Sad but glad

Russel Norman will be leaving Parliament and the Greens to take up a position as head of Greenpeace NZ. We all knew something like this was coming, ever since he resigned as co-leader, but its still sad to see him go. OTOH, he's done his bit, changed New Zealand for the better even from opposition, and decided to move on to contribute in another way. And that's something we should celebrate, not be disappointed by. And the contrast with Labour, whose incumbents hang on grimly because they've got nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, couldn't be clearer.

Another thing we should celebrate is his replacement, Marama Davidson. I was disappointed to see her miss out on Parliament on election night, and glad to see her enter as a mid-term replacement. And there's clearly no shortage of talent in the Green party.