The civil war inside the NSW Greens will intensify this weekend when delegates consider a vote to block upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham from contesting the state election.
The party's powerful standing campaign committee (SCC) has proposed a motion of no confidence in Mr Buckingham, after he was accused of "sexual violence" against a former party employee.
Jeremy Buckingham, centre, has divided the Greens. Credit:
Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, used parliamentary privilege last month to call on Mr Buckingham to stand aside amid accusations of bad behaviour, which she said did not only include sexual harassment.
Former Greens employee Ella Buckland complained to the Greens in April about an alleged sexual harassment incident involving Mr Buckingham that occurred in 2011.
The SCC motion says: "The Greens NSW has lost confidence in Jeremy Buckingham MP as a representative and spokesperson for the party and, therefore, determines that he should no longer be a Greens NSW candidate for the 2019 NSW state election."
It also calls on Mr Buckingham to step aside and "vacate his position on the ticket."
But in a letter sent to Greens party organisers, Mr Buckingham said this was the third time a similar proposal had been considered by party delegates and it amounted to "factional revenge" from a "lynch mob".
"Certain MPs and factional operatives have been running a smear campaign against me, have weaponised a sexual harassment claim and have used the media and parliamentary privilege to manufacture a sense of crisis to justify overturning the preselection result," Mr Buckingham wrote.
Mr Buckingham said Ms Leong told the Greens' party room that he had to resign or she would make a series of allegations against Mr Buckingham in Parliament.
"This proposal suggests that the party has ‘lost confidence’ in me, but it does not say why," Mr Buckingham wrote.
Greens MP Jenny Leong has called for her colleague Jeremy Buckingham to resign.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
"It is vague, because the SCC know that there has been no finding of wrongdoing, nor has any complaint been upheld against me."
An internal investigation by WorkDynamic was launched after Ms Buckland's complaint.
The report found there was insufficient evidence "that a reasonable person could conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that an incident/incidents of sexual harassment as defined by the legislation has occurred".
Ms Leong's speech in Parliament divided the party room, with fellow MPs David Shoebridge and Jamie Parker supporting her, while Justin Field, Dawn Walker and Cate Faehrmann warned it was a "political weapon".
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, a former NSW upper house MP, also issued a statement with Ms Leong, saying Mr Buckingham should stand down.
Ballina MP Tamara Smith tweeted that she supported Ms Faruqi and Ms Leong's statement, but it was later revealed she told Mr Buckingham in a text message that she thought Ms Leong's speech was "clap trap".
The SCC motion also calls on the party to commit to "a formal and independent review of Greens NSW processes, including complaints processes and the Greens NSW constitution" to start before January 1 next year.
It follows a call from Mr Field and Ms Faehrmann, who said urgent reform was necessary to avoid an "irreparable split" in the party that could significantly damage their electoral chances.
The Greens hold three lower house seats – Balmain, Newtown and Ballina – and five upper house seats. The party also hopes to win Lismore at the state election in March.