New Zealand Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick was ordered to leave Parliament on 12 August after she refused to withdraw remarks made during an urgent debate on whether the country should recognise a Palestinian state. Speaker Gerry Brownlee deemed her comment that the government lacked “a spine” on the issue “completely unacceptable” and ejected her when she declined to apologise. The debate was called after the centre-right coalition said it was still weighing its position, even as Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom signalled they would support recognition at a United Nations conference in September. Swarbrick described New Zealand as a “laggard” and urged government MPs to back a Green Party bill introduced in March that would impose sanctions on Israel for alleged war crimes. Brownlee said Swarbrick could return to the chamber the following day provided she retracted her statement. Foreign Minister Winston Peters told lawmakers the cabinet would decide in September, adding that Wellington would “weigh this decision carefully rather than rush to judgement.” Opposition parties Labour and Te Pāti Māori join the Greens in supporting recognition of Palestinian statehood.