Green Party in crisis after MPs quit

Greens co-leader James Shaw has tried to distance himself and his party from two of the Greens' longest serving MPs who quit in protest over Metiria Turei's historic benefit fraud admission.

But Mr Shaw’s move to suspend Kennedy Graham and David Clendon doesn't disguise the deep rift that has formed in the party over the Turei affair.

The pair left after expressing disappointment with Ms Turei’s stance on benefit fraud, saying they cannot stay on the party list under her leadership.

Messrs Graham and Clendon are some of the longest-serving members of the party. At number 8, Mr Graham was all-but-assured of returning to Parliament. After being demoted to number 16 in the party's 2017 list, Mr Clendon was likely on the way out.

They called for a new co-leader to replace Ms Turei.

"We do not believe that lying to a public agency ... can ever be condoned," they said, referring to Ms Turei’s admission of benefit fraud in the mid-1990s and then her subsequent condoning the actions of others doing the same.

"As long as Metiria remains co-leader of the Party, we are unable to support the Greens campaign for the 2017 election, and will be obliged to withdraw as candidates, from the list and from our electorates."

At a press conference last night Mr Shaw says he and other MPs felt “betrayed” by the way the pair handled their departure from the party and will this morning be moving a motion to suspend them both from the party.

Mr Shaw says he and other Green Party MPs had been trying to talk them out of leaving the party the way they did for “the past few weeks.”

He says the way they have gone about this “puts the party in extreme risk at this point in an election campaign.”

Mr Shaw says Ms Turei will remain a Green Party co-leader until the election.

Although suspended from the Green caucus, Mr Graham and Mr Clendon could still sit in Parliament until it rises on August 17, potentially causing further disruption for their party.

Just a ‘blip’
Ms Turei announced on Friday that she would not resign over her controversial benefit history, but that she would not seek a ministerial position if the Greens were in government after the election.

Mr Shaw says Ms Turei’s confession was a “minor indiscretion;” at one point saying he was “frankly, over the level of interrogation she has received for what was a minor event that occurred 25 years ago.”

However, when speaking to RNZ yesterday, Messrs Graham and Clendon indicated the main reasons for their leaving was because Ms Turei had effectively condoned people lying to work and income, not the actions themselves.

After the news broke yesterday afternoon, Green Party general manager Sarah Helm told media the pair had previously been asked to stand down at the general election but both had refused and as a result, they were demoted on the list.

Ms Helm also revealed the pair had done little in the way of campaigning and had been disgruntled for some time.

Mr Shaw was not able to comment on this and did not know if this was indeed the case or not.

But this morning, Mr Clendon denied Ms Helm's comments saying "I have never been asked not to stand on the list. 

He also hit back at her claims that he and Dr Graham were disgruntled by their low list placings and had not been actively campaigning for the party.

"I think it is unfortunate that Sarah told untruths, what she said online is simply untrue." 

Below, a recording of last night's press conference: