The Greens have responded to accusations made by their former MP Elizabeth Kerekere in her valedictory speech in parliament earlier this evening, in which she said no formal complaints had been made against her and accused the party co-leaders of an “epic failure of leadership”.
Kerekere resigned from the Green Party in early May after bullying allegations emerged and the party launched an investigation into her behaviour, and has remained in parliament as an independent MP since.
In her speech this evening, Kerekere again “categorically” disputed any allegations of bullying and said her resignation stemmed from a “falling out with the co-leaders”. She said there had been “no formal complaints, no natural justice, and never a process, let alone a tikanga-based one”.
In a written response to the speech, a Green Party spokesperson said a number of people had wished to make formal complaints against Kerekere, and “we were in the process of agreeing how these would be addressed”. The process began in the days following Kerekere’s sending of messages considered unsupportive of her colleague Chloe Swarbrick on April 5. “Our primary concern was to establish a process that followed proper process while protecting all the people who came forward. Before that could be agreed, Elizabeth Kerekere resigned as a Green Party MP and Green Party member.”