David Shearer

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, April 22nd, 2009 - 34 comments
Categories: labour, mt albert - Tags:

So, Labour’s flying in some bloke called David Shearer to have a tilt at the Mt Albert selection. Apparently he’s been working for the UN Development Programme in Iraq and has quite a bit of foreign policy background. People like him, wife and kids, ticks all the boxes. He also seems to be pretty close to Goff and Twyford.

According to the Herald:

He is classed as a leading contender by the party hierarchy to contest the by-election but will still have to win support of the local electorate organisation.

I’m always a bit skeptical of parties where head office has a lot of power in candidate selection (the Greens being a notable exception to the rule) but the fact is in a hard-fought by-election like this Labour’s going to need to keep its local organisation onside if they want to have a shot at winning, and that can only be a good thing.

There’s still talk of at least one more highly credible candidate putting his hat in the ring today but we’ll have to wait and see whether that pans out. One thing’s for sure, the selection race just got a whole lot more interesting.

34 comments on “David Shearer ”

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  1. dave 1
    22 April 2009 at 6:46 pm

    I’m always a bit skeptical of parties where head office has a lot of power in candidate selection (the Greens being a notable exception to the rule)

    Yes its not likely there will be a Green party forced by-election any time soon heh. Just as well as there may be some list place rejigging going on.

  2. Patrick 2
    22 April 2009 at 7:12 pm

    I may be really missing something obvious, but reading the article you’ve linked to, it really seems like his name is David Shearer.

  3. Lindsey 3
    22 April 2009 at 7:24 pm

    David Shearer is a great bloke. I first came across him during the Auckland Central Labour campaign in 1999 where he was one of the sector leaders on Election Day. He has since stood in Whangarei and stood for selection in Waitakere, in between doing humanitarian work overseas and being named New Zealander of the Year a few years ago.
    Mind you, looking at the lineup of Labour hopefulls in Mt Albert, there is some real talent there and it will be a fascinating selection.

  4. gobsmacked 4
    22 April 2009 at 7:29 pm

    “Some bloke”?

    Well, he’s only given interviews to just about every major media outlet and been in just about every war zone in the past many years. He’s only one of the most important New Zealanders in the world.

    He hasn’t been on Dancing With The Stars, though.

    I suppose this is what happens when the NZ media give up on foreign news. If he’d cared less about Palestine, and more about paso doble, he’d be a household name.

  5. Tane 5
    22 April 2009 at 7:37 pm

    Well, yeah, I’ve never heard of him before today and I follow politics closer than most. The “some bloke” remark was largely tongue-in-cheek though, as he’s clearly has made a name for himself in foreign affairs.

  6. gingercrush 6
    22 April 2009 at 7:38 pm

    I’ve no doubt he is a talented guy. But it simply justifies the fact Twyford was told not to stand for Mt. Albert. The Labour party heads in my mind are controlling the selection and will ultimately appoint the candidate they want. That may well not be in the best interest of Mt. Albert. I would say though, I don’t think it will matter. While the contest will be much closer than what happened election day. I believe Labour should win the seat and likely easier than some believe at the moment. Though Melissa Lee will be formidable herself and should find herself in a safe National seat in 2011.

  7. David 7
    22 April 2009 at 8:19 pm

    Nine nominees:
    http://tinyurl.com/c2by9w

    Meg Bates
    Glenda Fryer
    Simon Mitchell
    Stuart Prossor
    David Shearer
    Farida Sultana
    Chris Tremewan
    Rhema Vaithianathan
    Helen White.

  8. Tom Semmens 8
    22 April 2009 at 8:53 pm

    One thing abour Shearer – since the NZ Herald made him man of the year once, they’ll find it hard to run their usual smears and half-truths, after suitable laundering via blubber oil and Farrar of course.

  10. Ian 10
    23 April 2009 at 7:18 am

    anyone but Glenda please
    Mt Albert Voter

  11. jarbury 11
    23 April 2009 at 12:00 pm

    Whoever it is will have a battle on their hands for the centre-left vote. In my email this morning:

    Hi all

    As of today, the only nominee for the candidate for the Mt Albert by-election is Russel Norman. The selection process will still be adhered to but, as Russel is uncontested, is likely to be a formality.

