Shearer's the man

Willie Jackson Opinion

Monday, 5th December, 2011

Opinion: The 2014 election could be won or lost within the next fortnight when Labour MPs choose who'll take over from Phil Goff as their leader.

Winning this latest election wasn't necessarily mission impossible for Phil when he followed on from Helen Clark three years ago. But the odds were against him.

One factor was simply that a lot of people, even in recent weeks, still hadn't got over being tired of and brassed off with Labour – which is why they'd got rid of them in 2008.

Another was that, for some reason, much of the country seemed happy to keep extending John Key's honeymoon.

So it ran for a full three years and he was able to carry on with his goofy smile, his aw shucks manner – and the dodgy idea that because he'd been a slickster as a currency trader he was a guru in guiding New Zealand's economy.

Then a third element in the mix was that Phil Goff wasn't the man to galvanise the folk who've always suspected that National is too sweet on private enterprise and capitalism, too self-satisfied and too clueless about non-Pakeha to serve a healthy Kiwi society.

Phil was admirably earnest, bright, well-informed, experienced, hard-working and decent. But we want something more from our leaders. And Phil didn't have it.

Next week, though, Labour may choose a leader who'll put John Key on the back foot.

Early on all the focus in this leadership contest was on David Parker and David Cunliffe. Grant Robertson too. And fair enough because they've all shown that they can foot it at that level. They're genuine contenders.

But I suspect that the best investment by far would be David Shearer. He's a 54-year-old who won the Mt Albert byelection when Helen Clark opted out of New Zealand politics in 2009. So some of the commentators have been right to refer to his inexperience as a parliamentarian.

But he brings a wealth of other experience including work as a ministerial adviser in the Beehive which means he knows how Wellington works.

It's his other career, however, that sets him apart. He's spent years working for the UN and other organisations in hot spots such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Somalia.

Relief work has been his specialty. He was saving lives while John Key was piling up his dollars.

And that's a contrast that New Zealanders may warm to over the next three years.

There's more though. He's a relaxed, unpretentious guy with a ready smile. Approachable. Likeable. And quite possibly more than a match for Mr Key.

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