By Andy Rowell, 30 November 2006 

The sleazy world of political spin has been brutally exposed in New Zealand in a compelling new book by investigative journalist, Nicky Hager. The book, called the “Hollow Men - A study in the politics of deception," has already caused the resignation of the leader of the right-wing National Party, Don Brash, as well as his deputy.

Using leaked emails and correspondence from the higher echelons of the National Party itself, Hager has been able to paint a devastating picture of the tactics that the Party adopted in its desperate pursuit of winning the 2005 New Zealand elections.

“The story that emerges”, writes Hager, “is an extraordinary case study of unprincipled and anti-democratic politics: repeated cases of deceiving the public, hidden agendas, dodgy election finance issues and, underlying it all, a deeply cynical approach to winning the votes of those whom Brash described as the ‘punters out in punterland’”

The National Party, Hager contends, “offered endlessly repeated lines rather than answering the question, election-winning policies and real policies for later, emotional button pushing and lever pulling, carefully scripted evasions and deceptions when confronted with things it would rather keep secret, slogans about representing the mainstream and shunning special interests while doing the reverse, cynical internal strategy discussions and aggressive attacks on the government over funding issues without owning up to its own dodgy election secrets.”

Hager shows in minute detail how the conduct of politicians and others in politics can damage the whole political system. He shows how easy it is for politicians and their advisors to spin the truth. Before people dismiss the book as parochial because it is based on New Zealand politics, a central player in the un-folding political scandal is the Crosby/ Textor political strategic consultancy.

Australians Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor sprung to political importance in the UK when it was announced that the pair, led by Crosby were advising the then Tory leader Michael Howard on campaign strategy in the run up to the 2005 British election. At the time Crosby was widely criticised by using such issues as immigration, asylum seekers, gypsies, law and order and abortion to exploit fear and prejudice to win voters.

Although Textor did not move to New Zealand as Crosby had to Britain, for ten months, between late November 2004 and the election in September 2005, Textor and his staff made about fifteen visits to New Zealand, as well as consulting by telephone and sending written reports. About half these trips were Crosby/Textor research staff visiting New Zealand to conduct focus groups and the other half were Textor visiting the National Party in his capacity as consultant on campaign strategy.

He continues: "They found that the voters were ‘concerned that the current intake policy lets “just anyone” come in without regard for the skills and education they can bring. As a result Auckland voters believe that they are “paying” for these migrants as they go “straight to the welfare queues”.’ Crosby/Textor recommended that National use the same policy as the Conservatives did in Britain: to say they would allow immigration only by ‘skilled migrants’”.

Basically Textor played the same card of fear in New Zealand as he had used in Australia and Britain. “Don Brash gave an election year speech on 17 April 2005 – by which time Mark Textor’s influence over campaign strategy was well established – which leaves no doubt that they were following the same road” writes Hager. “He told National Party delegates in Auckland that the Labour government was a ‘seething mass of minority agendas’ and that ‘New Zealand is not being governed by mainstream New Zealanders, or in the interests of mainstream New Zealanders’”.

Textor’s advice was sought by the National Party on all aspects of the election campaign, including checking that the party’s election advertising was consistent with key messages they had decided on. This was done during Textor’s visits to New Zealand and by telephone. On one occasion as the National Party’s campaign launch approached in August 2005, party staff contacted Textor specifically to seek his advice on the television campaign. In a breach of electoral laws, the cost of this advice should have been declared, but was not, argues Hager.

Crosby/ Textor’s manipulations of the New Zealand electorate are just one of the outrages forensically outlined in Hager’s book, and serve as a lesson for us all. “An exposé like this helps to explain why people feel disillusioned about politics and what it would take for that to change. The characters in this story largely got away with their actions not because the public approved of them, but because the public did not know". he writes. It is only through the courageous actions of people like Hager that the public do know.

Details of the book: Nicky Hager, The Hollow Men - A Study in the Politics of Deception, Craig Potton Publishing: www.craigpotton.co.nz