Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick barred from Parliament for rest of week after Gaza speech
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has been ejected from Parliament's debating chamber and barred for the rest of the week after a fiery speech about the war in Gaza.
She was taking part in an urgent debate called after the coalition's announcement that it would
come to a formal decision in September over whether to recognise the state of Palestine
.
As Swarbrick came to the end of her contribution, she challenged the coalition MPs to back her member's bill allowing New Zealand to apply sanctions on Israel "for its war crimes".
"If we find six of 68 government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history," Swarbrick said.
Almost immediately, Speaker Gerry Brownlee condemned the remark as "completely unacceptable" and demanded she "withdraw it and apologise".
Swarbrick shot back a curt - "no" - prompting Brownlee to order her out of the chamber for the remainder of the week.
"Happily," Swarbrick said, as she rose to leave.
Earlier, during Parliament's Question Time, ACT leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour objected to Swarbrick having a Palestinian scarf, or keffiyeh, draped across her seat.
"I invite you to consider what this House might look like if everybody who had an interest in a global conflict started adorning their seats with symbols of one side or another of a conflict," he said.
"I think that would bring the House into disrepute and no member should be allowed to do such a thing."
Brownlee said Seymour raised a good point, only for Swarbrick to then wrap the scarf around her neck.
"Oh, here we go," he said. "Well, stay warm. We'll move on now."
- More to come
.
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