Mark Ron: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
Mark Ron: Obituaries — Rt Hon David Russell Lange ONZ CH John Finlay Luxton QSO Hon John Howard Falloon CNZM Rod David Donald 
[Volume:628;Page:74] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to endorse the motions of the Prime Minister. I say at the outset that it is indeed a sad day when we as parliamentary colleagues in this House are here to remember three former members of Parliament and the untimely death of Rod Donald. 
The Hon John Falloon of Pahiatua where I am from was always regarded back in the Wairarapa as being a gentleman. In fact most of us in Pahiatua who grew up under the mantle of the Rt Hon Keith Jacka Holyoake always felt and believed that the Hon John Falloon was the ideal man to carry on in that position for he demonstrated the principles values and views of Keith Jacka Holyoake. 
I never had the honour or privilege of meeting Jack Luxton but I did have the privilege of serving in a coalition Government alongside the Hon John Luxton who clearly is a chip off the old block. If the words I have heard today about the man whom members in this Chamber knew are true then all I can say after my time working alongside John Luxton is that this House has indeed been doubly blessed by the presence of those two gentlemen. Our condolences and sympathies go to the families of the Hon John Falloon and Jack Luxton. 
I want to speak briefly on David Lange. It is interesting that I never actually served alongside David Lange. It is true that David was one of New Zealand’s most notable Prime Ministers. In reflecting back I remember that as a young soldier I thought Robert Muldoon was just the bee’s knees. I voted consistently for Robert Muldoon and kept the fact secret from my wife who was a Labour Party member at the time. But in 1984 as an officer in the army I changed my vote and voted for David Lange. I saw something in that man that I believed in. Of course I also learnt quickly—and I had an opportunity to recount this to David when we had finished giving an interview down in Christchurch a year or so ago—how when one is an officer in the army it is not really a smart thing firstly to vote Labour and secondly to admit to it. 
Of course I had no idea at that time that a vote for Labour would lead to the sell-off of State assets—something I vigorously opposed—the banning of nuclear-propelled vessels from entering our waters and the subsequent collapse of the ANZUS agreement. As an officer in the New Zealand Army and latterly as a contract officer working in the sultanate of Oman where there also happened to be a lot of ex - New Zealand Army officers I always felt that the officers held me personally responsible for David Lange’s having declared New Zealand a nuclear-free zone and specifically for the collapse of the ANZUS agreement. I actually told David that when we were standing outside Newstalk ZB’s offices down in Christchurch at which he laughed and made some rather derogatory comments about old army officers of that era—I do not intend to repeat those comments here. 
I take this opportunity though to say that whatever the nation’s view of the former Prime Minister Lange’s tenure there is no doubt at all that he was one of New Zealand’s most notable Prime Ministers. He was a courageous compassionate and principled man—a man whose life we as a nation can forever take strength from. I ask members to reflect on how reluctant we are these days to celebrate and commemorate great New Zealanders. In fact these days it seems that we will fall over ourselves to erect somewhat meaningless works of art such as the two out the back of Parliament—one that looks like a concrete banana and the other a concrete carrot half buried in the ground—but we will not it seems move so swiftly to commemorate and remember great men such as Norman Kirk or indeed David Lange by erecting a statue in their memory. I just leave the House to ponder that. 
Rod Donald was a fellow classmate from 1996. There is a heck of a lot that Rod Donald and Ron Mark certainly did not have in common—and members will probably know more about that than about what we did have in common. It is no secret that New Zealand First and the Greens clash in many areas and that we do not see eye to eye on a number of issues. But in a number of areas Rod and I always shared the same view. One was electoral reform—Rod supported the proportional representation systems. He was well known for leading the campaign and for being the front man of the Electoral Reform Coalition which was successful in bringing us MMP. Despite the rantings of some people around this country who yearn for the days of old I still believe that the work Rod Donald did in bringing us MMP was one of the best things that has happened to this country. 
He was a great advocate for the single transferable vote system; in actual fact that was the voting system I voted for. I know that dairy farmers all over the country agree with my vote because that is the system they selected for electing their board of directors at Fonterra. It is quite amazing sometimes that those very same people rubbish and condemn MMP. I sometimes wonder who the confused people are in our communities. 
Rod Donald was a front man for the campaign for electoral reform. He worked with a very good friend of mine—indeed a gentleman who was my campaign manager in 1993 when I stood for Labour Mr Tony Day now Dr Tony Day who lives in Tucson Arizona. Like New Zealand First Rod Donald pursued fair trade as opposed to free trade and in particular campaigned against a free-trade agreement with China. He opposed the sale of State assets and was committed to social justice. His views on the strengths and weaknesses of the New Zealand economy had me on occasion during the election campaign absolutely convinced that he was reading one of Winston Peters’ speeches. 
He sought and campaigned for the rights of the elderly. He sought and campaigned for better wages for low-income workers and for an increase in the minimum wage. Again those are policies and issues that are dear to the heart of New Zealand First and in particular to myself. He sought as we did more funding for the carers of elderly people. I believe he was embarrassed that due to the coalition agreement with Labour in 1999 he was unable to support Peter Brown’s amendments to the Employment Relations Act which would have given greater protection and greater recognition to casual workers. Indeed I know from many discussions I had with Rod that that is one area about which we always believed there was more work to be done. 
 I remember his quiet support in the background to me when I was fighting to get the activities of the “goon squad” laid bare for all of New Zealand to see his support of me and of New Zealand First policy in our stance on the invasion of Iraq by the United States his love of rugby and of course his undying support for the Canterbury Crusaders. I will probably never agree with some of those descriptions he meted out to my leader the Rt Hon Winston Peters—comments such as “snake-oil merchant” come to mind comments such as “fascist” and “racist”—but I guess that it is a mark of Rod Donald’s unique ability to woo the media that leads us today to have people like Mark Sainsbury saying on television that he never played the man; he always played the ball. 
It is funny how things turn out is it not? I remember when I was whip and a member of the Parliamentary Service Commission how frustrating it was to have discussions on highly sensitive issues only to have them leaked to the media. But that was Rod—Rod always pursued the things that he believed were right and he always campaigned on the issues he believed in. I will always remember with great pride how he sought me out and congratulated me on an article I had had published in the Christchurch  
Press 
 outlining New Zealand First’s and my views on the impending United States invasion of Iraq and why we could not support such an invasion. 
Of course as I am a former army officer and a person who served in the Middle East for 6 years I know that it was clearly the view of most people that Ron Mark and New Zealand First would support such an invasion. I will always remember and appreciate the comments of Rod Donald in the week that that article was published and the quiet support and respect he gave me for it. 
I conclude by reading out an email copied to me today. It is from a New Zealander known to many people in this House and specifically to the Labour Party a man known to Gerry Brownlee because I think he campaigned for Labour as a candidate in Ilam on numerous occasions and as I have already said he was my campaign manager for my bid for Parliament in 1993 in the seat of Selwyn against Ruth Richardson. 
This email is from Dr W Anthony Day a research associate of the Arizona Research Laboratories at the department of neuroscience in the University of Arizona Tucson. It reads: “I was shocked to hear of Rod’s sudden death. I enjoyed my time with the ERC from the first Christchurch meeting to beyond the first MMP election. I particularly enjoyed working with Rod. His dedication constant good humour and enthusiasm were inspirational. The US Democratic Party needs a Rod. My thoughts go out to the ERC the Greens and particularly to Nicola Emma Holly and Zoe. Regards Tony Day.” I could not have said it better myself.