Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick refuses to apologise over Palestine debate
Chlöe Swarbrick is not backing down from fiery comments towards fellow MPs during a debate on Palestine that ended with the Green Party co-leader booted from Parliament for the rest of the week – unless she says sorry.
'I don't really know what I have to apologise for', Swarbrick told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW this morning.
She also claimed she'd be back in Parliament today and was 'engaging directly with the Speaker's office' to help Gerry Brownlee 'understand that the punishment that he's dished out is completely contrary to the reality'.
During a speech on Palestinian statehood yesterday, Swarbrick called on Government MPs to back a Green Party bill that'd allow New Zealand to sanction 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' ...
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The Spinoff
an hour ago
- The Spinoff
Echo Chamber: Spineless, unacceptable, deeply offensive… C U next Tuesday?
Inside parliament, as MPs and speaker Gerry Brownlee battled over his decision to suspend Chlöe Swarbrick for calling government MPs spineless. Echo Chamber is The Spinoff's dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. All eyes were on Chlöe Swarbrick from the moment she walked in the door. There was more security than usual in the public gallery; both police and parliamentary security stood on guard, as if they were expecting chaos from protesters. There were none to be seen – the gallery was mostly empty but for a school group. The Green Party co-leader had ruffled the speaker's tail feathers the previous day by urging 'government MPs with a spine' to back her bill sanctioning Israel. Brownlee, who has typically been a rather passive speaker who lets MPs get away with more than they should, took great offence to this comment and ejected her from the chamber, saying she couldn't come back until she apologised. As she returned to the house for Wednesday's question time, Brownlee began by inviting Swarbrick to withdraw and apologise for her statement. 'I won't be doing that, Mr Speaker,' Swarbrick replied. 'Then the member is to leave the house,' Brownlee said. But Swarbrick did no such thing. She crossed one knee over the other and cast a contumacious gaze at the speaker's chair. This made Brownlee big mad. 'Is the member refusing to leave the House? I therefore name Chlöe Swarbrick.' Naming is an innocuous-sounding ruling that is actually one of the most serious punishments an MP can get, a suspension from the House for 'grossly disorderly behaviour'. Labour leader Chris Hipkins immediately tried to interject, but Brownlee was on a mission. He called for an oral vote to name Swarbrick. The government benches rang out with 'aye' and the opposition, 'no'. 'The ayes have it,' Brownlee declared, even though the nos were clearly louder. The opposition protested, so Brownlee called for a party vote. The parties voted down government lines, meaning the ayes won 68-54. 'The member will leave the house,' Brownlee said triumphantly. At this, Swarbrick stood up and left her seat – but not without a quick 'free Palestine'. 'Yasss,' cheered Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. That was far from the end of the matter. The House then turned to a long debate about what had just happened. Chris Hipkins began with a characteristically pedantic complaint about the exact wording of the motion. 'I wonder whether you could indicate to us what the motion that the House just voted on actually was? Because if it was the one that you spoke, it doesn't have the effect that you think it does.' Brownlee had no patience for Hipkins' schtick. In an impressively petulant response, Brownlee hit back with 'in that case, I'll put it again'. The House repeated the same performance – again, the no vote was louder. Brownlee ruled with the ayes, but there was a protest, and another round of party votes yielded the same result as before. Hipkins then questioned whether the punishment was warranted. It's common for MPs to be kicked out of the house for the day for unparliamentary comments, but it's extremely rare for speakers to demand an apology the following day. The only recent example was in 2015, when then prime minister John Key accused opposition MPs of 'backing rapists', prompting a mass walkout. 'That was a very controversial matter, and it was at least a week later that the speaker asked him to withdraw and apologise in order to restore order in the House, which had been lost,' Hipkins said. Willie Jackson, proudly one of parliament's Naughtiest Boys, wanted to give his personal input as someone who regularly gets in trouble with the speaker. 'I think this is outrageous,' he said. 'You have kicked me out twice for calling another member a liar, and then I've been out of the House for less than 30 minutes… It is incredibly unfair that I can call another member a liar, rightfully get kicked out of the House, and come back into the House within half an hour, with no apology required.' From across the room, Chris Bishop yelled 'you apologised' – which sent Jackson into a fit of righteous rage. 'I did not apologise. I did not apologise and I would never apologise.' Winston Peters, whose party had now twice voted to name and suspend Swarbrick, then took to his feet to defend her. 'I don't agree with a thing that Chlöe Swarbrick said at all, but this is a robust House where people have a right to express their views as passionately as they may, within certain rules. But I do not think that eviction was warranted.' He compared it to another John Key incident from 2015, when the then prime minister demanded the opposition 'get some guts' regarding sending troops to Iraq, and the recent hullabaloo where Brooke van Velden became the first MP to use the word 'cunt' in the house. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, not one to let Act have such a conspicuous honour to itself, decided to add her name to the list. 'There were many of us that were offended by the 'cunt' word,' she said. She argued that 'spineless' did not reach the same threshold and that the speaker's ruling appeared to be 'suppressing an opinion on the rights of Palestinians'. Brownlee didn't react to the second use of the word 'cunt' under his watch, but the repeated use of 'spineless' sent him into a tizzy. He grasped desperately for his pearls like a Victorian lady about to faint onto a chaise longue after spotting some uncovered ankles. 'I personally found it deeply offensive,' he said. 'It was completely unacceptable' and 'a gratuitous insult'. Brownlee was on a moral crusade to right all the wrongs of society, starting with enforcing slightly more polite wording in the House of Representatives. 'If we don't change behaviour in here, nothing will change outside.' After about half an hour of arguing in circles, Brownlee finally put a stop to it and turned to the questions of the day. Winston Peters kicked things off by complaining, for the umpteenth time this term, about the use of the word 'Aotearoa' on the order paper. 'Who gave anybody the mandate to change this country's name?' he grumbled. And, for the umpteenth time this term, Brownlee told him that Aotearoa was a perfectly acceptable word. Everything was back to normal. Parliament was back on track.
