MMP is Rod Donald’s lasting legacy

The Aotearoa Left mourns today the loss of Green Party co-leader Rod Donald whose lasting legacy is MMP, for which he campaigned long and hard.

The Alliance offers sincere condolences to Mr Donald’s family and to his comrades in the Green Party.

Mr Donald’s sudden death is a huge blow to all those seeking a fairer society in Aotearoa. And the Green Party will sorely miss his charismatic leadership.

Alliance President Jill Ovens says Mr Donald could always be relied on to take a principled stand on issues like fair trade, but perhaps his greatest contribution to New Zealand politics was MMP.

“MMP provided fairer representation because the number of MPs more closely matched a party’s support across the country,” Ms Ovens says.

“It was fitting that MMP gave Rod his chance to enter Parliament in 1996 as an Alliance MP, and significantly it was MMP that gave the Green Party its opportunity to establish itself as a party that was able to contest the 1999 Election independently of the Alliance.”

Although she and others in an unofficial Red/Green coalition opposed the move to separate the two parties at the time, Ms Ovens says Mr Donald saw that the Greens’ message was being lost within the Alliance as it was then.

“Rod was proven to be correct. The Greens have consistently attracted 5-7% support from the electorate and have been able to take their place in Parliament in their own right.” END

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