By now you may be sick of hearing about Nicky Hager’s latest diatribe, Dirty Work.
But, anyway, here’s a rundown of the core claims:
1. The Taxpayers’ Union, by being “racist”, helped the Nats get in.
2. They also arranged a multi-million dollar campaign that helped the Nats win the election, naming Jordan Williams, David Farrar and Hobson’s Pledge as key figures. Ooh!
3. Something about British American Tobacco being involved.
4. Zuru co-founder Nick Mowbray making private donations and being seen around the TU’s offices (something he’s denied).
5. Jordan Williams sexually harassing an employee, or something like that.
When asked to put up or shut up, Hager’s response has been along the lines of ‘my dog ate my homework’.
And that means anything in the book that meets the requirements of a defamation claim is actionable, unless Hager can bring the goods.
Now Hager’s claim of sexual harassment by Jordan Williams is clear cut. Either Hager proves it happened to the balance of probabilities or pays out.
What interests me is Hager’s claims regarding Nick Mowbray.
A statement doesn’t have to be said straight up to be defamatory. A defamatory ‘statement’ can also be made by implication.
Claiming that he was seen around the TU’s offices isn’t by itself defamatory.
Claiming that he made private donations to the TU isn’t by itself defamatory.
So let’s look at the big picture.
The central claim of the book is that there was a nefarious conspiracy by the ‘hard right’ to get National elected with everyone involved being dirty (it helps here that Hager’ book is called Dirty Work!)
Hence the implication is that Mowbray was involved in a nefarious conspiracy to get National elected. That to me is defamatory.
Of course this applies to everyone Hager names as part of the conspiracy.
How dumb do you have to be to say something defamatory about one of New Zealand’s richest men with more than enough means to bring a case of defamation?
Hager-level dumb it seems.
Now you might say that when all is done Hager could just give the finger and say ‘Haha, I’m insured. My publisher is insured. Sucks to be you.’
But that’s not the endgame. The endgame is to make Hager so toxic that his publisher is forced to drop him.
And then no more Hager.
Wouldn’t that be great?
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Nothing here should be construed as legal advice.
