Probe found ex-member reportedly aware of alleged employment breaches at husband's firm
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is calling for the resignation of Darleen Tana as member of Parliament for her knowledge of employment breaches allegedly committed by her husband's business.
An independent investigation commissioned by the Green Party found that Tana "knew of the alleged breaches of employment standards" committed by E Cycles, a business owned and operated by her husband Christian Hoff-Neilsen.
According to the probe, Tana was made aware of the concerns of employee Santiago Latour Palma with his visa status and unpaid wages in May 2023. It was also likely that she knew the employee raised a formal dispute against the business around October 2023.
"I do not find it plausible Christian would not have also told her about Santiago's claims raised around the same time, particularly given her previous friendship with Santiago," the findings read.
"While I accept over the period of Santiago's employment, Darleen was not as much involved in the day-to-day running of E Cycles as she used to be, I find she still had some operational involvement in the business."
Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party co-leader, said the findings make it very clear that Tana failed to meet the standards across Parliament.
"We are deeply disappointed that Darleen Tana has not been forthcoming about nor taken accountability for very serious breaches of our kaupapa, nor even acknowledged the impact of her behaviour on others," Swarbrick said in a statement.
"Her staying on as an MP risks undermining the credibility of Parliament as well as faith of the public in it as an institution. It is in the best interests of everyone that she resigns."
Tana has since resigned from the Green Party but stressed that she does not accept the findings of the probe.
"[I] believe that it substantially misrepresents the level of my involve in my husband's business," she previously said.
On Tuesday, Tana came to Parliament as an independent MP, and maintained that she is not involved in the accusations made against E Cycle.
"I'm really pleased to be back. It's been a long time out and I've been very keen to do the mahi. So, I'm pleased to be back and I'm determined to continue serving the people," the MP said.
According to Tana, she had not been in touch with her former party, which claimed that they attempted to reach her a "number of times."
"What we have here is a Member of Parliament that has betrayed the principles and the trust of the green party and has engaged in behaviour that is completely unbefitting, as we believe it, as a Member of Parliament," Swarbrick said.
She added that the party will discuss whether to remove Tana from Parliament in its annual meeting this weekend by using the 'waka-jumping' legislation, RNZ reported.
