Secret power

Politics & Social Sciences

Nicky Hager

Politics & Government

Craig Potton

Secrets and Lies: The Anatomy of an Anti-Environmental PR Campaign

Engineering & Transportation

Bob Burton

Engineering

Common Courage Press

In August 2010, a New Zealand soldier died in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan. In retaliation, the New Zealand SAS led a raid on two isolated villages in search of the fighters they suspected were responsible. They all knew the rules. Prior to firing weapons, their freshly issued orders said, 'the commander approving the strike must determine that no civilians are present.' If they could not assess whether civilians were present, firing was prohibited. But it all went horribly wrong. None of the fighters were found but, by the end of the raid, 21 civilians were dead or wounded. Most were children or women, including a three-year-old girl who was killed. A dozen houses had been burnt or blown up. The operation was personally approved by the prime minister via phone from New Zealand. More missions against the group of fighters and more potential crimes of war followed, including the beating and torture of a prisoner. Afterwards no one took responsibility. The New Zealand military denied the facts and went to great lengths to cover things up. This book is the story of those events. It is, at heart, about the meaning of honour; about who we want to be and what we believe in as New Zealanders.

Hit Run

History

Military

[Nelson, NZ] : Potton and Burton Publishing

<p>There has never been a book about New Zealand politics like this before. Over a two year period, sources from inside the National Party provided Nicky Hager with an astonishing collection of internal reports, emails, appointment diaries, meeting minutes and face-to-face interviews, documenting the rise to power of Don Brash and a two year campaign to become government. The result is an unprecedented picture of the internal workings of a political party and a disturbing, but riveting study into the nature of modern politics. The National Party sources were prompted to blow the whistle because they believed their party was behaving in dishonest, unprincipled and even unlawful ways. In The Hollow Men we are able to see - up close and in the participants' own words - the secret backers behind Don Brash's successful leadership challenge; the precise details of the party's hidden alliances with the Exclusive Brethren church and others; the strategies behind the Orewa speeches; the identities of the big donors; the cynical imported election campaign techniques and foreign advisers used by the party; and much, much more. The book goes to the heart of why many New Zealanders feel disillusioned about politics. Nicky Hager believes that the way politicians and others in politics conduct themselves - the games they play to advance themselves - can harm the whole political system. Exposing their activities is the first step towards change.</p>

Hollow Men

Craig Potton Publishing

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Books by Nicky Hager