Julie Anne Genter will not attend Parliament this week — instead, heading to the Chatham Islands.
The Green Party confirmed Genter’s plans this afternoon, saying Genter would be “working as normal this week”.
According to a spokesperson, that included “a long-planned trip to attend the annual Chatham Islands Stakeholder Forum”.
Genter won the Rongotai electorate in the 2023 election. The electorate includes the Chatham Islands.
It means its possible Genter won’t face the public for a further two weeks, being away from Tuesday to Thursday this week — the sitting period for the week. Next week is a non-Parliamentary sitting week, meaning MPs were not required at Parliament.
The spokesperson said neither Genter nor the Green co-leaders were available for interviews today and had “nothing to add” further to statements they had already made.
Genter was accused of “intimidating” behaviour in Parliament last week, where she rose from her seat in the House and stood over National Party MP Matt Doocey.
She repeatedly yelled “read the report” and “what is wrong with you” at the Mental Health Minister.
As a result, the Speaker received multiple complaints about Genter’s behaviour, and she may face the Privileges Committee, which oversees members’ behaviour and conduct.
Genter apologised in Parliament shortly after, but has not made any public appearances since, despite repeated requests from media.
A Newtown florist, a central Wellington retailer and a regional councillor have since also made allegations about Genter’s behaviour in the wake of the incident in Parliament — all of which Genter was yet to respond to.
The Green co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick said last week Genter’s behaviour in the House was inappropriate and could not be allowed to happen again.
The Green Party confirmed Genter responded to the Speaker Gerry Brownlee’s request for an explanation of her behaviour in the House with a letter to him today.
A spokesperson said it would be “very uncommon” for an MP to publicly release a letter sent to the Speaker on a matter of privilege, even after a ruling.
“Julie Anne is an effective and hard-working politician and the party is focused on making sure she is supported to do her job and ensuring incidents of this nature don’t happen again – the details of what that looks like are personal and confidential.”