Green sources say factions are crystallising within the party, ahead of the election. Photo / Robert Kitchin / Stuff
In the fallout from Elizabeth Kerekere’s leaked “crybaby” text, two clear factions have emerged in the Green Party – with team Kerekere accusing the leakers of “dirty politics”.
Kerekere has gone to ground, but a group of Green insiders is speaking out in her defence. They believe the leak, and subsequent reports of her “bullying”, were part of a smear campaign from Greens unhappy about their proposed list rankings ahead of the election.
Inside sources say tensions are boiling and the party is becoming divided, as the Green’s base put together their power rankings of the MPs and candidates. They say navigating the Green factions has become “delicate” during the ranking period.
This political popularity contest is how Green members get into Parliament. A high ranking guarantees a seat. And if an MP’s ranking goes down, it could mean they’ll be booted from the House come October 14.
A draft of the party’s MP list power ranking was released in early April.
Green sources from inside and outside camp Kerekere say her high ranking ruffled a few feathers in the caucus. She is a first term MP, who entered Parliament after being ranked ninth on the Green list in 2020.
Her steep ascension to fourth place, below only the co-leaders and Chlöe Swarbrick, is understood to have frustrated some of the older hands. Kerekere is well-supported among Green fans, but her profile in mainstream politics is limited.
“In regard to the list ranking.... People are trying to shut Elizabeth down, and it happened with [Teanau Tuiono] as well. But they are so grassroots and they’ve done so much work in their communities it was hard to shut them down,” a Green insider said.
“So they’re trying to find other avenues to do it, like leak information and start a rumour and make allegations that are far from the truth.”
Those allegations built on the “crybaby” text, a name Kerekere called Swarbrick in the Green caucus’s WhatsApp group. The message appeared to be destined for another conversation, but was instead sent to all the MPs.
An internal investigation was launched into Kerekere’s behaviour after the message.
“The Green Party has the most democratic process of any party for choosing its list. The internal process underway is looking into matters that people would expect the Green Party to take seriously,” a Green party spokesperson said.
“The process is being run in a way that will be fair to everyone involved and will uphold the Green Party’s commitment to appropriate decision-making,”
Since the text became public, five Green insiders told RNZ that Kerekere was a “bully” and exhibited “general mean girl behaviour”.
“Elizabeth has a tendency to call people ‘racist’ if they disagree with her,” a source said. They also said the investigation into Kerekere should speak to staffers, who say they’ve had run-ins with the MP.
Kerekere is the Green Party Māori affairs and rainbow issues spokesperson.
Established members of both Te Mātāwaka, the Greens’ Māori and Pasifika rōpū, and Rainbow Greens have publicly supported Kerekere.
Zoe Spinks, a convenor of Rainbow Greens, tweeted: “Her contributions to the Greens and the wider community are numerous and I’m always so inspired by the way she conducts herself in the face of racism, homophobia and sexism.”
A former senior Green Party Māori advisor said Kerekere was more likely the victim, rather the perpetrator, of bullying.
“The allegations against Elizabeth are far from the truth. I worked closely with Elizabeth... not once did I ever see or hear her make a negative comment about anyone,” they said.
“This is definitely dirty politics. Look, it’s election year. She has just got fourth on the list, for a first term MP – of course people aren’t going to be happy about that.”
Both the former advisor and another inside source said Kerekere could be forthright when it came to her policy areas – but they said frank discussion shouldn’t be interpreted as bullying.
“It’s a case of people not responding well to frank but fair feedback,” one source said.
“She's very stedfast and someone who doesn't take well to transphobia or racism. She won't let that slide. She's trying to make change in the party, and make change for the better - unfortunately that's rubbed some people the wrong way.”
They said within the Green community, it was “a common occurrence” for people to be called bullies for having heated debates.
“It’s laughable these allegations have come out,” they said.
Green Party chief of staff Robin Campbell and party whip MP Jan Logie are conducting the investigation into Kerekere's behaviour.