[4] Swarbrick is Green Party Spokesperson for Mental Health, Drug Law Reform, Revenue, Climate Change, and Finance.

[11] Around the same time, she began working in the newsroom at the student radio station 95bFM as a news writer and newsreader, before becoming a producer and eventually host of The Wire.

The pair also opened a cafe and gallery, Olly, now listed permanently closed, next to the Crystal Palace Theatre in Mount Eden.

[22] In 2016 as a mayoral candidate, she gave a speech at a human blockade (organised by Auckland Peace Action) that briefly interrupted a New Zealand Defence Industry Association Forum.

[37] Swarbrick also inherited the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis and Other Matters) Amendment Bill[38] from fellow Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter.

[45] In response to New Zealand's synthetics crisis and more than 50 associated deaths,[46] Swarbrick launched a campaign for an end to the criminalisation of drug users and addicts.

She criticised the "Say Nope to Dope" campaign for allegedly spreading misinformation and called on her fellow MPs to support drug reform.

[55] Swarbrick also worked to establish and expand the Piki pilot programme, which provides young people aged 18–25 with free mental health support.

[58] Swarbrick has publicly challenged the Minister of Finance to use his discretion under the Crown Entities Act to take "action to prevent a climate crisis".

[69] During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Swarbrick contested and won the Auckland Central electorate, which had previously been held by retiring National MP Nikki Kaye.

[70] She became the second Green MP to have won an electorate in 21 years after former Greens Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons won Coromandel in 1999, and the second minor party MP since the introduction of MMP in 1996 to win a general electorate seat without a tacit endorsement from a major party leader, after Winston Peters in Tauranga and later Northland.

[76] On 5 April 2023, Swarbrick's Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Bill was defeated at its first reading by a margin of 89 to 30 votes.

Ultimately, 17 Labour MPs including the outgoing Jacinda Ardern joined the Greens and Te Pāti Māori in voting for the bill.

Opposition to the bill centred on concerns about government overreach, its potential economic impact on businesses and the loss of funding from the alcohol industry for sports clubs.

[78][77] During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Swarbrick was re-elected as the Member of the Auckland Central electorate by a margin of 3,896 votes, defeating the National Party's candidate Mahesh Muralidhar.

[79] On 29 November 2023, Swarbrick assumed the Green Party's associate climate change (adaptation), tertiary education and skills, revenue, mental health, drug law reform and Auckland Issues portfolios.

[80] On 13 December 2023, Swarbrick accused Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of lying about not weakening New Zealand's actions on climate change during a parliamentary debate.

After ACT party leader David Seymour raised a point of order, Speaker Gerry Brownlee told her to apologise to Luxon.

Swarbrick refused to apologise, stating that she was criticising the Government's policy rather than accusing him of lying; which would have constituted a breach of parliamentary rules.

[82] After James Shaw announced in late January 2024 that he would be retiring from politics and resigning as co-leader, Swarbrick declared on 2 February 2024 that she would be running in the 2024 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand co-leadership election to replace him.

Swarbrick also criticised the incumbent National-led coalition government, claiming they were beholden to oil, gas and mining lobbyists seeking to destroy the environment.

[21] The title OK Chlöe is based on the saying "OK Boomer", which is a phrase that Swarbrick said during a parliamentary speech in reply to a heckle from a National Party MP.

"[96] The film also talks about her background, from her personal life with her being adopted, struggles with mental health and coming out as bisexual, to her running for Auckland Mayor.

In response to criticism, Swarbrick and Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi defended NZ On Air's decision to fund Being Chloe.

[105] In early November 2023, Swarbrick attracted criticism from ACT leader David Seymour, Israel Institute of New Zealand spokesperson David Cumin, and New Zealand Jewish Council leader Juliet Moses for chanting the slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" during a Palestine solidarity rally held in response to the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.

[106][107] Swarbrick was accompanied by Ricardo Menéndez March, Steve Abel, and Darleen Tana, who chanted the phrase and called for "Palestine to be free".

[108] Caretaker Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, and fellow Labour MPs Phil Twyford and Duncan Webb described the phrase as a "loaded statement which they would not use".

[108] Alternative Jewish Voices co-founder Marilyn Garson stated "the phrase was not a threat, but a call from the disempowered, dispossessed and oppressed for the regime of power to change.