Otago Daily Times
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Israeli minister rejects Luxon's 'lost the plot' claim
By Giles Dexter of RNZ An Israeli minister has hit back at New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's comments that Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost the plot," accusing him of being unable to comprehend the challenges of facing Hamas. Yesterday Luxon described the war in Gaza as "utterly, utterly appalling" and Prime Minister Netanyahu was not listening to the international community. "I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot," Luxon said. In a post on X, Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs Sharren Haskel dismissed Luxon's concerns. "I guess when you don't really need an army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat, you wouldn't comprehend the challenges that come with facing Hamas - a jihadist death cult - only a few kms away from your country, that rape, execute, burn alive and starve your people," she wrote. I guess when you don't really need an army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat, you wouldn't comprehend the challenges that come with facing Hamas - a jihadist death cult - only a few kms away from your country, that rape, execute, burn alive and starve your… — Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) August 13, 2025 Yesterday's comments are the strongest the Prime Minister has used yet against Netanyahu, but Luxon said his language had been consistent. "What you have seen is Israel not listening to the global community at all. We have asked for humanitarian assistance to be delivered unfettered. It hasn't happened," he said. "We have said a forceable displacement of people and an annexation of Gaza would be a breach of international law. We have called these things out consistently, time and time again." The coalition government is considering whether to recognise Palestinian statehood, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month. Canada, Australia, France and the United Kingdom recently announced they would recognise, or plan to recognise, a Palestinian state. The New Zealand Jewish Council said it was concerned that recognising a Palestinian state without a comprehensive negotiated peace agreement might risk entrenching instability. President Juliet Moses said the council supported a two-state solution, but warned the government a "premature recognition" could undermine, rather than advance, the peace process. "We acknowledge and welcome the government's stated support for the release of all Israeli hostages, the disarmament and removal from power of Hamas, and the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. These are vital steps," Moses said. "Recognising a Palestinian state without those conditions being met removes incentives for progress and does not explain what will happen if they are not achieved."
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
'It doesn't cost the government anything' - Wayne Brown calls for bed tax rethink
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown is at odds with the government over a bed night levy. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Auckland's mayor Wayne Brown is renewing his call for a bed levy for the supercity , as it deals with some serious economic troubles . Its unemployment rate of 6.1 percent is the highest of any region. National Minister and Auckland-based MP Paul Goldsmith told Morning Report on Wednesday there's been a long Covid hangover. "The economy's flat, everybody's feeling it. Of course there's two speeds, down in the south and in rural New Zealand we're getting some growth and some upbeat economic news from the regions but of course it's a real struggle in Auckland so that's what our real focus is on." Brown agreed the government would be focused on the city because it was where the election in a year's time would be decided. He was adamant that what he was advocating for was a bed levy - not a tax - and it wouldn't go to the government. "They [the government] use the word tax so they can say no more taxes. It's just dumb, it's not a tax any more than it would be a targeted rate. The people who've asked for it are the industry it would be collected from." He wanted it to be set at 2.5 percent which would raise $27 million which would be enough to attract the likes of a Taylor Swift concert or a State of Origin match. Cities need around $3 million to $4m to attract concerts by artists such as Taylor Swift, the Auckland mayor says. Photo: AFP Cities needed to pay upfront around $3m-4m to bring in each major event. It would enable Auckland to compete against the likes of Sydney which has a bed night levy, he said. "It doesn't cost the government anything. ... It doesn't make sense ..." When Auckland held large events and the hotels filled up, another $100 could be added to the cost of a hotel room "so noone's gonna miss it". It was also "bollocks" for the government to blame the cost of living crisis, Brown said. Those most affected couldn't afford $500 Taylor Swift concert tickets or to stay at the top hotels. He said the government was focused on tourism but had raised the international tourist levy so it was "cheeky" to deny Auckland a bed levy. Brown believed the government would "cave" on the issue, in part because Auckland was the region that decided the fate of the government at elections. He had built a good working relationship with some of the ministers, such as Chris Bishop and Shane Reti. "We have had a number of wins." He believed it was ACT that was the main handbrake on the government agreeing to the bed levy. Councillor Kerrin Leoni, who is standing against Brown in the city's upcoming mayoral election, said she also supported a bed tax. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
