The Green Party has referred an advertisement placed by Darleen Tana to the Electoral Commission after discovering it likely did not comply with electoral law.
Today Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick confirmed she had been made aware of the ad "in the last few hours".
"There was an ad in that went out in Verve Magazine and that ad had been declared to the Electoral Commission, but it did not carry with it the legally-required authorisation statement."
Tana, a first term MP, is already on leave - on full pay - while the party investigates her involvement and level of knowledge regarding allegations of migrant exploitation involving her husband's company.
Swarbrick said the Greens "obviously take very seriously compliance with electoral law".
"So we've had discussions with the Green Party itself and the party has referred that to the Electoral Commission."
She said it "absolutely" should have had the authorisation on it as per the law, and the party made it "abundantly clear" to candidates that responsibility lay with them.
Electoral Commission legal and policy manager Kristina Temel said: "We have received an enquiry, and the Green Party has contacted us, about an election advertisement declared in Darleen Tana’s 2023 candidate return and whether it included a promoter statement as required by the Electoral Act. We will look into it and make inquiries with the candidate and the publisher."
Section 204F of the Electoral Act states election advertisements must include a promoter statement, stating the name and address of the promoter.
"If the election advertisement is published in a visual form, the promoter statement must be clearly displayed in the advertisement ... A person who wilfully contravenes any of subsections ... is guilty of an illegal practice."
The ad, which was in the magazine's May 2023 issue, took the form of a written profile of the then-MP hopeful, calling her a "purpose-driven businesswoman". It concluded by directing readers to the Green Party's webpage on Tana.
It was not marked as an advertisement on the page as is usual practice for news organisations to delineate advertisements from bona fide journalism.
It's been a torrid year for the Green Party to date, with Golriz Ghahraman resigning after shoplifting allegations - which she had since admitted - came to light.
An outburst by senior MP Julie Anne Genter in Parliament, which is now subject to a Privileges Committee process, could see her punished by other senior MPs.
The party has also faced the tragic death of MP Efeso Collins, and farewelled former co-leader James Shaw, who was replaced in the role by Swarbrick.
Last year, one of its MPs, Elizabeth Kerekere, quit the party after allegations of bullying when she accidentally sent a text apparently calling Swarbrick a "crybaby" to the party's group chat on a messaging app.
The investigation into Tana has so far cost $43,000 and lasted nine weeks.
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