Rod Donald
07/11/05 00:49 Filed in: Apple
Well I exchanged a
couple of smart-alecky messages with Rod, through an
intermediary, just before the election. I asked
facetiously if he was disappointed he would never get
into Cabinet. He sent back something suitably
derisive.
As we sat outside the campaign party in Christchurch the night he got elected in 1996 I told him I was pleased he was going to parliament, unlike some of the others we put into parliament that night. I came to retract my delight later when we differed on a few decisions he made, though I always thought he had MP quality.
I never saw Rod get truly angry or, alternatively, sulk at anyone. I can't think of another MP I could say that about so I suppose that testifies to uniqueness, cheerfulness and professionalism.
The only decent MPs are those who go there to further ideas; poor MPs go simply because they have an inflated idea of themselves, though you need to have belief in yourself to be successful. Well Rod had belief in himself, and he had a commitment to ideas and he was consistent and persistent in promoting them.
He arrived at parliament wearing braces, put a flower pot on his desk in the chamber, made a noise about his possum seat cover and moved to re-name the whip 'Parliamentary Co-ordinator' (For Crying Out Loud!). Then he tried to have rules changed so that he didn't have to wear a tie in the debating chamber. It all seemed a bit marginal when there was real work to be done.
He grew more effective, especially after 2000. He could have accomplished a lot more. He could have been a Cabinet Minister if he'd done things differently. By this year there was a long list of things I did not agree with him about - though, equally, a long list I approved of. It's hard to follow politics from this distance. He handled himself very well this year from what I saw. He locked on message and maintained a sober reassuring composure even after he got shafted on Cabinet.
I'm shocked he has died so young and with so much still to do.
We talked that night, 12 October 1996, about the costs to his family of his parliamentary job. He was aware of the load he was imposing through the time away and through the stresses, changes and emotional strains public figures drag back home. How his family must wish back some of those hours and days now. His parliamentary super was diverted into the Greens' special fund that bought a house and helped the party raise cash. I hope it's been arranged to ensure his family are secure.
We visited a thousand year old Gothic cathedral in Chartres today just after we heard the news. Inside the ancient stone walls Josie lit a candle for Rod. I'm not sure - but I suspect - Rod was no more Catholic than I am... but there is a small corner of France where he is remembered.
As we sat outside the campaign party in Christchurch the night he got elected in 1996 I told him I was pleased he was going to parliament, unlike some of the others we put into parliament that night. I came to retract my delight later when we differed on a few decisions he made, though I always thought he had MP quality.
I never saw Rod get truly angry or, alternatively, sulk at anyone. I can't think of another MP I could say that about so I suppose that testifies to uniqueness, cheerfulness and professionalism.
The only decent MPs are those who go there to further ideas; poor MPs go simply because they have an inflated idea of themselves, though you need to have belief in yourself to be successful. Well Rod had belief in himself, and he had a commitment to ideas and he was consistent and persistent in promoting them.
He arrived at parliament wearing braces, put a flower pot on his desk in the chamber, made a noise about his possum seat cover and moved to re-name the whip 'Parliamentary Co-ordinator' (For Crying Out Loud!). Then he tried to have rules changed so that he didn't have to wear a tie in the debating chamber. It all seemed a bit marginal when there was real work to be done.
He grew more effective, especially after 2000. He could have accomplished a lot more. He could have been a Cabinet Minister if he'd done things differently. By this year there was a long list of things I did not agree with him about - though, equally, a long list I approved of. It's hard to follow politics from this distance. He handled himself very well this year from what I saw. He locked on message and maintained a sober reassuring composure even after he got shafted on Cabinet.
I'm shocked he has died so young and with so much still to do.
We talked that night, 12 October 1996, about the costs to his family of his parliamentary job. He was aware of the load he was imposing through the time away and through the stresses, changes and emotional strains public figures drag back home. How his family must wish back some of those hours and days now. His parliamentary super was diverted into the Greens' special fund that bought a house and helped the party raise cash. I hope it's been arranged to ensure his family are secure.
We visited a thousand year old Gothic cathedral in Chartres today just after we heard the news. Inside the ancient stone walls Josie lit a candle for Rod. I'm not sure - but I suspect - Rod was no more Catholic than I am... but there is a small corner of France where he is remembered.
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