The Labour leadership contest has led to several thoughts about the eligibility of either Grant Robertson, David Cunliffe or Shane Jones. David Cunliffe Looking first at David Cunliffe, he currently seems to be the media and public opinion favourite, such as it is. TVNZ's Q+A had a poll placing Cunliffe at the head of the pack, with Jacinda Ardern narrowly out-polling Grant Robertson for second and third place. Shane Jones, Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern are all out of the running in this context, having declared that they will not stand for the leadership this time. Clearly, however, all three are excellent prospects for high Cabinet responsibilities, and one trusts that either Cunliffe or Robertson will recognise that. At present, it is undeniable that Cunliffe and his backer have a higher media profile, but it's difficult to know Cunliffe actually stands for. No doubt we shall discover this in the course of the leadership campaign and any future debates, as they now seem to be the only two candidates in the contest. What are Cunliffe's qualifications for Labour leadership? During Phil Goff's tenure as Labour leader, he was number three in the Labour caucus, as finance spokesperson. Certainly, he is eminently qualified for such responsibilities then and would probably do well again in that strategically important portfolio, or possibly as Deputy Leader. Before entering politics, he served as a business consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Auckland during the nineties (1995-1999). He has tertiary qualifications in social science and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard Business School. He is currently Labour MP for New Lynn in Auckland. During the Clark administration, Cunliffe served as Minister of Health and as Minister of Communication and Information Technology (2002-5) and chaired the Commerce Select Committee, as well as being involved in the Finance and Expenditure and Regulation select committees. In 2008, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Computer Society. In November 2012, Cunliffe made an ill-fated tilt at the Labour leadership, only to be demoted by former Labour leader David Shearer. He is a republican and describes himself as a liberal Anglican. He voted for the Care of Children Act, Civil Union Act, Statutory References Act and the Marriage Amendment Act. I can see no homophobic disqualifications, either in voting record, or in public statements, that would disqualify him from our earnest and objective scrutiny as Labour leader. Even if he loses the current leadership contest, he would make a good choice for future Labour leader. If he does win the current Labour leadership contest, one would expect him to give a prominent place to Grant Robertson as either deputy, or in a similar high Cabinet responsibility position. Grant Robertson What about Grant Robertson? Robertson was born in Palmerston North and attended Otago University. He has previously served as Presidents of the Otago and New Zealand University Students Associations. He has a BA Hons from Otago University and served as a ministerial advisor to Marian Hobbs as Clark administration Environment Minister and then former Prime Minister Helen Clark. Robertson has experience within the United Nations and also served as manager of the Overseas Aid Programme to Samoa ($7.7m) while working within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In Opposition, he has been Foreign Affairs, Arts, Heritage and Culture, and Health spokesperson after he was elected in 2008. In 2011, he substantially increased his Wellington Central majority against the National candidate, Paul Foster-Bell. He's civilly united to his partner Alf, who both met in 2010 while playing club rugby for the Crazy Knights, Wellington's first gay club rugby team. Originally a supporter of the Otago Highlanders, Robertson has defected to the Wellington Hurricanes, his electorate's provincial team. Shane Jones Shane Jones is a late entry to the contest, and if successful, will become the first Maori Labour Party leader, and if successful, the first Maori Prime Minister. Like Robertson and Cunliffe, Jones is eminently well-qualified for the job in question. Of Te Aupouri and Nga Takoto (Northland iwi) descent, and has worked for the Waitangi Fisheries Commission, Ministry for the Environment, and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Like Cunliffe, Jones has a Master of Public Administration degree. Entering Parliament in 2005, Jones served as Minister of Building and Construction, and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations in the third Clark administration (2005-2008). Unfortunately, as Jones himself acknowledges, he's not a saint. In 2008, as Minister for Immigration, he made a questionable decision about granting Chinese businessman William Yan New Zealand citizenship, although it should be noted that he seems to have honestly believed that Yan might have faced political persecution in his homeland. He voluntarily stood down from his shadow portfolios and let the matter be subjected to the Auditor-General. This seems to have been an error of judgement in this context. Added to that, there was the question of improper use of parliamentary credit cards to view porn videos in a hotel back in 2010, at a time when National was on the warpath over parliamentary expenses from Members of Parliament. Would these gaffes come back to haunt him if he were appointed as leader? Jones himself might well retort that National has its own share of ethical quandaries- the departure of National List MPs Richard Worth, Pansy Wong and Aaron Gilmore during the Key administration comes to mind, as does the current court case that involves ACT Leader John Banks. What might have seemed a legitimate tactic during the early days of the Key administration may now look somewhat like selective morality. On the other hand, it is long past time that New Zealand did have a Maori Prime Minister, and we can well understand the aspirations of Maori within and outside Labour for that to finally happen. Which person will win? Georgina Beyer and Chris Trotter think that Cunliffe has the better prospects, although Matthew Hooton and David Farrar (Kiwiblog), as well as the New Zealand Listener, have all put in good words for Robertson. In the New Zealand Herald, Phil Taylor profiled Cunliffe, while Adam Bennett profiled Robertson. Herald columnists John Armstrong and Audrey Young said that they were favourably impressed with the qualities of both candidates. Predictably, John Tamihere has accused Grant Robertson of being a "Homosexual Activist", demonstrating the sort of attitude that will probably torpedo any chances of his selection as Labour candidate in Waitakere next year, and insuring that the excellent Carmel Sepuloni gets the nod instead and win the seat back for Labour from Paula Bennett. Labour's grassroots Standard blog also embraces Cunliffe. However, none of the above commentators, with the exception of Georgina, thinks that Robertson's sexuality is necessarily any disqualification- she argues that out LGBT individuals deal with stigma in our daily lives. Indeed, Chris Trotter brought up the subject of Helen Clark's sexuality. By 1999, the general public were willing to give her a chance rather than endure another three years of National Party misrule, so might the same not be true of Robertson's sexual orientation? He also described Robertson as articulate, intelligent and as an excellent communicator. In a recent online blog, he's put forward the case for a Cunliffe/Robertson unity ticket. For once, I agree wholeheartedly with him and I strongly recommend that we read his excellent blog piece on the subject. So, what happens now? The leadership contest now enters five weeks of intensive campaigning, while votes are gathered from the caucus (forty percent), party membership (forty percent) and affiliated unions. In the latter context, Robertson has been a Public Service Association delegate, while Cunliffe has no such union background. The caucus apparently has an "ABC" (Anyone But Cunliffe) bloc, while the general party membership may prefer Cunliffe. Recommended: Phil Taylor and Adam Bennett, John Armstrong and Audrey Young: "Left to Lead" New Zealand Herald: 24.08.2013: A9 Hamish Rutherford: "New Zealand not ready for a gay Prime Minister" Sunday Star Times: 25.08.2013: 1-2. Matthew Hooton: "The Case for Grant Robertson" National Business Review: 24.08.2013: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/case-grant-robertson-ck-144863 Wikipedia/David Cunliffe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cunliffe Wikipedia: Grant Robertson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Robertson Strongly Recommended: Chris Trotter: "Crossing the Faultline: Making the Case for a Cunliffe-Robertson Unity Ticket" Daily Blog: 25.08.2013: http://www.thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/08/23/crossing-the-faultline-making-the-case-for-a-cunliffe-robertson-unity-ticket/ Craig Young - 26th August 2013