegations of migrant exploitation\xa0involving her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen\u2019s bicycle company.

NZ First leader Winston Peters said the Green Party was reluctant to use the waka-jumping law because it had originally got into Parliament by jumping ship from the Alliance to form the Greens, \u201cso they are caught by their past\u201d.

He said there was no justification for an MP to remain in such circumstances, but noted Tana\u2019s husband\u2019s\xa0bike business was now in liquidation. He asked what was going on with the Greens\u2019 selection processes: \u201cYou\u2019ve got chaos going on here.\u201d

- by Claire Trevett and Julia Gabel, NZ Herald

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