The Spinoff joined hundreds of ‘sad political tragics’ at a Wellington bookstore as journalist Nicky Hager revealed his latest work, an investigation into the influence of high-profile lobby group the Taxpayers’ Union.
A strange fever gripped the capital’s political junkies on Friday evening, when invitations to the launch of Nicky Hager’s new book first landed in inboxes. Nary a yo-pro in the city could survive a dinner table or cocktail bar conversation without someone spluttering the same words: “what do you think the new Nicky Hager book is going to be about?” Finally, the campaign trail had given us something exciting to talk about.
Out of an abundance of caution, The Spinoff was at Unity Books on Tuesday evening before copies of the book had even arrived. There was another hour and 40 minutes until launch time, but we (meaning this reporter, an NZME reporter and a handful of eager retirees) watched the open door to the bookstore backroom like hawks. Could that be Hager’s book there, the stack of red spines? Or was it the slim white volumes on the other shelf? A staffer suggested a nice recipe book might whet appetites instead.
By half past five, the crowd had ballooned to hundreds and spilled out onto Willis Street. Those in attendance could generally be categorised into three types: Green Party parliamentary staffers (gathered in a pack around co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick), Robbie Nicol-lookalikes with tote bags, and “sad political tragics” (as one older gentleman described himself). Of this third category some dressed in suits, others carried a faint scent of weed: all were equally excited for a bite of what Hager had been cooking.
Then there were what the rest may have considered the spies. Members of the Taxpayers’ Union and the Act Party shuffled their way through the crowd, one very wisely wearing a camouflage-print hat. They’re usually pretty approachable at other events, but attempts by The Spinoff to trade pleasantries with Taxpayers’ Union staff were unsuccessful. It seemed even they could sense they were behind enemy lines.
Nothing about Hager’s first book in nine years – apart from its title, which had been revealed earlier in the day, but even that was unconfirmed – had been known prior to its blown-up cover appearing on a big board at Unity Books. “Dirty Work – The Taxpayers’ Union and New Zealand’s Hard Right” was the text that appeared on a grimier version of the backdrop used for Hager’s influential 2014 book Dirty Politics. This was to be a sequel to that work, focusing on the lobbying efforts of the Taxpayers’ Union and its co-founder and executive director, Jordan Williams.
The feverish reception seemed to mystify Hager, whose injured hand meant no books were to be signed tonight. Hager has a shy and careful manner, slinking his way up to the podium and the row of microphones with the preface of the book printed out in large text. Maybe it was the nerves, but more likely that the sheer mass of body heat had turned the bookstore into a sauna; the sweat dripping down Hager’s face made you unmistakably aware of your own.
Within 20 minutes, the book sold out while Hager took questions from the media in the backroom. One box of copies had been saved to divvy out to the journalists: the rest of Wellington would have to wait until Thursday to pick up a copy. Many had to make do with the worn copies of Dirty Politics they lugged along with them. There was apparently some wine and food, but that was demolished within minutes.
And whether or not they got an actual copy, everyone there got a taste of what Dirty Work is about from the preface Hager read aloud – allegations of tobacco lobbyists wielding undue influence, anti-Māori rhetoric shaping the Stop Three Waters campaign and more. Some may have wondered if the political landscape today is different to the one Dirty Politics exploded onto in back in 2014. What, in the year 2026 – the year of a foreign affairs minister telling a Chinese MP to go back to where they came from – really passes for dirty work? What’s bad enough these days to actually make heads roll?
Either way, the fever is still running hot. The bookstore itself is probably still stifling. Take it as a testament to how Hager can set the city and the political rumour mill alight: some poor junior producer has just spent their night photocopying every page so Heather du Plessis-Allan can talk about it on her radio show in Auckland today.
