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Speaker 1: Darling, Tana. The Green Party has asked Darlene to resign

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Speaker 1: from Parliament following their report into allegations of migrant exploitation

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Speaker 1: at her husband's E Byke company. Neither the report or

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Speaker 1: the summary has been released. Darlene has resigned from the

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Speaker 1: Green Party but remains an MP and does not accept

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Speaker 1: the findings of the report. She thinks a predetermined view

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Speaker 1: have been formed before her opportunity to speak. So I'm

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Speaker 1: joined now by Green Party co leader Choe Swarbrick. Good morning, Chloe.

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Speaker 1: Have you heard from Darlene? Haven't I not?

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Speaker 2: Overnight? No, But again we would continue to push that

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Speaker 2: very clear request to her to please resign. There is,

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Speaker 2: I think in everybody's interest here a very clear outcome

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Speaker 2: which looks like minimizing any more harm or collateral damage

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Speaker 2: or unnecessary tip for tat in the public arena, which

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Speaker 2: looks like a partway of the escalation, and effectively her

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Speaker 2: accepting the unanimous decision.

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Speaker 1: Of our caucus while saying anything.

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Speaker 2: Look, I understand that media have been asking her to engage,

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Speaker 2: and she issued a press release as of about five

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Speaker 2: thirty or so last night. But again, look, you know

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Speaker 2: we have also as the Green Party been clear that

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Speaker 2: our preference is for as quickly as possible fulsome release

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Speaker 2: forever as much information in that report as is possible.

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Speaker 2: And given that she's now in a position where she

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Speaker 2: is stating publicly that she rejects that, well, she can

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Speaker 2: potentially offer her consent for the release of that report.

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Speaker 2: Being one of the named.

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Speaker 1: Parties, we asked her to talk to us. She said no,

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Speaker 1: now here's a question for you. Why will you not

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Speaker 1: reveal the total cost of this investigation.

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Speaker 2: It's actually not a decision for me. That Sits was

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Speaker 2: effectively the party executive, what we call our cony head.

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Speaker 2: So as I believe the party has advised the media

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Speaker 2: last night, of course, there is a lot of internal

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Speaker 2: discussion that has to happen off the back of this report,

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Speaker 2: so it will kind of you know, all details will

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Speaker 2: bear reviewed and due course. But the further point that

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Speaker 2: I'd make as well is that for all Green Party

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Speaker 2: members who may be tuned into news storkseed bit here otherwise,

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Speaker 2: that we of course will have the opportunity to folsomly

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Speaker 2: discuss this and I remain available to all party members

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Speaker 2: for our AHM and christ Church.

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Speaker 1: We found the Green Party spokesperson in charge of actually

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Speaker 1: this issue all over the place last night who told

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Speaker 1: us that the party has obligations to report financial statements

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Speaker 1: to members at the end of the financial year. So

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Speaker 1: was that spokesperson basically saying to us that we're not

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Speaker 1: going to find this out until March they first next year.

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Speaker 2: Well, i'd say that, Look, we've been really transparent about

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Speaker 2: the payment of this report when it came from the

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Speaker 2: Green Leader's office, ie from parliamentary funds, which is we've

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Speaker 2: also discussed and I've discussed on the show when it

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Speaker 2: was Mike is something which of course is of due

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Speaker 2: public scrutiny for immediate release. But what we're talking about

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Speaker 2: now is when the burden of the cost of that

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Speaker 2: investigation transferred onto the parliament, onto the political party, not

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Speaker 2: to be confused with the parliament Tree Party, then you

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Speaker 2: know it kind of entered into a realm whereby there

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Speaker 2: was that accountability directly to members because that's where the

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Speaker 2: payment is coming from, the general funds of the political party.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's how we know that you'd spend forty three

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars, because that was six weeks ago, and that's

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Speaker 1: because you told Mike you are the leader of the party,

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Speaker 1: co leader of the party. You must know the number.

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Speaker 1: You must be able to make the decision to know

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Speaker 1: that it would be in your and your benefit to

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Speaker 1: actually reveal it.

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Speaker 2: Well, I start with the exact same premise pay out

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Speaker 2: to that last question was, which is as this investigation

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Speaker 2: was initiated, it sat within our parliamentary office. And therefore,

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Speaker 2: as I said on the show with Mike, I absolutely

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Speaker 2: hold accountability for transparent release of that information as soon

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Speaker 2: and as humanly possible. But at the point at which

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Speaker 2: the burdens for paying the cost of that investigation transfers

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Speaker 2: to the political party, and therefore the responsibility is to

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Speaker 2: our members in terms of the use of our funds

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Speaker 2: of that party. Then those conversations this internally within the

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Speaker 2: party because it is no longer public funds being used.

