Green Party releases summary of Darleen Tana investigation

The Green Party has released the executive summary of an independent investigation report into the actions of its besieged former MP, Darleen Tana.

The move comes a full 12 days after its caucus unanimously demanded she resign from Parliament as a result of the report's findings.

The party has previously said it was waiting for all named parties in the executive summary to give consent for its release, due to what it said were privacy concerns.

The report follows an inquiry instigated by the Green Party after allegations came to light of migrant worker exploitation at Tana’s husband Christian Hoff-Neilsen’s e-bike business. The investigation sought to find out what Tana knew and when.

Tana has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has distanced herself from the day-to-day operations of her partner's business since the allegations emerged, including in an interview with 1News this week.

However, the executive summary of the report by barrister Rachel Burt pointed out the couple were effectively co-founders of the business, after buying the existing small-scale business.

"Darleen described herself as a founder of the business in her CV provided to the Green Party 2022 and talked about the e-bike business as being her business in her candidate profile," Burt said in the report.

"While, in her interviews with me, Darleen said from the outset, the business was Christian’s business, I find she was integrally involved from the early days as it developed into a much larger business stretched across multiple stores.

"I find she became a 50% shareholder and director in recognition of her contribution to the business, and that over these years of 2014 to 2019 the business was a family business with Christian and Darleen heavily involved in all aspects of the business."

Burt's investigation also concluded Tana worked both front of house with customers, assisting with basic repairs and sales, and undertook the more back office functions such as payroll, contracts, liaison with suppliers, and accounts.

The report noted Tana called her partner "Captain Chaos" for his inability to structure the operation and that she brought her planning and implementation skills to bear and created effective systems for the business.

It concludes that Tana would have been aware of the employees' circumstances and complaints, "as she still had some operational involvement in the business".

In releasing the summary of the report on Wednesday, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the party was committed to openness and transparency.

“This executive summary makes it very clear that Darleen has failed to meet the standards we expect — not only of MPs within our caucus, but across Parliament entirely.

“Darleen was given multiple opportunities to be upfront about the serious allegations she was facing but chose to obfuscate instead of answering straightforward questions, prompting the need for an independent investigation.

“Now the public can see why caucus was unanimous in requesting Darleen’s resignation from 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.

“Her staying on as an MP risks undermining the credibility of Parliament as well as the faith the public has in it as an institution.

“It is in the best interests of everyone that she resigns."

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