Jul 5, 2008

John Roughan On Hager's Horror

This from John's contribution to today's NZ Herald

Nicky Hager, the cunning anti-nuclear campaigner of yesteryear, seems to be carving out a new career in disingenuous political naivete.
Not content with a book based on Don Brash's emails, since brought to the stage and soon to be a movie too, Hager is running a sequel on the discovery that some of the same "hollow men" are consultants to John Key.
The fact that someone in the National Party must be passing this material to Hager is far more interesting than the use he is making of it, and I have no objection to his using it.
Brash is still smouldering at the theft of his private messages - understandably since personal stuff that Hager did not publish led to his downfall - but email, I think, is fair game.
A fair reporter, though, could reveal what he learns without feigned horror at the fact that people running for public office hire consultants who try to conceal some of their intentions during an election campaign.
Parties of all stripes are coy on some subjects before an election for good reasons.