    Russel is excited at the prospect of standing for Mt Albert and having a co-leader as our candidate should also boost media interest in the Green campaign. Radio New Zealand have already asked to speak to the potential candidates and and an interview with Russel with be broadcast by them tomorrow.

    I hope that the electorate will now get behind Russel and put in every effort to help him win the seat.

    Cheers

  12. George Darroch 12
    23 April 2009 at 12:35 pm

    A strong field from Labour. Russell Norman might be a gamechanger, but only if he has a strong campaign (and it’s going to need to be pretty good to beat Labour, who are investing great amounts of time and energy into this).

    I thought he lived in Wellington. He might have moved, I really don’t know, so will hold off from accusations for the moment. Jackson Wood’s joke about campaigning from Mt Victoria might be true though.

    • BLiP 12.1
      23 April 2009 at 12:47 pm

      That Norman is seriously beginning to piss me off. There was no indication during the election he would start knob-gobbling the Goober or stirring it up in the Labour electorates, and just look at this shit .

      John Key’s recent signals of fiscal prudence in the upcoming Budget are to be praised, said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

      FFS!

      • ripp0 12.1.1
        23 April 2009 at 2:59 pm

        not to sidetrack this thread – (which had gotten off to a bad start with its mis-named ‘candidate’ seeker anyway) – but a visit to Blip’s link raised several aspects worthy of mention in regard this very week’s news parlors..

        Saith Dr. Norman :—

        “The Government’s Budget should look a lot more like a light rail line than a road if we’re going to build a credible response to climate change in to the very fabric of our economy,’

        That road/rail thing for instance..?

        The fact/s of someone else this week at the standard linking to a NZHerald story about the NZ Road Transport Forum anticipating greater access to ‘regional’ MPs in return for electioneering contributions. Lobbyists go visit, you might say. Yet for what..?

        Don’t be naivé ripp0, people don’t shell out $5K and more for nothing! No, they can expect in this brave new world taintery that the Greens would get alongside of so as to advance the party’s own agenda, that the dosh was facilitation-speak. Huh..?

        Move to RNZ’s Morning Report this very day when one aspect of ‘road’ alignment politics was aptly revealed. A change of government—a change of law/rules/policy and how the great petrol-driven motoring public were now tasked to pay roadtax for what formerly fell upon those heavier vehicles known as diesel trucks had been paying previously. Get that guys—you are now paying 8¢ more per liter and a disproportionate amount of roadtax relative to usage upon the state’s roads. While the dieselers are paying considerably less. [RNZ will have the story, I’m fairly sure]

        In defense the dieselers’ spokesperson – Mr Freedlander(ph) – said that the new charges were in accord with “international” standards or practice, and that NZ was now on the mark, so to speak. Unspoken, however, was how those dieselers in the main were in business where costs are passed on to ensure/secure business profitability. This, in turn, shifting into the wider economy etc etc.. On the point one might well ask well, has freight came down in price and this change thereby passing benefit throughout the economy.. ? Or have diesel truckings et al been hanging in there.. for secure greater profitability at consumers’ considerbale (such things compound up don’t they ever) expense.

        Yet, excuse me, tiny digression should not take us away from the significance of the NZRTF and Mr. Freedland’s declared position: that interrnational authorites are dictating what kiwi drivers, particularly petrol motive folks, shall now and henceforth pay disproportionately* in respect of their roads’ costs. What’s more the exposé reveals a government prepared to change things to effect the whole electorate’s disadvantage…!

        That they would do so out of pre-emptive lobbying at costs borne by their whole business enterprise may be the line of conspiracy theorists… but such an suggestion does not of itself prove that a conspiracy has not occurred..

        More to the point, IMO, is how it aint the deceit that is so much the problem.. as the cover-up.. and so many aspects involved..

        * correct me if I’m wrong but that’s the claim of an AA or other motorists’ organisation guy on-air.

        ps: Stick with rail, Dr. Norman, for the moment it is more direct(transport efficiency) and responsible(mass, environmenatly to do so.

      • Nick 12.1.2
        24 April 2009 at 11:23 am

        Couldn’t agree more BLiP. First the Greens cosy up to the Nats, and now they choose Mt Albert to demonstrate their independence despite the risk to the centre-left as a whole. Time for Labour to cut the Greens off completely.

