John Armstrong: Ceremony a cruel reminder of Parliament's loss

It was one of many choke-back-the-tears moments during what was always going to be a gruelling afternoon for Jeanette Fitzsimons and her Green Party colleagues.

With the party still disbelieving of Rod Donald's death and half-expecting him any moment to walk into the room, the first-day procedures of the new Parliament had a unique if somewhat brutal way of reminding the Greens that he would not be coming back.

The moment arrived during the swearing-in of MPs when Mr Donald's name would normally have been called and the Greens' co-leader would have stepped forward to take the oath of allegiance, sign the Roll of Members and then bounce back to his seat on the Opposition benches.

With the ceremony proceeding alphabetically, National newcomer Jacqui Dean was instead followed by NZ First's Brian Donnelly without mention of Mr Donald, who would have preceded him.

That recognition came later. But as Mr Donnelly took the oath, Ms Fitzsimons turned to the empty seat beside her, held her gaze and - as she related later - reflected, "Yup, it should have been you, mate".

She and the four other Green MPs - Sue Bradford, Sue Kedgley, Keith Locke and Metiria Turei - had earlier entered the chamber carrying a small "peace" candle, Mr Donald's trademark environment-friendly possum-fur seat cover, a bunch of flowers and a large suitably green-framed photograph of their bare-footed colleague.

Amid the first-day-of-term chatter of excited MPs around them, the Greens' sombre procession quietly made its way to where Mr Donald would have been sitting and spread the cover over his seat, propped up the photograph and placed the candle on the desk in front.

The impromptu shrine completed, they stepped back and stood in silence for a few moments.

The hubbub around them quickly subsided as senior members went over to offer their condolences.

Both the shock of Mr Donald's sudden death and the deep respect across the House for someone Ms Fitzsimons described as a "dedicated parliamentarian" melted the ideological divide.

Leader of the House Michael Cullen was the first in a long line of members from all parties offering hugs to Ms Fitzsimons and the other Greens, while National's tough-minded welfare reform spokeswoman, Judith Collins, and the equally staunch former beneficiary advocate Sue Bradford consoled each other.
Following her re-election as Speaker, Margaret Wilson paid special tribute to Mr Donald, saying he understood "better than most" the trust that people placed in those who represented them as MPs. "His parliamentary service is an example to us all."

MPs then stood for a minute's silence before the House rose. There was a final, touching tribute. On their way out of the chamber, MPs each placed a stem of orange flowers on his desk - the colour chosen to match Mr Donald's ginger hair.

As the pile grew bigger, the seat just looked even more empty.