Who is Darleen Tana – and why she might go down in NZ political history

Darleen Tana’s future as an MP now rests in the hands of the Speaker after Green Party delegates voted to endorse using the waka-jumping legislation in an attempt to eject her from Parliament.
If the Speaker gives that the greenlight – the Greens are confident the legal conditions have been met for him to do so – it would mark the first time an MP has been formally removed from Parliament under the current waka-jumping legislation (there have been previous variations).
There are other recent examples of MPs leaving their parties midway through a term – think Jami-Lee Ross, Meka Whaitiri, Elizabeth Kerekere – but all remained on in Parliament until the next election.
According to a now-deleted bio on the Green Party’s website, Darleen Tana was born in Northland and holds a degree in chemical technology and international business management.
She worked in the telco space in Europe for nearly two decades before returning to New Zealand in 2014, including to help her husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen with his e-mobility business. It started on Waiheke Island, where Tana settled, before expanding to other areas like Auckland’s Newmarket.
“It was her reconnection with te ao Māori that made her change out completely and go to work hands on in the whenua and moana these last years,” her deleted bio said.
“She has worked on multiple protection action campaigns and supported tangata whenua and communities to address environmental issues, combining matauranga Māori, STEM, and business along the way.”
Tana’s first foray into national politics was in 2020, when she unsuccessfully stood for the Greens in the Northland electorate and came fourth with just 1749 votes compared to winner Willow-Jean Prime’s 17066.
Three years later, she was standing in the Māori electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau, which the party’s co-leader Marama Davidson had stood in previously. She came a distant third – 2925 votes compared to victor Takutai Tarah Kemp’s 10068.
But with the Green Party receiving 11.6% of the vote and 15 seats, Tana’s placement of 13 was high enough for her to get into Parliament. She initially held roles in the Green Party like spokesperson for Oceans and Fisheries, Internal Affairs and Science Innovation and Technology. She also sat on the Environment Select Committee.
Darleen Tana’s to-that-point brief and mostly uneventful political career became national headlines in March after revelations that Tana may have been aware of allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s business.
Complaints were filed against the business with the Employment Relations Authority, but denied by Hoff-Nielsen.
An independent investigation was launched by the Green Party into what Tana knew about the allegations. She was suspended by the party as the allegations were thought to be a conflict with her holding the party’s small business portfolio.
Tana eventually quit the party – but not Parliament – and attempted to rubbish the findings of the independent report. It said Tana likely knew about the allegations and didn’t disclose them to the Greens. In July, the Greens’ co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick urged Tana to resign.
Her refusal to do led the Greens to mull using the waka-jumping legislation – the current version of which was introduced in 2018 – to get rid of her.
A Special General Meeting of party delegates was scheduled to debate using the law, but that was delayed after Tana complained to the High Court that the independent inquiry had been flawed and that she had been pressured to leave the Greens.
The court, however, ruled against her, finding she hadn’t been pressured and the inquiry hadn’t been “unlawful, unauthorised, unreasonable or unfair” as Tana had claimed.
The Green Party subsequently re-scheduled the delegates’ meeting, which went ahead of Thursday night despite Tana reportedly planning to appeal the High Court ruling.
It was at that meeting that delegated endorsed using the waka-jumping legislation against Tana.
The party’s leadership then wrote to the Speaker saying they believed Tana leaving the Greens distorted the proportionality of Parliament, a condition required for someone to be ejected.
Tana has not responded to requests for comment on the Green Party delegates’ decision or reports she will appeal the court ruling.