Bradford Sue: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
Bradford Sue: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
[Volume:628;Page:77] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 I had no idea that the first time I would be addressing the House in this new term of Parliament it would be to say just a few words in honour of my dear friend colleague and leader Rod Donald. How could I or anyone else imagine that Rod would be taken from us so unexpectedly and so soon when he was so full of life love energy and hope? Not just the Green party caucus but the entire membership of our party are currently still in a state of shock and disbelief and of deep sadness. Above all our hearts go out to his partner Nicola and to their daughters who I hope will find at least a little consolation in the knowledge that so many people from so many walks of life and from all over New Zealand—and actually from all over the world—are thinking of them and of Rod right now. 
It is terrible that until someone dies in his prime like this so often none of us really discern the breadth and depth of his contribution to the world. As the days have gone by since Sunday morning it has been amazing to hear of all the things that Rod has achieved in his life and it is so sad to think of what might have been if he had been granted a longer time with us. Rod did really want to be a Cabinet Minister; he hoped so much for the opportunity to work alongside Jeanette Fitzsimons—and ultimately alongside other Green MPs as well—to be part of implementing green programmes for environmental sustainability and for economic and social justice in this country. He would have been a great Cabinet Minister. I would have loved to see his passion drive and exuberance harnessed to ministries where he could make a real difference. 
Even though the Greens remain outside Government this time round Rod did get awfully close to his dream of implementing a Buy Kiwi Made programme on behalf of the New Zealand Government. I am glad now that he at least had the opportunity of a few weeks of planning that exciting new next phase of his political life and I know that I and all my fellow Green MPs are committed to doing everything we can to continuing work on Rod’s vision for achieving much greater local sustainability for New Zealand’s economy. 
Just a couple of weeks ago Rod stood beside me as I spoke to the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions biennial conference here in Wellington about our hopes for the next 3 years and of our ongoing commitment to the interests of children of low-income workers of beneficiaries and of all the others who have been left behind by the casual brutality of the market. I am glad that that conference was one of our last times together in political life. There are some people on the left who sometimes criticised Rod because of his overtures to and friendships with some parts of the business community. But I know that underneath that smile and those braces Rod maintained a lifetime commitment to those at the bottom of the economic heap and a healthy disrespect for those who make gross fortunes out of the most exploited forms of labour. 
As some members know it was Rod who invited me back into the Green Party in early 1998 years after I had sworn off ever trying to enter parliamentary politics again. His genuine respect for the work my comrades and I were doing in the unemployed and beneficiary groups in Auckland and elsewhere led me to believe that perhaps there was a place in Parliament and in the Green Party for a somewhat rugged unemployed street activist. 
Rod embodied the dual kaupapa of the Green Party of Aotearoa / New Zealand: caring for Earth and caring for people. We know we cannot do one without the other and Rod throughout his life surely embodied doing that. He was as radical as any of us in his commitment and passion for a safer fairer greener world. 
Finally those members who are experienced MPs understand as well as I do the peculiarly close relationships that develop between members of parties here in the strange environment of Parliament. When one is from one of the smaller parties this is intensified even more. Since December 1999 when five of us joined Rod and Jeanette here we have been an incredibly close team. Rod was not only one of our leaders but also one of us. Losing him like this is like losing a family member in many ways. I ask members to please be patient with us for a little while amidst the hurly-burly of this place even just for a few days. 
I would like to thank so much all those members who have offered their words prayers hugs of sympathy and support and tears with us today and over the last few days. It has meant so much to us. Rod’s spirit will be with us all for a long time to come. Farewell Rod. Farewell dear friend.