Darleen Tana’s lawyer urges Greens to delay action pending appeal

Sharyn Green, the lawyer for Darleen Tana, is urging the Green Party to delay invoking the waka-jumping legislation until her pending appeal is resolved.

Earlier this week party membership unanimously decided to initiate the process to remove her from Parliament, citing allegations linked to migrant exploitation at her husband’s business.

Tana disputes her ousting, arguing she was pushed out rather than voluntarily resigning, and prefers the party to wait for the Court of Appeal’s decision.

“She was contesting that she was ousted from the Green Party by her own hand, that she was pushed, and that was the claim that was made before the High Court, that she was unlawfully pushed out of the Green Party,” Green told state media.

“So if you accept that that is an issue, whether she was pushed out of the Greens or whether she resigned, as has been reported, then I would have thought as a lawyer and Ms Tana obviously thinks as the applicant in front of the Court of Appeal that the Greens should wait until there has been a ruling definitively as to whether she resigned as they claimed or whether she was pushed.”

The Greens’ co-leaders have written to the Speaker, who will determine if this impacts parliamentary proportionality.

ACT leader David Seymour criticised the party’s move, calling it undemocratic. The waka-jumping law, which allows MPs to be expelled, was last used in 2003.