‘We’ve got work to do’: Chlöe Swarbrick on Pasifika Greens walkout

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says the party needs time to evolve and change as it addresses fallout from the exit of three Pacific community leaders from its ranks.

Members of the Pasifika Greens resigned in July citing a range of issues, including the party's treatment of ousted MP Darleen Tana, and claiming that former MP Elizabeth Kerekere had been subjected to "disappointingly disgusting" treatment.

Swarbrick acknowledged it had been a tough year for the Green Party, but said the concerns raised by the departing members will be taken seriously.

“When somebody steps forward and offers a perspective like that that, [it] very evidently comes from a place of upset and of angst or of sadness or whatever else. I want to take the time to properly sit with that and to interrogate myself and to interrogate the institution that I'm a part of, because all of us have work to do to constantly evolve and to change.”

Pasifika Greens’ members Vasemaca Tavola, Alofa Aiono and Marie Laufiso announced their resignation at the party’s annual conference in Christchurch on 27 July.

The group said there was “blatant disregard” for the Pasifika network following the death of Green MP Fa’anana Efeso Collins, known to many as “Fes”.

“We are culturally unsafe when we, as the people in this Party most close to him and his family, are not strategically supported to deliver on the dreams, hopes and ambitions of the late Fa’anānā Efeso Collins,” stated a letter presented at an AGM by the departing members.

Community leader and Green party MP Fa'anana Efeso Collins. Photo/File

However, the Greens co-leader argued the party put the needs of the family first, and it aims to continue his legacy of connection with all groups of people.

“Marama and Teanau knew Fes for 30 years, they went to uni with him and they spent all of their energy prioritising his whanau.

“We're continuing to build on some of the vision that Fes had for what the Greens could do in terms of being forced out to mobilise and to organise people and to change our world so that it is fairer and more equitable.

“That looks like finding more and empowering more of our young people and older people, our middle-aged and our older people as well, our Pacific voices, and knowing as well that those voices and those communities are not homogenous.

“You're not going to find one person who says everything on behalf of everyone, you're going to have to come across different opinions, and that's the point of democracy.”

Speaking to William Terite at the Greens’ Renters Hui event, Swarbrick denied the party had failed Pacific voters, and defended the party’s focus on building genuine relationships with the community.

“We always have more work to do, and that for me is the difference between representation and tokenism.

“Tokenism is just saying, ‘hey, look we've got somebody who's from a certain community and that represents all of that community”, that's not real, that is tokenism.

“Representation looks like many people providing the resources so that communities are empowered to choose their own representation.

“I'm not interested in speaking on behalf of anyone, I'm interested in empowering people so that they are able to hold me accountable.”

Watch the full interview on Pacific Mornings: