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1:41 pm, September 20th, 2026 - 23 comments
Categories: Dirty Politics, Politics, spin, taxpayers union, uncategorized -
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This Tuesday Nicky Hager is releasing a new book.
No details have been given yet but I suspect that it will investigate Taxpayer’s Union and other Astroturf organisations.
And the TPU (or should that be TP Ltd) is worried.
A book about the TPU has been rumoured for a while.
Back in 2023 the TPU put this press release out which said:
The Taxpayers’ Union has heard from sources that Nicky Hager is working on a book which is focused at the Taxpayers’ Union. We are aware of him approaching former members of staff asking them to breach confidences.
Chairman of the Taxpayers’ Union, Laurie Kubiak said:
“With elections often being the political equivalent of the ‘silly-season’, we wanted to make sure no one can be left with false impressions about who funds the Taxpayers’ Union and what we are about.
“Hager has in the past claimed he did not put allegations to the subjects of his books on the basis that they might injunct him. We won’t do so. Like any other journalist, Mr Hager he has the opportunity to approach us for comment – in fact, we’re happy to be interviewed by him so he can put any allegations to us.
“Nicky Hager has previously accused groups and individuals of having a secret agenda. The Taxpayers’ Union has an agenda, but it isn’t secret! We stand for lower taxes, less waste, and more accountability.
“Hager is very good at collecting disparate facts and then weaving them to suit an interpretation using selective and partial use of those facts. For example, in a previous book, Mr Hager used emails 11 months apart to suggest a sinister motive, even though the emails were totally unrelated.
“It is no surprise the Taxpayers’ Union is Mr Hager’s latest target. He is coming for us because we are successful. We are successful because we have hundreds of thousands of subscribed supporters, and more than 23,000 donors. There is a very sad history of hacks and theft of data from centre-right groups in New Zealand. It seems that if you are successful in advocating centre-right ideas you tend to get hacked by Nicky Hager’s friends.
The statement then essentially gives up the ghost by admitting that it has links to the Atlas Network, Groundswell and Hobson’s Pledge.
But its funding is a mystery. It does not disclose the details of donors. It claims that it is the recipient of a large number of donations from many sources. But there can be lots and lots of small donations and one big donation and what TP Ltd says is still true.
If you want to learn more about Atlas and its operations in Aotearoa can I offer my post from January 2024. I stand by every word of it.
And interestingly this morning Q&A invited TP Ltd’s Jordan Williams onto the show nominally to talk about the ideal tax take policy TP Ltd had just released.
He said that TP Ltd incorporated as a company because it was afraid of being bombarded with information requests. Under section 80 of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 a member is permitted to ask for information held by the society and there are limited grounds for refusing a request.
My jaw dropped when I heard his explanation. TP Ltd has bombarded local goverment with multiple information requests.
More likely it has registered as a company because it was close to qualifying for a requirement for its accounts to be audited.
Williams was finally asked if he thought that TP Ltd would be the subject of Hager’s book. He fudged his answer.
I look forward to buying Hager’s book.
Dirty Politics in 2014 created a huge splash and if it was not from Bomber Bradbury’s and Kim Dotcom’s disastrous “Moment of Truth” meeting, which was disastrous for the left and made us look messy, there may have been a change of Government.
The Hollow Men, released in 2006, resulted in the demise of National leader Don Brash. And Seeds of Distrust released in 2002 made Labour’s re-election prospects much more difficult. Each book had a major effect on politics.
If I can I will put up a live feed of the launch.
And stand by. This could get interesting.
Jordan Williams was very shifty throughout that interview.
I got the strong impression they had him on so they could ask him questions about the book. The questions that Jack Tame were very carefully prepared and very pointed.
I am sure the book will go flying off the shelves if that is what it is about lol.
The nACTf CoC is is a machine for the relentless upwards redistribution of wealth. ‘Government’ by and for the sorted – a ‘dropkick’-suppression machine. Move-On!
https://thestandard.nz/this-trick-of-national-could-win-them-the-2026-election/
If it is about the TPU, then I doubt many will care. I am not sure that many even know what it is, or even care about it. And those who do know about it probably wouldn't be surprised about funding sources anyway.
Otoh, maybe they prefer to fly under the radar.
"The TPU's "nearly 200,000 members and supporters across NZ" might be a tad disappointed at your reckon about the lack of public recognition of their 'union'.
Otoh, maybe they prefer to fly under the radar."
I wonder how many are media, left-wing activists, bloggers, et al, who are signed up "members" just to keep an eye of the TPU…? Take them out of the equation and member is: two. Jordan and his mum.
please fix your user name typo
It won't matter, tpu s corruption like John keys is to nuanced to be grasped by most, unfortunately
And then the big chunk of right wingers that think dirty is ok as long as it’s their side winning
The book could be part of a thoughtful phalnx of forward and practical thinkers. This is interesting:
https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=183397 Overhauling democracy | Sept. 20, 2026
by Roy Murphy
[It is a good article – everyone should read it thoroughly, including me. I would like to know if it refers to an essential step if people in communities are to take more decisions and go forward together. That is, there needs to be classes educating on the various matters involved, at a 101 level. Then specialised matters; as in how to run meetings, (there is mention of that in this article) and how to exactly define what people mean, how to utilise written concise questions to avoid waffling on. Also to keep records of time spent and numbers attending and show that as 'vital community hours' spent.
And point out that if people are coming forward to consider matters, they must prepare themselves with background information, and then have considered decisions vetted in an overview by an informed and disinterested auditor. and reports be made to those who follow and support the community on progress, cost and method, and how many young people are involved.
