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Speaking at the Green Party’s annual general meeting in Christchurch today, Swarbrick said she expected the size of the Green movement to be “significantly larger” at the 2026 election.
She said she had not expected the coalition government to be so anti-environmental.
“It’s absolutely crazy that you’re talking about a government that’s talking about rewriting New Zealand’s founding document because that’s what’s on their agenda.”
MP Darleen Tana was ousted from the Greens this month and asked to quit politics after an independent investigation found she was likely aware of allegations of worker exploitation at her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s company but did not disclose it to the party until after the 2023 election.
Swarbrick said the party was considering the future of the Tana River but did not say whether the waka jump bill would be invoked.
The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill was passed in September 2018. Although the Greens voted in favour of the bill, they had already made it clear that they were against it.
The controversial legislation, often referred to as the “party-hopping law”, is designed to prevent MPs from leaving their party during their term in parliament. If an MP hands a signed written notice to the Speaker announcing their resignation from the party they were elected to, their seat will automatically become vacant. The rationale is that this maintains proportional representation in parliament.
“We in our caucus are unanimous in our view that Darlene Tanna is unfit to serve as a member of Parliament,” Swarbrick said today.
“It’s not personal,” she said, citing the executive summary of their investigation into her business affairs.
However, with Tanna determined to stay in parliament and the Greens’ percentage suffering, Swarbrick said the party would formally explore other avenues at its annual general meeting.
Swarbrick said she wanted the Greens to become the major party on the left and expected South Auckland to be a big part of that push.
She said the Greens needed to “earn trust”.
“The Green Party is not here just to take power. We are here to redistribute power. That is the difference between real representation and purely symbolic representation.”
Since becoming co-leader in March, Swarbrick has said she believes the Greens can become the leading party on the left and that the tug-of-war between the “traditional parties” has disenfranchised voters.
She reiterated those points at the AGM, telling members that while she believed many members shared green values, members had to have conversations to translate that into votes.
“To me, this is about more than just having more seats in Parliament. In fact, it’s not even about taking up seats in government. It’s about a country with citizens who understand enough, have the time and resources to actively participate in our democracy. To hold those who make decisions on their behalf accountable. Even, and especially, when that person is us.”
Swarbrick spoke of past mass movements such as women winning the right to vote, the revitalization of Maori culture and the introduction of a mixed council system.
Green values could also be an unstoppable movement, she told members.
“If this is what we in the Green Party want to achieve, we have to take a brave look at ourselves and consider whether we want to continue to evolve as a party.”
She acknowledged that much of the public was tired of politics and that her Green opponents were banking on people being too tired to engage in politics.
“When someone doesn’t deliver on their promises, trust breaks down. You don’t need to be a psychologist to understand that, and that’s why many communities in our country gave up trusting politicians a long time ago,” she said.
“If we believe we are different from everyone else, we can’t just say it. We have to prove it. Over and over again.”
She believes the Green Party needs to go through some growing pains and reflect on what it has been and what kind of party it wants to be.
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