Tana leaves questions after reported Parliament visit
Rogue MP Darleen Tana left no clear answer as to what her next move will be, after it was understood she made an appearance at Parliament yesterday morning.
Media waited for hours to get answers from the MP – but were not successful. Her communication with her ex-party, the Greens, has also been limited.
Former Green Party leader James Shaw also turned up to Parliament – looking relaxed on an unre- lated media visit.
Tana said yesterday she was not in a position to talk plans. Asked if she would be staying on as an MP, she told Stuff she would confirm “when a decision is made”.
If Tana chooses to stay on as an independent MP, the Green Party would likely need to go to its membership should it choose to enact ‘’waka-jumping’’ provisions to try to remove her from Parliament.
Earlier in the day, the Green Party released the executive summary of the final report into the investigation into what Tana knew about allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s business.
The report had been leaked to various media outlets, but the Greens declined to publicly release it until it had sign-off from all named parties.
The report canvasses the complaints of four former employees of E Cycles NZ, two of which were uncovered during the investigation process and which had previously been resolved through the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
The aim of the investigation was to interrogate what Tana knew about the claims, not the substance of them. Two of the complaints are before the ERA.
Tana has disputed the report’s findings, saying she didn’t think natural justice processes had been followed, and she does not accept the findings. She said the party had come to a predetermined view and the report substantially misrepresented her involvement in her husband’s business. “The report does not say that migrant exploitation has occurred, let alone that I am responsible for it.”
Also yesterday, Bikes and Beyond, the bike business owned by the husband of ex-Green MP Darleen Tana, closed in the wake of allegations of migrant exploitation.
Documents were filed at the Companies Office at 4.31pm yesterday afternoon, appointing Auckland insolvency firm Khov Jones as liquidators of E Cycles NZ Ltd, which trades as Bikes and Beyond.
The filing said the company’s shareholder, Tana’s husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen, had made the decision to liquidate the company. He had been advertising the Waiheke branch for sale since at least May.