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Greens leader says Graham decision "the right one"

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 12 Aug 2017, 9:33AM
Kennedy Graham return rejected (PHOTO - File)
Kennedy Graham return rejected (PHOTO - File)

Greens leader says Graham decision "the right one"

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 12 Aug 2017, 9:33AM

The Green Party has rejected Kennedy Graham's request to be admitted back into the party fold and be on the party list for next month's general election.

Mr Graham and David Clendon earlier this week resigned at short notice from the party's 14-member caucus over co-leader Metiria Turei's admission she committed benefit fraud during the 1990s.

Ms Turei later quit as co-leader, which potentially opened the way for Mr Graham to return.

In a statement on Saturday morning, the party said it had declined his request to be a list candidate for next month's election.

"The executive concluded that he had breached the party's Candidate Code of Conduct in a serious manner, and therefore decided to exclude Mr Graham from the party's pool," party co-convenor Debs Martin said.

"We thank Kennedy for his many years of service, and the executive finds it regrettable that events have led to this outcome."
Mr Clendon has said he did not want to return to the party's caucus.

Greens leader James Shaw said it was a decision taken by party executives, who have done what they had to.

He said that Kennedy said that he would love to come back, which he was perfectly in his right to do and make the application. He said the executive have conducted a thorough examination of that application and in the end they declined.

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