And that last is essential. We oldies have stuffed up the world through not understanding the circular nature of humanity's dysfunction, and they need to know the ways to go forward, learning from mistakes and clear in their choice of goals and the need for the suitable and right outcomes.
Please use some marker to differentiate your words from your quote. I've added quotation indents now. If you can use coloured text, you can use those 😉
I'll be looking forward to buying it!
As for the TPU, it's high-time the media looked at Tax Justice Aotearoa, for some of their much vaunted Balanced Journalism we keep hearing about.
Otherwise, well, there might be a few complaints to the Press Council and BSA about a lack of balance…
If he has enough information to write a book about the Tax Payers Union, then I predict there is going to be some bombshells in it.
He is a careful writer who thoroughly checks out the accuracy of his sources before rushing into print so… roll on Tuesday.
I'd expect that
a) it will be a well-researched, readable and informative book
and
b) it will have very little effect on the election
(See dozens of excellent books written about Donald Trump, by reputable journalists and academics. Accuracy is not measured in votes).
b) it will have very little effect on the election.
It is the collective wisdom of the experts that it takes two months for most policy announcements and related issues to filter through to the minds of the average voter.
It's six and a half weeks away from the election, and given the inevitable 'noise' from the political right and their media acolytes, I fear your prediction will prove correct.
Coalition of Cockups voters, mostly, are aware that their favoured parties are venal, self interested and cruel.
It doesn't appear to affect their voting, however.
Many seem to revel in the cruelty, so long as it is directed towards "the others" and having the crooks on, "our side"!
I'm of the same opinion, in thar dirty politics didn't stop the nats, but it dawned on me today that it did force the nats to put serious distance between them selves and the oily whale.
Do hopefully the toilet paper union will get arnt back to the shadows
Much as I dislike the TPU and agree it's a blatant right-wing astroturf, isn't this true of all groups? I make donations but I don't want the recipients making that public. I'm with Jesus when it comes to donations: "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men."
Are you instead thinking there should be a threshold above which donations should be public? For example, someone donating $50 a month to a group isn't a public interest matter, but if someone hands that group $50,000 it is of public interest?
More like $20k. Personally I'd set it as something like a % of a median individual income from the the stats of the previous year. That would mean that it was directly associated with purchasing power, and less likely to require regulatory or legislative updates.
Or you think about politics, electorate candidates are currently restricted to spending $32,900k. That gives a political benchmark for what is a reasonable expenditure. What about disclosures at half an electorate candidate spending limit which is a direct equivalent for a political influence operation.
It'd also mean that if it applied to registered promoters like the TPU (which if they aren't then they should be) would need to have declared most of their major contributors to the public view.
Like Micky, I strongly suspect that a very few contributors or organisations provide almost all of the finance for organisations like the TPU and FSU. That their claims of large numbers of small contributions is a complete fabrication.
I’d like to know who is actually providing their finance because I suspect a lot of it is from overseas organisations and individuals who mean harm to our population, voters and taxpayers.
I imagine it will be the nuts and bolts of Hager's story.
Off and on for years now, and for personal reasons, I have been digging into a situation that existed in this country in the 1970s and 1980s. Anyone who lived through the era as an adult or near adult, will be able to guess the broad outline of the subject matter. What I have found thus far is: the revenue used to manipulate this country along a particular path almost certainly did not come from a specific country (or countries) which was the assumption at the time, but rather an industrial complex with universal reach. It was not provided with NZ's interest in mind!
History does have a habit of repeating itself.
Requiring groups (particularly political lobby groups) to publicly disclose donations above $20,000 over a 12-month period would be a good idea.
2. I can't imagine a whole book on the Taxpayers' Union, just like Dirty Politics would have been little more than a trifold flyer if it only focused on WhaleOil. It would have to explore that organisation's links to other think tanks, to make it interesting. When I heard about the book, I imagined maybe the tobacco lobby, Atlas and maybe others. I'm keen to see what it is actually about!!
3. It's a good article, but it doesn't tell me when I can get a copy of the book at my nearest Whitcoulls bookstore!! Does anyone know the answer to that?
Here is also a film from the past recalled by Gordon Campbell to take interest in, touching on Jim Anderton. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2609/S00051/on-the-ongoing-relevance-of-jim-anderton.htm
On The Ongoing Relevance Of Jim Anderton
Monday, 21 September 2026, 1:19 pm
Article: Gordon Campbell
During the mid to late 1980s, Anderton was the only significant public figure of resistance to the Labour government’s headlong embrace of Thatcherism. Public assets owned by the public – that were the foundation blocks of the nation’s prosperity – were being gleefully privatised by zealots entranced by market forces, which they had imbued with magical powers….
Note:
Footnote Two: In the coming weeks, Last Man Standing can be seen in the following metropolitan centres. Depending on demand, screenings in provincial theatres may follow.
Auckland: The Rialto theatre in Newmarket begins screenings on Thursday 24th September – with a Q&A afterwards featuring former Alliance MP Matt Robson and the film’s director Gerd Pohlman
The Bridgeway theatre on the North Shore starts its screening son Sunday, September 27 – again with a q&a featuring Matt Robson and Gerd Pohlman
Christchurch : The Lumiere theatre season starts on Thursday September 24.
Wellington : The Lighthouse Petone theatre will begin screenings on Thursday September 24 – with a special q&a screening on Sunday September 27 featuring Anderton’s long-time assistant Sally Griffin and (perhaps) Anderton’s former economic adviser David Steele.
The Lighthouse Cuba theatre starts its screenings on Thursday October 1st, with a Q&A featuring Sally Griffin and Gerd Pohlman.
Dunedin: The Meto theatre in Dunedin will begin screenings on either September 25 or 26 – with a q&a on September 27 featuring the film’s editor Shane Loader.