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Speaker 1: All right, So we'll wait for match thirty first. Now, look,

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Speaker 1: you use the phrase that Darlene Tana was not forthright

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Speaker 1: with you or the party. Are you saying she lied

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Speaker 1: to you?

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Speaker 2: I'm review people's chams.

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Speaker 1: Yes, good, Well, if she didn't lie to you, of

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Speaker 1: course you could have saved your party in all of

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Speaker 1: us one hundred and fourteen days of bad headlines. But

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Speaker 1: she did, and now here we how we now and

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Speaker 1: now here we are? But why don't you release a

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Speaker 1: report so we can find out how she lied to you.

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Speaker 2: Well as as the city drew. I'm completely keen to

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Speaker 2: release the report and have given my consent as far

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Speaker 2: as i am. Potentially one of those named parties is

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Speaker 2: other people involved with in the Greens. So look, we

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Speaker 2: have said that our immediate preference is for release of

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Speaker 2: that report, but we have to continue following good process here,

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Speaker 2: which means upholding privacy law and consulting with all of

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Speaker 2: the named parties, which, by the way, and not just

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Speaker 2: those to the subject to allegations, even if.

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Speaker 1: The delays, even if the delays damaged the party's reputation

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Speaker 1: amongst the public.

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Speaker 2: This is why I'm talking to you on the show

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Speaker 2: right now. I'm giving you absolutely everything that I've got.

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Speaker 1: Andrew Okay on our bizarre electoral system. Surely, as a

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Speaker 1: list MP representing the proportionality of the Green vote, she's

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Speaker 1: lost her mandate as soon as she withdrew the party's support.

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Speaker 1: Do you agree?

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Speaker 2: It would absolutely be our argument. We had thousands of

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Speaker 2: Green Party volunteers who poured their hearts and souls into

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Speaker 2: our campaign over between twenty three election and managed to

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Speaker 2: convince over three hundred thousand New Zealanders to put their

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Speaker 2: faith in their trusts and our policies, our values and

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Speaker 2: our principles, which we've been clear we believe Darlene Tana

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Speaker 2: has betrayed. So to that effect, I think New Zealand

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Speaker 2: voters can expect that the Green Party is entitled to

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Speaker 2: those fifteen seats that we won at the election. And

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Speaker 2: as I kind of said at the stand up yesterday,

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Speaker 2: you know, the Green Party has long held that no

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Speaker 2: one person can change the world. Of the opposite of

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Speaker 2: that is that no one person is more important than

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Speaker 2: the co pupper then the projects that we're all involved

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Speaker 2: in here to try and make the world a better place.

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Speaker 2: So that's why we continue to make it really clear

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Speaker 2: to Darling Tanner the best thing that she can possibly

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Speaker 2: do here if she says that she believes in the

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Speaker 2: principles that all of us campaigned on and we're elected upon,

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Speaker 2: then it's time to recognize the bigger picture here.

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Speaker 1: Well, she swore her allegiance to you and her party.

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Speaker 1: She also swore her allegiance to the Speaker of the

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Speaker 1: House and that's what she's holding on to. Does that

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Speaker 1: therefore mean that our electoral system needs to change.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure that there will be a fast night of

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Speaker 2: people for myself, constitutional lawyers and others who can offer

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Speaker 2: more technical reckons on this in the days and the

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Speaker 2: weeks to come. But yeah, look, we've been clear. That's

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Speaker 2: as far as we can kind of see and is

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Speaker 2: where we stand, crystal clear in the findings of that report.

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Speaker 2: Darling Tanma is not to be a Green padding MP,

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Speaker 2: but more so than that, a member of Parliament. And look,

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Speaker 2: I take absolutely no pleasure and no joy in that.

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Speaker 2: And as I just said Beforety Andrew, I am not

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Speaker 2: interested in this tip ftat all. Things continuing to play

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Speaker 2: out in the media. Everybody's best interested to escalate here

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Speaker 2: and for Darlining to resign.

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Speaker 1: And she is a liar.

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Speaker 2: But I've said that she was not upfront with myself

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Speaker 2: and Madama and as many in the media have kind

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Speaker 2: of put it back to me, does that constitute lying?

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Speaker 2: I've told you, Yes, it does.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it does. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,

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Speaker 1: listen live to news talks that'd be from six am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,