Departing former Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere says she is going out with style as she accused the Green co-leaders of a failure of leadership.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson earlier said she wishes Kerekere all the best. Shaw and Davidson were the only Green MPs present for her speech.
Kerekere, an independent MP since she resigned from the party amid bullying allegations in May, gave her final speech in the parliamentary debating chamber this evening, a convention provided to all MPs who officially retire from Parliament.
In her speech she said the only formal complaints against her were from the Green Party co-leaders, James Shaw and Marama Davidson.
She also accused Green Party MPs of "racism" and "abuse".
"Here are some tips on how to be a good leader ... If a staff member or MP is bringing concerns about racism or other behaviour from other MPs and senior staff, perhaps address those issues.
"If allegations have been made about someone, actually talk to that person to clarify facts before vilifying them in public.
"And lastly, if your organisation has a clear principle of non-violence, perhaps do not engage in ongoing abusive behaviour."
"This was an epic failure of leadership."
She said after she resigned from the party she aimed to be the best independent MP Parliament "has ever seen" and "go out in style".
She said history would decide the first and she thanked her supporters for "helping me with the second".
Those supporters, largely decked out in purple, occasionally clicked their fingers in support from the public gallery, through her speech.
Kerekere left the Green Party in May following a scandal which began when she accidentally sent a message to an internal Green Party group chat, which was intended for another recipient.
The text message appeared to call then-fellow Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick a "crybaby". Kerekere later claimed she was referring to herself as a crybaby.
"It was the end of a long day, I was tired, I admit I was grumpy, and I wrote the first message thinking I was talking to my wife, and then I read it and go 'ugh, suck it up Elizabeth, life is hard, this is not an easy job, get on with it," she told 1News' Breakfast.
"And I wrote myself, 'oh my god, what a crybaby'... it was self-deprecating, it was a throwaway comment."
Shortly before the scandal Kerekere had been ranked fourth on the Green Party initial list, below Swarbrick.
Kerekere was also accused of ongoing poor behaviour - including badmouthing and undermining her caucus colleagues and staff, according to an RNZ report.
RNZ spokes to five people close to the Greens, including current and former staffers, under the condition of anonymity.
Two further anonymous sources came forward, claiming Kerekere shut out and belittled other Māori MPs, staff and volunteers.
In March 2022 Kerekere resigned her Covid-19 and health portfolios and apologised for breaking self-isolation rules after she admitted to flying from her Tairāwhiti home to Wellington, despite a household member testing positive two days earlier.
Green Party responds
In a statement this evening, a Green Party spokesperson said the party was making moves to carry out a "formal process" in the days after the allegations surfaced when Kerekere resigned.
The process was initiated after the co-leaders "were concerned that the confidential allegations were serious enough that a formal process was required".
"There were a number of people who wished to make formal complaints, and we were in the process of agreeing how these would be addressed," the spokesperson said.
"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."
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