John Armstrong: Greens lose crucial frontman

Rod Donald's death has cruelly robbed the Greens of someone they could least afford to lose: someone whose acute political instincts, acumen and tactical foresight kept the party's feet firmly on the ground while others had their heads in the clouds.

The loss is a savage blow to a party still trying to pick itself up off the floor after a disappointing election and the subsequent disappointment of missing out on governing in coalition with Labour.

The party may have to look beyond the caucus for a replacement co-leader who, by virtue of the Greens' stance on gender equality, must be a male.

Donald was a very deliberate voice of moderation. Keith Locke, the only other male in the caucus, is not.

Nandor Tanczos may return to Parliament to fill the vacant slot in the caucus, but he is typecast as a single-issue politician and is not a serious contender.

A co-leader does not have to be an MP. One possible replacement is Russel Norman, the party's articulate election campaign manager. He is No 10 on the party list, and conceivably others ahead of him could be persuaded to forgo becoming an MP in favour of lifting his profile.

He is in the camp pushing social justice policies and would thus balance the environmental thrust of Jeanette Fitzsimons, the other co-leader.

One thing the Greens have no shortage of is idealists - and, without question, Donald was one of them, be it campaigning for fairer international trade or a free Tibet.

But he was of a rare and valuable breed: a politician's kind of politician. He could suss out the politics in something before most had even noticed it happening.
He was a realist. He was not prepared to sacrifice Green goals, but he realised ways and means had to be found to get to Utopia.

He was the party's most adept communicator, particularly with the news media, whom he courted because he knew they are vital to the Greens selling their messages.

Few other MPs frequent the corridor of the parliamentary press gallery as much as Donald did.

It was always Donald who would be on the phone late at night hoping for some pre-publication hint of how the party had fared in the latest opinion poll.

He was the "bridge" between the Greens' view of the universe and the world's somewhat suspicious view of the Greens.

He was ambitious about making ministerial office - and honest and open enough not to hide it.

He was angry and disappointed about being shut out of power by Winston Peters and Peter Dunne

Yet, even when he donned a suit to present a more conformist image - as he did when the Greens met the business elite recently - he liked to wear his garish trademark braces.

He may have been the Greens' most pragmatically minded MP, but he was willing to make only so much concession to compromise.

Most of all, he played a vital secondary role in the Greens' most visible double act.

Fitzsimons is a walking advertisement for Green idealism - and the party uses her as such as a branding device.

Donald's role was to present a more accommodating face. The Greens now have to find someone who has his political nous and can carry the party into a new era when Fitzsimons retires.

Donald's death leaves a gaping hole colleagues will find is even bigger than they may realise.