The Hollow Men (book)
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| Author | Nicky Hager |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Politics |
| Publisher | Craig Potton Publishing |
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Publication date
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2006 |
| Pages | 351pp (paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 105538523 |
| 324.29304 22 | |
| LC Class | JQ5892 .H34 2006 |
| The Hollow Men | |
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| Directed by | Alister Barry |
| Written by | Nicky Hager |
| Narrated by | Nick Blake |
| Music by | David Long |
| Edited by | Abi King-Jones |
| Distributed by | Community Media Trust |
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Release date
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July 2008 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
The Hollow Men is a 2006 book written by Nicky Hager about the election strategies used by the New Zealand National Party during New Zealand's 2005 parliamentary election. The book has been adapted into a stage play, and filmed as a documentary.
The Hollow Men is based on a wide range of internal party documents, including emails, which Hager stated were leaked to him by six National Party insiders. The documents and emails were written by then party leader Don Brash, and a wide range of people associated with him. The book was initially prevented from being published when Brash obtained an injunction preventing anyone from publishing material from emails that he had written. At the time he was unaware that Hager had completed the book and was about to launch it. Brash claims that the emails were stolen. However, on 23 November 2006, Brash announced his resignation from the leadership of the National Party. The following day he had the injunction lifted, allowing the book to be released. Political scientist Raymond Miller wrote that, "Had he not resigned, he would not have survived the fallout from this book's release."
The book describes Brash's rise to power in the New Zealand National Party as being assisted by an "informal network of people from the right of New Zealand politics", including a number of ACT members, and alleges the funding of the National Party in the 2005 election was mainly from prominent New Zealand businessmen through blind trusts. It also documents that senior National Party figures, including Brash, knew of the Exclusive Brethren's pamphlet campaigns in May 2005, although Brash denied any knowledge of this until August. The book showed that even Brash's admissions in August 2005 were inaccurate, making his resignation inevitable.
The heart of the book is its descriptions of the National Party strategy discussions and the techniques the party advisers used to try to win the 2005 national elections. The thinking behind major speeches, media management, election advertising and election messages is shown in the participants' own words. Many of the party's previously anonymous major donors are identified and relations with them are documented.
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