  13. gobsmacked 13
    23 April 2009 at 1:05 pm

    Jarbury

    What is the source of that e-mail? It is very unusual for the Greens to say that candidate selections are a “formality”, in advance of an announcement. They like to adhere strictly to the democratic rules and spirit.

    Can you clarify please?

    • jarbury 13.1
      23 April 2009 at 3:05 pm

      Cate Alcorn. Mt Albert Greens committee or something like that. I’m a Green Party member who’s enrolled in the Mt Albert electorate so I guess I ended up on their mailing list.

      Sounds like I let the cat out of the bag as nobody else has reported this yet.

  14. suraya 14
    23 April 2009 at 1:19 pm

    He looks like a good candidate on paper but Shearer makes a bit of a mockery of Labour’s renewal message. What is he renewing, Goff’s powerbase of middle-aged male bureaucrat mates?

  15. Pat 15
    23 April 2009 at 1:31 pm

    Shearer has credentials that will appeal to many voters, but maybe he is hopeless at campaigning. He failed in Whangarei in 2002 at a time when the Nats were being dumped all around the country. Shearer is Goff’s mate, but Goff is going to have to hold his hand all the way through.

  16. gobsmacked 16
    23 April 2009 at 1:36 pm

    Bureaucrat? How many suicide bombers do they have in Wellington?

    If you want life experience – and I mean life and fucking death, not debates about local council by-laws in Opunake – then Shearer has it, and then some.

  17. gobsmacked 17
    23 April 2009 at 2:57 pm

    Get a grip on the world, Suraya. You clearly haven’t a clue.

    They were administrators, not soldiers:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3167233.stm

    • suraya 17.1
      23 April 2009 at 3:11 pm

      I could have sworn he wasn’t there for the 2003 attack but no matter.
      So sorry to dare question your little cheerleader routine.

      • gobsmacked 17.1.1
        23 April 2009 at 3:42 pm

        Of course he wasn’t there. It was just one example of what UN administrators can face, in war zones. Whereas you only have to turn off your TV, and it all goes away.

        A “bureaucrat” has a bad day when the coffee is cold and photocopier doesn’t work. David Shearer is not a “bureaucrat”. But of course you know this – you’re just being deliberately obnoxious.

        http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0708/S00296.htm

  18. suraya 18
    23 April 2009 at 3:22 pm

    In fact wasn’t he safely tucked away in Goff’s Beehive office in 2003?

  19. David 19
    24 April 2009 at 12:17 pm

    I’m a bit surprised by 3 of the criticisms of Shearer here. First that he is not well known in Labour – given he’s been actively involved in the Labour Party for 20 years this is a strange suggestion. Second, the suggestion that he did badly as the Labour candidate in Whangerei doesn’t stack up. In 1999 the Labour candidate received 8,779 votes. In 2002 Shearer received 10,615. In 2005 the Labour candidate received 9,811. Shearer’s performance in a reasonably safe National seat was very credible.
    The third criticism that I don’t think stacks up is the allegation that he doesn’t represent renewal. I think there is an element of ageism here. Yes he is 50. But he’s also had a wide range of experiences that will bring a unique perspective to parliament. The attempt to suggest he was ‘an administrator’ (as if this in itself is a slur) is a bit misleading. His humanitarian work is noted for being on the ground in some of the most dangerous regions in the world, particularly in Somalia and the Lebanon during the most recent war.

    Having said that, I don’t think his nomination should be a fait accompli. He is a strong candidate but there are other strong candidates in the mix, including one who just received the strong endorsement of an electorate which largely overlaps the Mt Albert electorate.

    And Russel Norman will also be a strong candidate.

    This is looking like a pretty exciting by-election

    • lprent 19.1
      24 April 2009 at 12:22 pm

      I’d agree about it being interesting. Lots of work though.

      However the electorate vote last time for the greens wasn’t that good – in fact it was terrible. The party vote was OK.

      • jarbury 19.1.1
        24 April 2009 at 12:25 pm

        Lots of people did what I (and both my flatmates did). Party vote Green, electorate vote for Helen Clark. Now they’ll have the Greens co-leader and probably a fairly comparably no-named Labour candidate to choose from.

        Quite a different situation I think.

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