Speaker Gerry Brownlee has referred Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee after a confrontation in Parliament last week while the Green Party co-leaders have ruled out stripping Genter of her portfolios as an option in their disciplinary process.

Brownlee delivered his ruling in Parliament today, saying he had received letters from National Party whip Scott Simpson and Act Party whip Todd Stephenson about Genter’s behaviour confronting National MP Matt Doocey in Parliament.

“The conduct complained of could amount to threatening or intimidating a member acting in the discharge of their duty, or threatening a member on account of their conduct in Parliament.”

Brownlee said it was not for the Speaker to look into the veracity of the evidence or conduct an inquiry into the allegations. That was the role of the Privileges Committee. He said his role was to decide whether the conduct could amount to a breach of privilege, or contempt of Parliament.

Genter jetted off to the Chatham Islands ahead of that announcement for a pre-arranged visit and is expected to be away until Saturday. She has not yet spoken publicly about the issue.

It related to a confrontation with National MP Matt Doocey last Wednesday, when Genter walked across the Debating Chamber during a debate about transport funding, waved a book in National MP Matt Doocey’s face, speaking loudly to him and gesturing in front of him.

Today the Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick have also ruled out stripping Genter of her transport portfolio as part of the party’s disciplinary process.

Asked today whether that was an option, Davidson said no.

“Not at all, she’s one of this country’s most experienced and passionate MPs when it comes to transport. What is important is that she knows the action in the House was wrong, she is accepting a process to be able to provide support so that this may never happen again.”

She would not go into details of what other options there were for disciplining Genter when asked whether Genter would face any consequences. “The consequences? I think she’s been feeling them for the last week or so.”

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She said the most important thing was for Genter to get the support she needed to do her work.

“What the public are demanding is this never happens again, and that’s what we are proposing.”

National MP Tim van de Molen had been stripped of his portfolios by National Party leader Christopher Luxon in 2023 after he was sanctioned for intimidating behaviour toward Labour MP Shanan Halbert in a select committee.

However, Davidson said the Green Party did not need to follow the same path.

“We can’t parallel what other MPs have done specifically for this particular action in the House. So we deem it appropriate that we are having a disciplinary action that will be confidential, but we will be providing professional personal support to ensure this never happens again. Swarbrick defended Genter’s refusal to front publicly on her behaviour, saying it would be inappropriate for her to do so given the privileges complaints against her.

“Many members of Parliament have screwed up time and time again and when that occurs we expect our members of Parliament to acknowledge they have screwed up, to front up to that and to move forward.”

Davidson said Genter’s trip to the Chatham Islands was a long-planned trip and it was important she be able to continue with her work as an MP despite the disciplinary process under way.

Genter had until midday yesterday to respond to the Speaker about her behaviour after privileges complaints were lodged by a number of parties in Parliament. The Green Party has confirmed she did put in a letter but would not reveal its contents. If it is referred to the Privileges Committee, a group of MPs will consider whether Genter is in contempt of Parliament and she could face a sanction.

Genter apologised in Parliament soon after but has not spoken publicly about it since.

Nor has she responded to complaints about her alleged behaviour from people outside Parliament, who claimed she got aggressive in discussions about cycleways around Wellington.  

The Green Party is running a separate disciplinary process that will look at all the alleged events. Both Swarbrick and Davidson have condemned Genter’s behaviour in the House but have given few details about it. 

This morning other MPs were reluctant to comment because of the potential it would come before the Privileges Committee. 

National MP Chris Bishop, who is on the Privileges Committee, said he had seen the video of the incident. “I’ll just say I’ve never seen anything quite like that before. It was pretty extraordinary. But there’s now a process under way and I don’t want to get ahead of that process.” 

Genter’s trip to the Chatham Islands was planned in advance to attend the Chatham Islands Stakeholder Forum. While the Chathams are about 791km from Wellington, they are part of the Wellington electorate of Rongotai that Genter represents. 

Since Wednesday night’s incident, two members of the public have come forward with complaints about Genter’s behaviour. Cranfields owner Nicola Cranfield alleged Genter grabbed her upper arm and gave it a little shake during a discussion about Cranfield’s position on removing car parks close to her business. 

“I was pretty upset and didn’t know what to do or say. I was just not expecting her to lay a hand on me,” Cranfield told the Herald. 

“It was just very odd to be grabbed by a politician.” 

Cranfield said, in her view, it “wasn’t a friendly squeeze” and believed it was aimed to make her feel that Genter was in a “position of power”. 

Four Seasons Florist owner Laura Newcombe has also come forward with allegations Genter tried to humiliate her after a conversation at her shop about a cycleway. 

Asked about the new Cranfield claims, a Green Party spokesperson said co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick had no prior knowledge of the allegations regarding Genter which have recently come to light. 

Swarbrick has told the NZ Herald she and Davidson had spoken to Genter about the claims and were addressing them. 

This article was originally posted on the NZ Herald here.