Ryan Bridge: Why was Darleen Tana asked to resign when Julie Anne Genter wasn't?

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Question: how do the greens save money on marketing photoshoot costs for the next election?

Answer: just use their candidates' mugshots.

Now that's obviously a joke... they're not all criminals.

But there were a few criminally absurd things that happened during yesterday's press conference about Darleen Tana.

Chloe got a bit grumpy when a reporter asked, repeatedly, why the Greens are asking Tana to resign and shunning her in public, when old-mate Julie Anne Genter's still in the party despite multiple aggressive bullying allegations.

The implication was the Greens must be a bit racist towards Tana cause she's Māori.

Chloe was outraged. She rejected it. She refuted it. It was a reductive argument. Tana has done x,y,z and Julie Anne a,b,c.

The irony of the party best known for calling everyone else in the room racist till they’re blue in the face not being accused themselves of racism over not one, in Tana, two in Kerikeri, but three MP's (Turei), was almost too much for new co-leader to take.

The second thing to note here is how little we actually know about what has gone on here and how much Tana was involved.

The Greens won't say what was in the report, the report's not public, Tana rejects the report's findings, she says it doesn't substantiate any claims of migrant exploitation, let alone her alleged involvement in them.

The biggest irony here is the Greens, the principled party, not ruling out waka-jumping Tana using a bill they hated and have fought vehemently against for the best part of 20 years.

A lesson for new political leaders in expediency, absurdity, and how to save money with a mugshot.

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